Old account question

[morris_vu]

What is the name of your state? TX

I had a credit card account originally with Compass Bank in TX last paid in Dec 1997. Over the past years, it's been sold to different collection agencies and faithfully reported on my credit reports. The latest (and current) collection agency who owns this account is Credigy (since March 04), showing a rediculous balance (3+ times of orginal amt). All previous agencies and bank have been cleared from my credit report.

My questions are:
1/ Since this account is so old, should it not be out of my credit reports regardless who is or will be the owner of this charge? If not, when?

2/ Should I call Credigy and make deal with them to settle a payment on this account now? What's the typical amount (% of orginal amt) is common for cases like this? Will they lie to take my money and still consider the account as collection?

Any other suggestions/ideas are very much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Dandy Don]

Talk to a debt/collections attorney to find out if there is a statute of limitations that applies to this debt.

If needed, you can negotiate to a lower amount (offer to pay half or a third of it if they agree to settle).

 

[Tayla]

My response: Texas has a 4 year time frame for collections on "Open Ended accounts". The SOL would be up if '97 was the last date of activity.

Response to 2nd question: Ohh yes definitely call Credigy and in the nicest of tones tell em Stuff it! You are not thinking correctly if you truly want to negotiate a deal on a dead account. Say your good-byes to this account and move on with your life.
This entry to your credit report is allowed to be maintained for 7 years and 180 days from date of last activity. You'll most likely see it fall off in June of 2005 ( if my math is correct)
Last question: Yes the collection agencies are bound to lie, its in there blood and comes naturally

 

[Ladynred]

I wouldn't pay them a red cent ! The statute of limitations for debts in TX is FOUR YEARS - the SOL on this thing ran out in 2001 !! So, all you really need to do now is send Credigy a cease and desist letter telling them to buzz off, the debt is time barred by TX statute.

Here's a letter to use for this exact purpose:

http://community-2.webtv.net/YCHANGE/STORAGE/page13.html

The TX statute you need for the letter is on that same site.

The bad debt can stay on your reports for 7 years + 180 days starting with the 1st delinquency that preceeded the charge-off. Once it falls off, they can NOT put it back on - not legally anyway, and no collection can survive the obsolesence of the original debt.

 

[morris_vu]

Thank you very much for your responses.

As you said, I would not worry about SOL, but I do want it off my credit reports asap instead of June 2005. What's the best way I can do that, if any? Thanks.

 

[Tayla]

Consider yourself lucky that the SOL protected you from having to pay on a balance owed. The CRA is following protocol as Ladynred stated. The collection agency has the right to report this debt. Be an adult and accept the consequences of this negative entry. Your dispute with the CRA will do little good.