Question regarding old bill? or maybe not?

[buglebe]

I was in the hospital in Chapel Hill, NC three and a half years ago. I live in Alabama but was in NC when I broke my leg. I had a telephone call Friday night saying I owed a bill for $750 but this was a collection agency and she didn't know what the bill was for. She only knew it was from Chapel Hill, NC not neccessarily the hospital. She also didn't know the date of the original bill. So what she had was amount of money owed. Since it was a collection agency.
We never received a bill from anyone that we didn't pay. She said it would be put on our credit report. If it has been 3 yrs I feel sure it has been put on our credit report by now.
How long can they hold you liable for something like this?. I want to pay what I owe but this is a lot of money to come up with saying we owe and lots of time insurance would have paid bills if they aren't more than 12 months old.
Thanks if anyone knows any answers to these questions.

[Heidi]

The collection agency has to provide proof of where the bill originated from, the total amount, etc. I read about this in a magazine the other day. I'll see if I can find the article.

[LI Mama]

If they call again, tell them they need to send you a hard copy of the bill. They have to have all the details in order to collect. Do NOT give them any info, ss#, etc. over the phone.

[YankeeMary]

I agree with LI Mama sounds reasonable to me.

[Tasha405]

Oh man, I had one calling here about a month ago that was pretty much demanding my checking account info! It started out by them wanting me to let them do a check by phone for payment. I told them no, that I wasn't comfortable doing that and that I would just mail them a check. This went back & forth and they told me how it didn't matter since they would get the info from the check when they got it in the mail anyway. I kept telling them no so they asked to speak to my DH. He told them the same thing I did and finally I got pissed and told them that they would get a postal money order or nothing! They said they couldn't accept it at first until I told DH to ask them what people done who didn't have a checking account, because not everyone has one! Then they said they would accept the postal money order. I was so mad.

[galeane29]

I had a collector calling me for years about an old bill that my ex had filed on his bankruptcy.
I asked them how they could be trying to collect a bill from me that he had filed on , plus he had passed away a year or so before. They said because the bill was accured in a communitive state they could collect from the spouse. Well the attorney that filed the bankruptcy says no...once a company accepts the bankruptcy they cannot go back and try to collect. I still have some of his crap on my credit report. Luckily I'll be able to start getting it taken off this year.

I have had these collectors threaten me by saying they were going to send the sheriff out to my house and arrest me for not paying them. They told me that they would garnish my wages, I said go ahead and try...at the time I was only reciving social security deat benefits from my ex. I told them to go ahead and try to get that from the Government. lol
I have had them threaten my husband, physicaly....this one guy said he would come out and kick his ass , my husband said " do you want directions?".
I cussed one out and he talked to me like I was a kid telling me " dont you dare talk to me like that"

They threaten to sue you , garnish your wages, have you arrested. They also say that when you do make payments to them you have to send all the checks to them filled out and signed and dated at one time ....are you kidding me.

After 7 years and even in some state 6 you can have those things taken off of your credit just by contacting the credit bureau, you can do it online. I have helped my husband straighten his creadit up , it took about 4 years to get him at a 758. Now i'm working on mine.

[Freebeemom]

Are you sure it is you? I have been getting phone calls for someone with the same name as dh. Several different collection agencies. One demanded pmt over the phone. Being that I am the wife, I could not get info. They finally confirmed that it wasn't and they told him that many agencies look up everyone with the same last name and just keep demanding payment until a. someone pays or b. someone calls them out on their mistake. It is ridiculous, and something needs to be done about the harrassment.

[hblueeyes]

We get call all the time for bills that are not ours from places we have never been too. Hubby has a common name and there are many in our area with it but we are the only ones listed in the phone book. We ask how they got our number and they always say from an online search or the phone book. They then ask for his date of birth and social number and he refuses. He tells them that with that infor mation he could play havoc with someone. Even with the birth date alone. He'll ask for them to tell him the last four of the social and he will verify if it is his or not and they refuse citing privacy issues. Well if you are so sure this is his then what is the problem. Value City Furniture is one place that is horrid. We get collection calls all the time and I just recently discovered where one of their stores is but I never shop there nor would I. Hubby then called Value City Cororate office and they told him that they do not keep records of who has accounts with them. they are so full of crap. Never give them anything. Get them to tell you where you needn to send payment and then tell them to stop calling and do everything by correspondance. Mail them a letter stating that as well and send it registered.If they call again they are in violation and you can sue them.At least in Illinois you can.

Me

[MsLynn]

I got notice from a company who by their own records the supposed last payment was in feb of 2000. I just sent their lil payment coupon back with "statute of limitations has expired on this debt" written on it, lmao. I know its probably my ex husbands but its been over 7 years now. duhhh

I just had one of those call saying they couldn't take anything but checking account by phone payments. then i got a letter in 2 days saying to "MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO", lmao. they just want their commission faster.

you really want to get them.....

when they ask you to post date a check, do what i do>.....

i ask them. " YOU WANT ME TO AUTHORIZE A CHECK, KNOWING THERE ISN'T MONEY IN MY ACCOUNT TO COVER IT?? when they say yes. " I SAY. SO.. YOU'RE ASKING ME TO COMMIT A FELONY? IS THAT RIGHT? OMG... LISTEN to them stammer. they try to tell me, well the you'll have the money in there by then right.. then i tell them, well you know as well as i do a hundred different things could happen by then to keept he money from getting in the bank.

also try telling them the minute you know its a collection call. Could you please hold for a minute, i want to record this call too. i tell them i'm calling from work and all lines are recorded, hehehehe. and lots of times i do. but boy they sure are a lot nicer..


also on your credit report if you dispute it...I've put on several, "refused payments i could afford" and they were dropped from my report

[JudyK]

This is an excellent resource regarding debt collectors. Many debt collectors flat out lie, and use illegal tactics to collect debts that many times are past the state's statute of limitations for collection (this is different than credit reporting, it means they only have so much time to try to collect the debt).

Most collection agencies pay pennies on the dollar for debt write-offs, and make huge profits through harrassment :

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/settle_debts.shtml

Their first "rule" is never, ever talk to collectors on the phone. Have the collector send you everything in writing, especially proof of the validity of the debt. Think of it this way....if Bob called you and told you that you owed him money that you previously owed John and he wanted it now...would you pay him based on that phone call? Consumers have a ton of rights they give away regarding collection agencies.

[iluvmybaby]

....

i ask them. " YOU WANT ME TO AUTHORIZE A CHECK, KNOWING THERE ISN'T MONEY IN MY ACCOUNT TO COVER IT?? when they say yes. " I SAY. SO.. YOU'RE ASKING ME TO COMMIT A FELONY? IS THAT RIGHT? OMG... LISTEN to them stammer. they try to tell me, well the you'll have the money in there by then right.. then i tell them, well you know as well as i do a hundred different things could happen by then to keept he money from getting in the bank.


I've put on several, "refused payments i could afford" and they were dropped from my report

:rofl: Thats hilarious, you want me to commit a felony! I will have to remember that.

If you offer $5 a month, they have to take it.

[mosdata1]

:rofl: Thats hilarious, you want me to commit a felony! I will have to remember that.

If you offer $5 a month, they have to take it.


Just a quick note on this: If you think the statute of limitations may be up, DO NOT offer to pay ANYTHING. Once you do this, it re-starts the debt and you have to wait another (4, or whatever your state's are) few years for the statute to be up again. Never acknowledge ANY debt over the phone.

[jedmatters]

If you offer $5 a month, they have to take it.

No they don't. The bill collector can refuse any payment less than the full amount due, or the amount based on a written agreement for payment plans.
A lot of people believe that any amount can work, and they end up opening up a whole new group of issues.
A tiny payment is not proof of attempt to pay. Especially if you owe a large sum. It will just get the collectors geared up for a collection activity. And, they will copy the attempt, then use it in court showing that you wrote a payment for a tiny amount which is acceptance of the debt. You can no longer deny the claim for any reason: statute of limitations or any other reason.
Once any payment is made, the bill starts over on the statute of limitations. And the company can begin collection activities.
The statute of limiations is based on the last date of payment: not contact.

[Debbie]

They should have all the details of your bill,they just can't say I
don't know the date,you can get a free copy of your credit report,
that sounds a little fishy(scam)not for sure,any collector always has
full details,and if you do owe it send them at least a dollar a month
and they can't say .... .

[tracey74]

I was informed by a lawyer that any debt collector has to prove to you that you owe the bill and when they bought the debt and from who and how much they paid for the debt. and they also have to send you a letter within 5 days of calling you stating this info. also they have to prove you signed your name stating you agreed to pay the said debt. if not they dont have anything. they also cannot call and harrass,argue,threaten or swear at you. I have had this happen and told them the above that they first had to prove I owed the debt, then they had to show me my signature stating Id pay it and that they had to tell me who/when they bought the debt and for how much. they kept telling me I had to prove I didnt owe the debt. so we argued and told them we would be contacting a lawyer and the ftc as well as our states attorney general. that stopped the calls. we also have told them(like the OP) that we were recording their calls as well. we got a" you dont have permission to record this call" so I told them " then neither do you have my permission". theyve told us our credit would be bad and so on and we told them so what they also told us they KNEW what was on our dredit report so I asked them since they knew so much why not read it to me and tell me what was on there. they told me they couldnt do that. they will pull out all the stops. thing is most of the collection calls I get I have NEVER received a bill for from the company or a collection letter til alnost 6 1/2 years later . they knew time was running out and yet the companies I supposedly owe has no record of me ever owing them. so check with the company and see if they have record of you owing them any money

[andreame70]

I have some experience dealing with this kind of stuff, most recently with my DH past credit mistakes he made before we got together.

This is not complicated, but you need to know up front that there are two different Statute's of Limitations (SOL's) involving debts.

The first is the SOL for the REPORTING of the debt on your credit report. This SOL is 7 years and most debts stay on there for that time.

The second SOL is for the COLLECTION of the debt. Most states have different lengths of time that the SOL on collection can run. I looked it up for you and the SOL in Alabama and in NC is only 3 years. The SOL starts on the day that the last payment was made on that account. So if you never made a payment on the account and it is at least 3 years old, you are safe from them being able to do anything legally about it. Forget about it and don't even talk to them any more than you absolutely have to. If you make the mistake of talking to them and agreeing to make even the slightest token payment, even $10...they can manipulate it into starting the SOL all over again, so DO NOT AGREE or make them believe that you intend to pay them a dime.

Now, the next time they call, tell them that it will be the last time you speak to them about this old debt. Say that you know the SOL has expired on the collection of it. Tell them cheerfully that if they want to try and take you to court over it they should be aware that you have an absolute defense which is that the SOL on the collection of the debt has expired.

Stay strong and be firm with them. They will lie and tell you that the SOL has not lapsed and that they will continue to call. They may threaten to sue or garnish your wages, truth is, they can't do anything. The law says their time is up.

Hope this helps!

Andrea

[freebielover]

Watch out, my mom got a call like that for $1700 for supposed back credit card debt. She flipped out and thought she was going to get in trouble. She vaguely remembered the card but thought it was paid. Upon further research through her records, the card had been completely paid off and closed out and those scumbags got her info and called her trying to collect. They make a lot of money from stuff like that because some people will just write a check to make it go away.

[buglebe]

Watch out, my mom got a call like that for $1700 for supposed back credit card debt. She flipped out and thought she was going to get in trouble. She vaguely remembered the card but thought it was paid. Upon further research through her records, the card had been completely paid off and closed out and those scumbags got her info and called her trying to collect. They make a lot of money from stuff like that because some people will just write a check to make it go away.

Thank you for that. That is exactly what I was afraid of. I haven't heard anything else from them so I guess I will wait and see what happens.