Question about NCO

[as159]

I live in California. 10 years ago, (when I was 19), I foolishly opened a department store credit card and ran up a balance, never paying the bill. It eventually went to collections, but I still didn't pay it. It ended up reflecting badly on my credit report as a charge-off until a few years ago, and then it disappeared. Now, I am 29 with excellent credit, and no delinquincies on my credit report. But today I got a notice in the mail from a company called NCO, stating they have purchased the 10-yr old account and they are trying to collect on it. They say that if I don't pay, it will show up as a negative on my credit report. Can this be true? Is this even legal? I have moved a few times since the last time this debt showed up on my credit report, so I don't even know how these people even got my address. Help!

[maggyva]

Originally Posted by as159

I live in California. 10 years ago, (when I was 19), I foolishly opened a department store credit card and ran up a balance, never paying the bill. It eventually went to collections, but I still didn't pay it. It ended up reflecting badly on my credit report as a charge-off until a few years ago, and then it disappeared. Now, I am 29 with excellent credit, and no delinquincies on my credit report. But today I got a notice in the mail from a company called NCO, stating they have purchased the 10-yr old account and they are trying to collect on it. They say that if I don't pay, it will show up as a negative on my credit report. Can this be true? Is this even legal? I have moved a few times since the last time this debt showed up on my credit report, so I don't even know how these people even got my address. Help!

The first thing I see in your story is that NCO has threatened you and this is a clear violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). You can find the FDCPA easily by doing a web search. And in addition to this violation, NCO is also in violation of the statue of limitations (SOL). In CA, the SOL is 4 years..you can see that here:
[url]http://www.poorcreditgenie.com/crstatutelim.html[/url]

However, I would NOT ignore the letter from NCO because they may follow through on their threat to report it to the CRA's and then you will have to write letters to the CRA's to remove the entries. So it's best to try to stop this before it happens.

[Ladynred]

They say that if I don't pay, it will show up as a negative on my credit report. Can this be true? Is this even legal?

NO its not true and NO it's NOT LEGAL.

Aside from being WAY outside the SOL of 4 years for CA, they can NOT put this dead debt back on your credit reports and they know it. The FTC bit*h-slapped NCO in 2004 for their illegal practices. Putting it back on your reports would be a violation of the FCRA and illegal re-aging.

You need to send NCO a cease and desist letter telling them never to bother you about it again as it is time-barred per CA statute. I'd also add that if they do put this obsolete debt on your reports, you WILL sue them in addition to notifying the FTC of their illegal actions.

Here's a letter to use:
[url]http://whychat.5u.com/nottoca.html[/url]

Send it certified, RRR and keep copies.

And here's where the FTC slapped with a whopping fine:
[url]http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/05/ncogroup.htm[/url]

[as159]

Thanks so much for answering my questions. I intend to send a letter to NCO letting them know that this debt is obsolete, although something tells me these creeps won't give up so easily. Now that I know that they are acting illegally, I won't hesitate to contact the proper authorities if they don't stop harassing me. Thanks again.