Collection attempt for a 20 year old paid traffic ticket

[beedub34]

What is the name of your state? Florida (But the issue happened in Texas)
I have a question stemming from a letter I just received telling me I owe a third party collection company fees stemming from a 1997 traffic violation that I went in and squared away the following Monday in a town in Texas. I ran to the store in sweats and forgot my wallet... Pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign.. Given a citation for not having proof of License or Insurance... Went in that Monday and showed proof.. and was told, all good.. 21 years later I just got something in the mail stating I owe $917 from a "law firm" in Texas..
1. I have looked this "law firm" up on BBA and it is rife with them trying to get money out of people after buying old debt off whomever
2. I (of course) have NO idea where and IF I have any of the records from 20 years ago.
3. I know that any collection agency has NO right to report to any credit report past ten years and that any attempt would be "re-age"'ing debt (which is supposedly illegal)
4. I also know that regardless of whether I can find my proof or not there is a 2 year statute in TX, which includes basic traffic tickets

i want to do the right thing here. Without getting sucked into some collection scam (which I read about this "law firm"). I am pretty sure I am not going to be able to find records from 20yrs ago.. I would be COMPLETELY surprised as I shred stuff after 7 usually... I dont want to call this :law firm" and give validity to anything they are trying to do. I know that they can not report credit wise, but I am afraid they might try to and then what? I know what they are trying to do is wrong... BUT... how do I minimize my exposure... Should I just call them, tell them this and... ?? Should I ignore them and take action after they have done whatever they may try to do... ?? OR??

I found an old thread from 2008 from my Google search with a similar question... after two years another person was threatened with being kicked out after highjacking another person's thread... SO... here it is fresh thread... Sorry, if it is buried in these threads answered... I did look for a bit and did not see my exact question...

Thank you for any help!

 

[Dandy Don]

Ignore them.

The item may already be on your credit report, so you need to check your credit report to see if it is there, just for your own information.

 

[NeilTheCop]

I don't know if they are a genuine law firm and I don't know if anyone can call themselves a law firm if they are not.
I am also unaware that the courts used private debt collection agencies.

 

[adjusterjack]

I (of course) have NO idea where and IF I have any of the records from 20 years ago.

Which is a good argument in favor of scanning ALL your personal records on to your computer and a back up drive and keeping them forever.

 

[beedub34]

I agree Adjustjack (now).... In '96 it was not really a thing... However... In '06 it was... should have followed that advice then...

 

[happygilmore]

I'm thinking the law firm is contacting you on behalf of a junk debt collector who may have purchased your debt for pennies on a dollar from an another junk debt collector. You need to lookup the SOL for the state where you received the ticket. Legally they can't re-age or take you to the court but they are shady and will try anything.

You can write to them to verify the debt and let them know you will raise the SOL defense in court if you are sued. This usually stops them from pursing further collection efforts. You should never admit that the alleged debt is yours either in writing or over the phone. In most states the admission will reset the SOL clock or re-toll it - meaning they can now legally come after you.

 

[Zigner]

Irrelevant rubbish not worth quoting

What you have written applies to consumer debt, not collections due to traffic tickets.