Debt collections after 14 years??

[BigJohnny]

[CANADIAN/ONTARIO TOPIC]
I'm seeking the advice of the community here in hopes that at least a few of you might know a thing or two about debt collections.

Back when I was 18, had just moved out of my parents house and in with my girlfriend whom just had a baby, I was with CIBC and on social assistance (Welfare) and the bank thought it would be a great idea to extend me (a new, 18 year old client) a $500 overdraft protection on my account.

This was great as I was basically dirt poor, not working yet and could have some money to fall back on.

Well things didn't pan out for a long time and I was unable to pay that off all the while it's accruing interest. I spoke with the bank and tried to close the account and work out some kind of method to repay the money.

They refused to close the account and I was stuck paying interest that I could never pay back.

It was until the interest hit somewhere around $2000 that they decided to close the account and send it to collections. Life took many wrong turns and I was never able to make payments on it because I was struggling just trying to survive.

So time goes by (7 years I think) and eventually it doesn't show up on my credit history and the harassing phone calls and letters to my parents stopped.

Things start finally going well for me only in the last 3-4 years, my credit score is working it's way up, bills are being paid and nothing is in collections.

Now here it is 14 years later and just a week or two ago a letter shows up at my parents house wanting me to pay $2200 that's in collections from CIBC.

I'm at a point in my life where I really don't need this fucking with my credit, things are finally starting to go well, and I'm in a position where I could potentially pay the $2200 or at least setup some payment plan, but it would still really affect me and my ability to support my family.

But I'm pretty sure that after this period of time I shouldn't have to pay that. It's an entirely different company hunting me down this time (NCO).

TL;DR

Had money in collections when I was 18 from the bank, a long time goes by and it doesn't show on my credit history. Now they want the money again 14 years later.




Does anybody know anything about this stuff and if there is anyway other than paying it off for this to be gone from my life?

 

[EsterEssence]

Statute of limitation's come to mind. If not offer them $500.00 and pay it off...

 

[Boyd Crowder]

I just went through this with my wife.

Offer them $200-500 to settle. If they arent garnishing your wages or bank accounts, they have no power to recover. If they are, file a traverse, and that will get you a court hearing against their lawyers. Chances are the judge will throw it out (14 Years? - they have to PROVE you owe them this debt and theres a significant chance they wont have the proper chain of paperwork) or the attorneys wont even show up and judge will throw it out.
My $.02

 

[Lapides]

I used to sell mortgages for a living.

If you 'settle' that account, it will show up negatively on your credit report, and it will take time for it to go away.

Have you run your credit since you've been contacted by collections recently? As far as I can remember, this sort of stuff only shows up for 7 years. But by them contacting you again, I don't know if that would start that whole 7 year cycle over again.

If it does show up on your credit report, the best thing to do is pay it off completely. You can set up a payment plan with the collection agency.

In my experience, it's always best to pay back money you owe. Doesn't matter if you were stupid when you borrowed it, you still borrowed it.

 

[Midnite Toker]

Hey Big J! So what happened, probably, is the debt was sold for pennies on the dollar. It is probably "out of stat" paper(debt) but technically it is still owed. If it is out of stat (Statuate of limatations) the collection agency can not take any legal action but can continue to ask you to pay with incessant phone calls and letters.
You have a few options. You can cease the agency from more calls. Some require the cease in writing so get a fax number to expediate this. They may just sell to someone else meaning in 3 or 4 months calls continue. You could settle. Again this debt probably cost the agency 10 cents on the dollar. Offer a settlement of 25 percent. Offer it in payments if needed but before you commit get the agreement in writing. Also tell them no settlement unless they remove this completely from your CBR. Get this in writing as well.
The 3rd option would be to simply dispute this with the credit bureau reporting agencies. If the collection agency cant or isnt willing to verify it they will stop reporting it. This can be a process.
~mT
If you decide to settle, make sure to get a reciept, a zero balance letter. If it isnt closed properly you might hear from another agency.

 

[hush]

I don't know how different it is in Canada from the U.S. but here there is a statute of limitations of 7 years. If you were to contact a "debt resolution" service what they would do for you is send out certified letters with delivery confirmation that say "You have 30 days to verify the existence of this debt, or else you must remove it from the record." Make sure you hold on to the record of the delivery confirmation, and then if needed, you take them to small claims court.

I am not a lawyer. I am not giving legal advice. I am just someone who has gone through it himself.

 

[meadowman]

Not sure how it works there, but here in the usa you should ask me to remove from your credit before you pay them. Most will leave it on your credit if this is not done.

 

[Stoner4Life]

Have you run your credit since you've been contacted by collections recently? As far as I can remember, this sort of stuff only shows up for 7 years. But by them contacting you again, I don't know if that would start that whole 7 year cycle over again.

excellent point that I was going to mention, my knowledge on these matters reflect stateside statutes.

exhaust all possibilities before negotiating with the collection company. here in the usa if you enter into negotiations with a collection company on a debt the 7 year clock is reset.

so if I had ignored some 'old debt' billings for 6 years but then decided to talk to these collectors about repayment the cycle starts again as a fresh debt.

 

[D. B. Doober]

This is great timing, as I have a serious credit issue - in 2000 (around then) I maxed out many credit cards and defaulted on lots of loans. It was my understanding that things only stay on your credit report for 7 years. I repeatedly see "Sears" on my credit report...and that's definitely from 15 years ago. Why is my credit not clear/clean? Do I simply write Experian/Equifax with my credit report and say everything is from over a decade ago?

 

[stoned-trout]

the checks in the mail .....ha ha yeehaw

 

[LEF]

Hey bigjohnny, if you cant afford a lawyer or financial advisor maybe you could ask "legal aid"?

Its for those who cant afford it, not sure if thats how they call it.

 

[Sisu]

I think statutes of limitations vary by state. I realize the OP was asking about the law in Canada, but just wanted to put the SOL out there for others. Maybe it varies by province in Canada?

Statutes of limitations by state (US)

 

[hush]

^ Interesting! Do you know if it is based on the residence of the person, or headquarters of the collector?

 

[mr.brunch]

Tell them you want a breakdown of all charges- without this any judge would tell them to jog on.
But then , if it's been that long without communications from them they should have no right to Persue it.

 

[Snype]

The court system favors these creditors. I have lots of experience with this. In 2006 after I got busted and almost did 5 years, I maxed out every credit card (over 50k) after the cops took my brand new car that I still had to make payments on. I figured I'm going to have bad credit anyway so I mind as well take them for everything I can. In MA they have to take it off your credit record after 6 years but the trick is you have to deny everything. When they call you, you hang up. The minute you say anything about paying even a penny, the 6 year clock starts over again. Deny everything. If they file a judgement against you, it lasts 20 years before it leaves your credit. The judge will side with the credit people. The system is not here for us.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ok, so I've been looking a little bit and apparently the statute of limitations in Canada/Ontario is 2 years, after which point they cannot take legal action (sue etc)

If I acknowledge the debt, that 2 years starts all over and they can sue me.

as far as I know this is NOT showing on my credit rating because it did in the past and I did have a credit check done a couple of times in the past like 5 years and it was no longer showing on my credit history.

What I'm concerned about is it affecting my credit now, I haven't called them or contacted them in any way yet.

That's why they still send shit to my parents house because they don't know where I am.

So this should've been off my credit history in 2006 I believe. I want them to stop harassing me period. I'm not paying these sleezy assholes.

 

[Snype]

Ok, so I've been looking a little bit and apparently the statute of limitations in Canada/Ontario is 2 years, after which point they cannot take legal action (sue etc)

If I acknowledge the debt, that 2 years starts all over and they can sue me.

as far as I know this is NOT showing on my credit rating because it did in the past and I did have a credit check done a couple of times in the past like 5 years and it was no longer showing on my credit history.

What I'm concerned about is it affecting my credit now, I haven't called them or contacted them in any way yet.

That's why they still send shit to my parents house because they don't know where I am.

So this should've been off my credit history in 2006 I believe. I want them to stop harassing me period. I'm not paying these sleezy assholes.

These guys won't just send shit to your parents. They will contact anyone they can find related to you and continue their harassment. I even made the mistake of going to court after they sued me. The judge didn't care what I had to say at all. It is all big business for them. Even though the fees and interest were ridiculous, the judge assigned even more interest and fees to my debt. After that I moved and set up trust accounts and disappeared from the planet earth. I will never have anything in my name ever again. I enjoy being a ghost!

 

[blastfrompast]

agree on the they will call everyone in the book to try and "shame" you into contacting them.
My inlaws last name is spelled uniquely, but sounds like a common name.

There is another person in this province with the same first name, and last "SOUNDING" name as my brother in law, name is spelled diff, birthday is 10yrs off, etc. Name is just CLOSE.

Every 6-8 months they get a call looking for the guy with my Brother in laws name.... My MIL just goes off on them now saying they have the wrong house...and she can swear like a sailor.
When I sold my house and had to live there for 3 months while our new one was getting ready I answered the phone and chatted with the guy on the phone.... They get quite pushy, eventually he hung up after I went into detail about his Mama's coochie and how the football team could all fit in there.

Can't offer a settlement without re-setting clock which is a fucking catch-22 lol.

If it is any conciliation, I paid a 1200 cell bill from an ex...I found out about it from my mortgage broker...original bill was 200....Downside for me it was either pay the bill,or have it cause me some grief in the mortgage dept....Upside I banged her best friend after we broke up lol

 

[mr.brunch]

I would ignore it... It would seem they have no right as too much time has elapsed

 

[BigJohnny]

So how can I get them to STFU and stop harassing me? Do I need to speak with a lawyer about this?

From what I understand when this was with ARC it went past the SOL and I haven't heard from them since, but they must've sold the debt to another company which is illegal from what I've read.

I don't know how true that is or if it applies to my situation/province, but it would seem that after 14 years they can't do shit and I just need to get rid of them.

These fuckers are like herpes.