If you have been contacted by a debt collector on a debt that is past the statute of limitations, there are several ways to deal with the situation. The statue of limitations is the time within which a lawsuit must be filed. In Kentucky, for instance, the statute of limitations on credit card debt is 5 years from the time the last payment was made.
There are also statutes, called borrowing statutes, that allow the borrowing of a shorter statute of limitations if that would be of benefit to the state's citizen. For example, if your payment was to be made in Virginia where the statute of limitations on credit card debt is 3 years, then you may be able to apply that shorter statute of limitations to your charged off credit card debt.
One thing you should never do is enter into an agreement to make payments to a debt collector, particularly one in writing. When you do this you create a new contract that is enforceable under your state's contract statute of limitations (in Kentucky 15 years for a written contract).
If your debt is outside the statute of limitations, you can tell the debt collector to stop contacting you. If the debt collector continues to contact you, it violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and you can file suit to collect $1000 statutory damages. In addition, the debt collector would have to pay your attorney fees and costs for filing the suit.
Also, if your debt is outside the statute of limitations, and the debt collector threatens to file a lawsuit to collect on the debt, it violates the FDCPA as well. Again, you can sue the debt collector and collect $1000 statutory damages, attorney fees, and costs.
If you are dealing with a debt collector contact a lawyer. Many will offer a free consultation and, if you have a case, take the case at no cost to you.
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