Ten Year Old Zombie Debt

I have noticed some postings on here regarding validation of debts.  The basic response is that if a person gets a letter from a collection agency that a person should ask for validation within the first 30 days. 

What if a person does not request it be validated within that 30 days and they ask for a validation in like 6 months.  I guess what I am asking is can a collection agency ignore a request to have a debt validated if they have been trying to collect it over that 30 day period? 

I also had a friend say a collection agency sent her a collection notice on a bill that was 10 years old.  She did not ask for the debt to be validated within the 30 day period she just ignored the letter sent from the collection agency.  Also, can they report it on the credit bureau?  A debt so old?

Please help.

Sandy

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Greetings Sandy,

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prescribes a thirty-day window for the consumer to request validation to potentially subject a collection agency to liability for violations of 15 USC 1692g of the FDCPA.  The act also states: “The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer”.  In addition, many states have their own version of the FDCPA and this may result in double liability for a collection agency that is found to be breaking the rules.

In my opinion, a collection that is ten years old should be mailed a cease and desist as well as a warning that any reporting to the credit bureau may subject them to violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Assuming the Date of First Delinquency was over 7.5 years ago, the CRA’s would not permit a ten-year old bill to be reported by the collection agency unless the collection agency re-aged the debt.  Collection agencies are prohibited from re-aging.  This is another important reason why everyone needs to check their free credit report once per year and keep copies of the reports for future reference.  In so doing, you can compare credit reports from one year to another and have evidence on whether or not dates are being changed by a collection agency.

Keep in mind that credit reporting limits and Statute of Limitations are two separate issues.  SOL may be tolled (stopped) and re-started by different actions, including making payments or promising to pay.  You need to check state law for SOL.

As for sending a request for validation of a debt after the initial thirty days – if the credit reporting for the debt was not “complete and accurate”, then I would begin sending CMRR letters as soon as I was made aware of it and I would continue until the erroneus reporting was corrected. 

As one final note, I want to remind everyone that the Broken Credited Blog was created to help consumers to correct errors on their credit report and not as a means of escaping paying bills that are rightfully owed and within lawful collection periods.  Sadly, what I have found is that collection agencies and junk debt buyers frequently pervert the credit reporting system and unjustly poison credit files in the process.  I suppose I can always look at the bright side and say that it does provide an unending subject matter to write about.

Thanks for the questions and fight the good fight!

Paul

This author is not an attorney and this information should not be considered legal advice.  Please consult an attorney for legal advice.