very old debt so they say

[heaven143]

What is the name of your state?illinois got a letter in the mail yesterday from a
collections agency saying that i had an outstanding bill with a jewelry company that i used 16 years ago and bought a ring from them i thought that i paid the bill off but have no way to show that i did because it was so long ago i have never gotten anything from this jewelry company since i bought the ring . now 16 years later i am getting letters from the collections agency
i have had credit cards in my name in years past. never gotten anything from this jewelry company just this collection place im really upset because it has been so long i wouldn't have any kind of paper work or old check beacuse i never had a checking account until about 5 or 6 years ago so if you could
tell me how i should handle this the letter they sent i sent back and told them to send me all the information they back to me the said i owed them 3500.00 or i go make a one time payment of 1551.00 in 10 days and that can't happen thank you for your time look forward to here from your

[Ladynred]

The statute of limitations for legal action to enforce collection of a debt in IL is 5 years if it was a credit card, 10 if it was a written contract.

Either way, the SOL has expired. All you need to do is write this collection agency a cease and desist letter telling them to never contact you about the alleged debt again as it is time-barred per IL statute.

You can use this letter - the statutes you need for it are on the same site:
[url]http://whychat.5u.com/nottoca.html[/url]

The CA is hoping you will fork over some money for this dinosaur account, but you can safely tell them to go take a flying leap.

[wglasson]

I just had a similiar situation in Texas which has a 10 yr SOL. My present wife of 5 yrs had an outstanding debt for $733.00 on a car loan dated in 1972 and after 33 yrs a "Writ of Garnishment" was placed on every account I had that had my wife's SS for $13,733. After research by me and my attorney, this old judgement had been executed every 10 yrs and the Garnishment was legal. I ended up paying $2500 to settle.

[Ladynred]

Well, the SOL in TX is 4 years, however, a JUDGMENT can hang around for decades - big difference.