debt no longer on credit report, can i still be sued.

[september1975]

i recently pulled my credit report and 3 credit cards that i defaulted on in 1998 are no longer there. Can I still be sued? I am still recieving mail from the collection agencies threating this. If so will the time frame that I can be sued ever go away? is there something like a statute of limitations on debt

[Tigger1313]

There is a statute of limitations on debt, depending on how the debt was agreed to. There's a lot of information on this board regarding the statute of limitations on different types of debt. The first place you'll want to check is the Statute of Limitations link at the top of the page. That will let you know what the SOL is in each state. Some states, like my home state of Maryland, are consumer friendly, with most debts expiring after three years. Other states, like Ohio, can take up to 15 years for the SOL to expire. Let us know what state you're in and we can give you a better idea what you're looking at.

[DucknCover]

Your profile doesn't say what state you're in. Statute of limitations laws vary by state but if these debts are from 1998 you're most likely safe. This doesn't mean you can't be sued, but you would have an affirmative defense. Are ryou responding to the collection letters or ignoring them? As long as the debts are safely beyond SOL you need to respond to each with a letter informing them the alleged debt is beyond the SOL and they are to never contact you again. send this CMMR and keep the green card. If they continue to collect you'll have to sue them to make them stop. Zombie debt buyers reley on the uneducated consumer coughing up money without knowing their rights.

[september1975]

i am in Ohio unfortunaly. I am trying to figure out if I should file bankruptcy. i have about 6000.00 in debt that is not on my credit report on accounts from @1998. my credit is not too bad now, but i am forever being threated and contact by collection agencies telling me they are going to sue. one actually did sue me about 6 months ago but i paid it off before it went that far.

[september1975]

bump

[zfire]

What kind of a letter do you write and what do you do about the one

that is 3 months (supposedly) until SOL?

[IHateCAs]

Since these accounts are past the reporting period, I think your best bet is to not file BK. Just wait them out for another... 6 years. Filing a BK will be an entirely new blemish on your report that will last for 10 years.

Since these accts are probably all with JDBs and have probably been passed around a few times, you have many more tools at your disposal to fight off a collection suit.

The ones that actually do sue AND can produce a valid chain of title in court, you can settle with to avoid the judgment.

That might be a bit much for you being a newbie and all though.

[gypsie]

i am in Ohio unfortunaly. I am trying to figure out if I should file bankruptcy. i have about 6000.00 in debt that is not on my credit report on accounts from @1998. my credit is not too bad now, but i am forever being threated and contact by collection agencies telling me they are going to sue. one actually did sue me about 6 months ago but i paid it off before it went that far.

$6000. is NOT enought to trash your credit for the next decade!! Do as IHATECAs says and use the "tools" here. Start the DV process.

You need to read, read, and read this board. Do as many searches as possible for all of your questions so that you get as many answers as possible, if you can't find answers then ask.

READ the DV primer to begin with.

and look at the DV flowchart here:

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/debt_validation_workflow.shtml

[DucknCover]

Filing BK for $6k of 10 year old debt would be foolish. Put the thought out of your mind.

I agree with the previous posts... work the DV process. Even if somebody does file suit, they still have to prove to a judge the particulars of the debt. I would be suprised that they could produce paper on debts that old.