What happens to unpaid bills after SOL?

[Gatorfan1999]

What is the name of your state?FL,IL

If you have unpaid bills that are not reported on your credit report and they have reached their statue of limitations, what happens to the bill? Do the people you owe usually just close the account or will it always be there? Should you always keep the bill, just in case?

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

What is the name of your state?FL,IL

If you have unpaid bills that are not reported on your credit report and they have reached their statue of limitations, what happens to the bill? Do the people you owe usually just close the account or will it always be there? Should you always keep the bill, just in case?

You will always owe the debt until it is paid. Why do you claim FL and IL for state? If you have a debt and move out of state, the SOL tolls. So your debts may not be out of statute.

The simplest thing is to pay the bill and enjoy never having to worry about it again.

DC

[racer72]

The above post is wrong. Once the statute of limitations expires, you are no longer legally liable for the debt. You can use the SOL defense if any collection activity is attempted against the debt. You never have to pay on the debt again. Failure to take action to can result in the being reinstated, you must take a proactive approach to defend your legal rights. Look at the above poster's user name, that is why he gave you a BS answer.

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

What is the name of your state?FL,IL

If you have unpaid bills that are not reported on your credit report and they have reached their statue of limitations, what happens to the bill? Do the people you owe usually just close the account or will it always be there? Should you always keep the bill, just in case?

Too little info.

Have they attempted to collect? When was your last payment? How are you determining the SOL has past?

If it has passed the SOL and they are not trying to actively collect and it is not on your CR there is no problem. Why is it I sense there is more to this that is pertinent that is not posted?

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by racer72

The above post is wrong. Once the statute of limitations expires, you are no longer legally liable for the debt. You can use the SOL defense if any collection activity is attempted against the debt. You never have to pay on the debt again. Failure to take action to can result in the being reinstated, you must take a proactive approach to defend your legal rights. Look at the above poster's user name, that is why he gave you a BS answer.

SOL is an affirmative defense in court if one is sued. It does not "wipe-out" the debt. It mearly says the court isn't going to help enforce it.

AND that isn't what the OP asked. The OP asked what happens to the debt -- the answer is nothing, it is still a debt. The legal enforcability of the matter doesn't change that. The moral obligation remains.

Every state sets the SOL for that state. When you leave the state, the SOL tolls -- is suspended, stopped, paused or any other choice that means the same thing.

What that means is: Since we don't know the state where the debt was incurred and we don't know the state where the OP is now living, we don't know if the debt the is OOS or not.

So, once again, I have to say the easiest answer is pay the bill. And here's why:
1. The OP doesn't deny the validity of the debt.
2. Find out if it in or out of statute requires the OP to do research
3. The time spent looking for loopholes to get out of paying a bill would be better spent working and paying them off.

Now, a BS answer is one that ignores the information presented by the OP to fabricate an answer that fits a flawed premise.

DC

[Legal Answers]

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

What is the name of your state?FL,IL

If you have unpaid bills that are not reported on your credit report and they have reached their statue of limitations, what happens to the bill? Do the people you owe usually just close the account or will it always be there? Should you always keep the bill, just in case?

They all go to "Debt Heaven" where all the little doggies and kitties go.

IAAL

Where's "Debt Heaven"?

[GregG]

So what happens if someone (other than yourself) makes a small payment during the collection period to keep the account active? A co-worker was telling me just before the SOL was up, the collection agency posted a 1 cent payment to keep the account active.. I guess that's a "Dirty Deal" but probably legal.. Doesn't matter who made the payment just that "a payment" was posted to the account..

[Chien]

debtcollector is correct. justalayman is correct. Not a theologian, but hope Legal Answers is not correct; wouldn't want any of my cats and dogs in debt heaven or sharing eternal space with some of the nonsense that can appear on these forums.

GregG is not correct that a third-party posting a one cent or one dollar or whatever payment to re-age an account is legal, but we'll forgive because he's repeating hearsay.

To the extent that he suggests to you that you never have to think about the debt again, racer72 is not correct, even if you accept the assumptions on which the response is premised, and I, for one, cannot tell what those are. OP - take the issue of the bill appearing on your credit report out of the question. What gets in your report and how long it can stay in is unrelated to the SOL on a debt.

You haven't told us the nature of the debt or the state in which it arose but, if you've done your research here and elsewhere, you know that different states treat the same types of obligations as different types of debts with differing SOLs (eg. some states use "open account" SOLs for credit card debts and others use "written contract" SOLs for the same type, so keep that in mind).

The expiration of the SOL on a debt creates a valid affirmative legal defense to judicial enforcement. (Please read that carefully, because that's what it is and all it is.) The expiration of the SOL on a debt is NOT a grant of Divine Absolution. Yes, it will always be there. The creditor can come knocking on the door of the Old Folks Home, if it chooses. So, yes, keep records and don't rely on what is or isn't in your credit report, or you won't be able to controvert re-aging, among other things.

Be sure that you know the correct SOL (if in doubt, choose the most conservative). Be sure that you know that it has not been tolled (suspended) for any reason. "Failure to take action to can result in the being reinstated". I'm not really sure what that means, but, to me, it suggests that, if the blanks are filled in, that what was dead can rise again. And you can be the one that does it, so research that too.
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Really just returned to correct a couple of typos, but let me use the opportunity for an example:
Consider this scenario: You're sued on a credit card debt. You read that credit cards are open accounts and those have a 4-year SOL in your state, so you do nothing, because how "proactive" should you be when "you are no longer legally liable for the debt" (thumb your nose)? Next thing you know you have a default judgment and you discover that, while you sat home smug and happy, the creditor convinced the court that the SOL was 15 years for a written contract. OP-when any of us, including racer72, use "proactive" in this context, we mean "respond to a lawsuit, assert the affirmative defense and have evidence to support it".

[GregG]

If a 3rd party payment was made on your account.. How do you prove in court you didn't make the payment? What information does the collector need to do to prove the payment was made by the Defendant? Reason why I ask, my brother is going to court on Friday. SOL is far past, but somehow a $10.00 payment got processed 2 days before SOL. He hired an Attorney, attorney thinks he will win..

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by GregG

He hired an Attorney, attorney thinks he will win..

Simply as a matter of logic, it is impossible to prove a negative.

The attorney will have to prove that someone else paid the money, since he can't prove that his client didn't.

DC

[Gatorfan1999]

My hospital bills are from 2000 and came from FL. I moved to IL in Febuary 2005. That is why I said two states. The reason I asked the question about what happens to unpaid bills is because I was wondering if the original debtor closes the account after the SOL is up because it would be really hard to go after the money then? And is there a way to find out if they did close the account without reenstating the SOL? And for the DebtCollector response-I would love to pay my old debts, but when you have hospital bills that are high and you are trying to decide on weather to pay for the bill or put food on the table and a roof over your children's heads then you would choose your children. At least any person with a heart and a brain would choose their children. And thank-you to all the other people that were responsive and polite.

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

My hospital bills are from 2000 and came from FL. I moved to IL in Febuary 2005. That is why I said two states. The reason I asked the question about what happens to unpaid bills is because I was wondering if the original debtor closes the account after the SOL is up because it would be really hard to go after the money then? And is there a way to find out if they did close the account without reenstating the SOL? And for the DebtCollector response-I would love to pay my old debts, but when you have hospital bills that are high and you are trying to decide on weather to pay for the bill or put food on the table and a roof over your children's heads then you would choose your children. At least any person with a heart and a brain would choose their children. And thank-you to all the other people that were responsive and polite.

Typical debtor. What part about my response to you was impolite? Or was it that you simply didn't want to here that the simplest and easiest thing is to pay the bill? -- we won't even get into the fact that I was the first to answer your questions and try to help you out -- your response to which is to act like your ability to pay you bills has to do with whether or not it is raining. I really don't see what the weather has to do with it.

Also what in you original posting explains anything about your situation other than you want to get out of paying your bills?

As for collecting on an OOS debt, no it isn't hard. You now live in IL. I would sue you in Florida. The odds of your appearing to defend yourself are much lower. Then the CA wins without an difficulty at all. Getting the money is so much easier in IL than it is in Florida. So you will have a judgment against you and they will get the money. End of story.

DC

[Gatorfan1999]

Debtcollector,

Thank-you for responding first,even though you are a jerk in all your responses to everyone. Second, I never said it was raining. I'm talking about choosing to feed and put a roof over my kids heads. My children come first before me. I never said I want out of paying my debt. I would love to, but I don't have the money to. Since you tell everyone to just pay the bill, it seems like you make alot of money so why don't you pay it for me and everyone's else to. There may come a day in your life when an emergency comes up and you can't pay the bill, I hope you feel like S*** for being a jerk to everyone. Try and be a little nicer when you respond to people's simple little questions. Oh, and I will be moving back to FL in a couple of month's so the SOL should be up.

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

Second, I never said it was raining.

No you misused weather when you meant whether. And frankly I was sufficiently irrated with your abject stupidity to point it out. I guess I wasn't blunt enough. So here goes: You're an idiot.

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

I'm talking about choosing to feed and put a roof over my kids heads. My children come first before me.

Bad credit makes it a lot more difficult to do that. If your children truly come first, then you would do what you have to in order to make sure that they were in a safe, secure environment -- you can't do that when you have a history of not paying your bills. At any time you could be evicted, lose your car -- any one of a thousand things could happen and your children would suffer because of your lack of planning and work.

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

I never said I want out of paying my debt. I would love to, but I don't have the money to.

Bull. You actually mean to say that you have debts that are several years old and you have paid absolutely nothing on them and you have the audacity to say you don't have the money to pay them. You could have sent in $10 a month to your creditors. You could have sent in $25 a month to them. You could have made an effort. You didn't. Stop lying, you wouldn't love to pay your bills. Nobody loves to pay their bills. It is a responsibility, a duty to ourselves and soceity -- and part of your duty to those children you care so much about. You have an obligation to teach them to be responsible people.

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

Since you tell everyone to just pay the bill, it seems like you make alot of money so why don't you pay it for me and everyone's else to.

Yes, I make good money. I didn't just fall into it though. I spent years paying my dues -- living on Ramen and doing without the things people think are so indisensable. I rode a bike more than 20 miles each way to work in the Ozark mountains because a car was an expense I couldn't justify and the apartments outside of town were cheaper. I had a business fail and repayed every one of my creditors every dime. Not because I was personably liable -- I wasn't. But because it was the right thing to do.

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

There may come a day in your life when an emergency comes up and you can't pay the bill, I hope you feel like S*** for being a jerk to everyone.

If something were to happen, I'm sure I could handle it. See, I make a point of saving and investing the first 10 percent of everything I make. I keep 6 months of living expenses in easily accessable CDs or the money market. The rest is used in long term investments. My wife and I own several rental properties. Currently I am saving to open my own collection agency. I expect to be open within the next 18 months.

Originally Posted by Gatorfan1999

Try and be a little nicer when you respond to people's simple little questions. Oh, and I will be moving back to FL in a couple of month's so the SOL should be up.

So, do you want a truthfull answer or someone to gently stroke your hair and whisper, "its okay, you don't have to repay those big meanies you stole from."
I am not the least bit interested in sugar-coating my comments or advising people on the way to try and evade paying their bills.

Grow up. Take care of those kids. Teach them to be responsible people - so I don't have to pay their welfare or jail cells later.