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?'s about debt due to move, SOL, and accidentally renewing SOL

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Orion6

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Hawaii

Theoretically....

I had a credit card in Oregon. My date of 1st delinquency (on the credit reports) is 7/2009, but the date of last payment is 3/2009 (can someone please explain the difference, and which date determines the SOL?).

I moved out of Oregon in 2010. (Does this stop the SOL clock?).

As far as I can tell, both states have a 6 year SOL, so I'm basing off of that. The account was sold/transferred, currently at Midland.

About 3 weeks ago, I had a very confusing/harassing conversation with a debt collector. The guy who called confirmed my name, then transferred me to another guy. (Note: neither spoke english well, I had bad reception and was having a very hard time understanding the whole thing, and sadly I'm too polite to just hang up). I never figured out who called, the guys name, or even the company who called. And unfortunately due to a power shortage, I didn't get a chance to record the number.
The guy said I owe money and to "show good faith on (said) debt" I need to pay. I told the guy I was paying off other debt, missed work due to illness, had no $ and couldn't pay anything. I don't think I confirmed it was mine, just said whatever he was calling about I couldn't pay. He harassed and pressured me to make ANY payment ("In back of.... can you pay $25? No...? Ok, then keep in back of... $5?" honestly, that was what he was saying, CONFUSING).
I finally said outright to send me a letter of whatever offer he had. That was all I could think of to do in light of the fact that I couldn't understand the guy at all. He confirmed address and finally stopped harassing me. Now, 3 weeks later, there is still no letter in the mail.

Considering the only thing left on my reports, I have to assume that is what the call was about. And since I've never received any correspondence I can't even confirm that much!

Now, my main question: IF it was for that debt, would that vague/harassing (I stress that because I felt extremely harassed and pressured) phone call renew my SOL? If my SOL is expiring soon (based on the Date of Last Payment), can I just ignored the whole mess and let the SOL run out? If I finally do get a letter, should I give any response (like the confirmation that whatever they called about is mine - I know there are sample letters online), or would even that renew SOL?

I know this is a lot of questions, but I've done hours of research and still no closer. I understand I can call a lawyer, or even one of those debt help hotlines, but I'm leery about doing that. Even a single piece of advice or knowledge would be MUCH appreciated.

Thank you!
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
It's entirely possible that the SoL has tolled (meaning it's "frozen") since you left the state.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
It's entirely possible that the SoL has tolled (meaning it's "frozen") since you left the state.
Its also possible that it was a scam, considering the fact that she could understand neither person and is only guessing that it was that debt. The people who are doing the IRS telephone scam all have heavy accents and are hard to understand. I could understand a debt collector having one employee that might be hard to understand on the telephone but the odds of that employee's supervisor ALSO being difficult to understand are somewhat slim. They may have been far more interested in getting ahold of the OP's debt card or bank account information than in getting an actual "payment".
 

Orion6

Junior Member
It's entirely possible that the SoL has tolled (meaning it's "frozen") since you left the state.
That's my worry. I've dug into Oregon laws and codes, but all I can find is information about claims in other states. Considering I'm not moving back, then technically the SoL is indefinite, which Oregon ruled against (a previous lawsuit, people in Oregon going for Delaware statutes - 3 yrs - but realizing the toll put it on hold indefinitely, so Oregon amended that it will instead use their own laws. Or, that's what I've managed to understand. But that was people that acquired and still lived in OR).
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Its also possible that it was a scam, considering the fact that she could understand neither person and is only guessing that it was that debt. The people who are doing the IRS telephone scam all have heavy accents and are hard to understand. I could understand a debt collector having one employee that might be hard to understand on the telephone but the odds of that employee's supervisor ALSO being difficult to understand are somewhat slim. They may have been far more interested in getting ahold of the OP's debt card or bank account information than in getting an actual "payment".
This is a very good point.
 

Orion6

Junior Member
So, if I figured it was a scam, then it's back to my first concern. I've cleaned up my credit with the exception of this. It was an EXTREMELY low original balance, but it was also when I was living off of rice (literally) and hiding from my landlord. Bad year. First missed payment meant my already "ugh" interest jacked up to 39.99% (now illegal as far as I know). So, ridiculously snowballed to where I couldn't even make minimum. Tried to take care of it for a few years, but finally gave up in 2009 when I lost my job. So, my less then $300 original is now over $1,300. I know it's not a lot, but I've taken care of all of my "honest" debts (medical, school, etc), and am looking at this, less then a month from the end of SoL, and really want to say screw them (large bank that had serious lawsuits for this kind of B.S.). Yes, bad karma, I know. But I can't even afford to do anything like payments for a few months, and again, SoL runs out end of this month. Assuming it's not tolling in Oregon.

So, basically, if I ignore the call, and the possible toll, does this run the SoL end of the month? (last payment was 3/27/2009).
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
So, if I figured it was a scam, then it's back to my first concern. I've cleaned up my credit with the exception of this. It was an EXTREMELY low original balance, but it was also when I was living off of rice (literally) and hiding from my landlord. Bad year. First missed payment meant my already "ugh" interest jacked up to 39.99% (now illegal as far as I know). So, ridiculously snowballed to where I couldn't even make minimum. Tried to take care of it for a few years, but finally gave up in 2009 when I lost my job. So, my less then $300 original is now over $1,300. I know it's not a lot, but I've taken care of all of my "honest" debts (medical, school, etc), and am looking at this, less then a month from the end of SoL, and really want to say screw them (large bank that had serious lawsuits for this kind of B.S.). Yes, bad karma, I know. But I can't even afford to do anything like payments for a few months, and again, SoL runs out end of this month. Assuming it's not tolling in Oregon.

So, basically, if I ignore the call, and the possible toll, does this run the SoL end of the month? (last payment was 3/27/2009).
FYI an SOL is only a defense if you are sued. It does not mean that debt collectors cannot continue to attempt to collect the debt, it just means that they cannot get a judgment against you if you accurately raise the issue of the SOL as your defense in a lawsuit.

I do think that you should ignore this phone call because it is possible/probable that it was a scam and had nothing to do with the debt you are talking about.
 

Orion6

Junior Member
FYI an SOL is only a defense if you are sued. It does not mean that debt collectors cannot continue to attempt to collect the debt, it just means that they cannot get a judgment against you if you accurately raise the issue of the SOL as your defense in a lawsuit.

I do think that you should ignore this phone call because it is possible/probable that it was a scam and had nothing to do with the debt you are talking about.
Yes, I do realize that. I also know that if I incur debt I'm responsible for it. I just am trying to figure out if I'm still liable (sue-able) for something 6 years ago or not. If the SoL didn't toll in Oregon, then as far as I can tell, they can bug me about it but cannot sue me (or, can sue but I can show up and get it waived). And that affords me serious peace of mind. My 7 1/2 years on credit reporting says it will drop June of next year. I can deal with that. I've been cleaning up all my past mistakes, talking to debtors, fixing my student loans, and got a secured credit card 6 months ago. All in all being a responsible citizen and working to being able to get a house or car loan someday. This is the very last item on my records. Hence why I was freaked out by the (fingers-crossed!) scam call. My debt was closed and sold to midland after my last payment, so I've never talked to Midland. If it was them, then as far as I see, their 5 days to send me a letter for first contact has been passed. I know mail is slow to hawaii, but not this slow. So I've never even gotten a chance to send a debt validation letter to them. The whole thing is painful, truthfully. I contacted all my other debtors myself, and had very respectful conversations with them. The one a few weeks ago was unnecessarily stressful and rude.
 

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