old debt

What is the name of your state? massachusetts-approximately 17 years ago I had a credit card,fell delinquent-tried to settle they refused. every couple of years a collection agency mails me a letter showing balance due.I make a few small payments and then never hear from them again.i have moved several times since getting the credit card.december of 2002 another collection agency mailed me a letter-i have made small monthly payments to them.tonite i received a call from an attorney saying that if i dont pay double what the collection was looking for then they will pursue in court and if i dont pay in full then they will proceed to not only collect the $5500.00 but also lawyers fees etc and total will now be $12000.00 and a lein will be put on my house for that??what is the statute of limitations?i do owe it,i have no problem with making payments.please help

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally posted by jaspa
What is the name of your state? massachusetts-approximately 17 years ago I had a credit card,fell delinquent-tried to settle they refused. every couple of years a collection agency mails me a letter showing balance due.I make a few small payments and then never hear from them again.i have moved several times since getting the credit card.december of 2002 another collection agency mailed me a letter-i have made small monthly payments to them.tonite i received a call from an attorney saying that if i dont pay double what the collection was looking for then they will pursue in court and if i dont pay in full then they will proceed to not only collect the $5500.00 but also lawyers fees etc and total will now be $12000.00 and a lein will be put on my house for that??what is the statute of limitations?i do owe it,i have no problem with making payments.please help

My response:

Wow, that debt DOES nearly date back to 1776!

Anyhow, you blew it. It's not a matter of the Statute of Limitations any longer because, each time you made one of those small payments, you acknowledged the debt, thereby renewing the Statute of Limitations - - time and time and time again.

Do you owe the money? You bet you do!

IAAL

[Ladynred]

Yes, you may have entirely blown yourself out of the water. SOL in MA for credit cards is only SIX YEARS ! This debt should be long, long dead !

However, there is argument that those small payments may NOT have restarted the SOL and the MA Statute cited for that argument is as follows:

"CHAPTER 260. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS.
Chapter 260: Section 13.
Acknowledgment or new promise; effect.
Section 13. No acknowledgment or promise shall be evidence of a new or continuing contract whereby to take an action of contract out of the operation of this chapter or to deprive a party of the benefit thereof, unless such acknowledgment or promise has been made by, or is contained in, a writing signed by the party chargeable thereby"

I don't know what IAAL will say to this, but you may want to consult a local lawyer, one versed in consumer protection, before you give in to this debt collector/lawyer's screw-turning. If the above is supported, you could tell the debt collector to go pee up a tree, the SOL expired YEARS ago. It may be worth looking into.