CAMCO Capital Acquisitions Management ripoff scams for old claimed debt Rockford Illinois
CAMCO has contacted my significant other regarding debt they claim is from 1984. Of course when asked verbally over the phone to prove this debt they yell and claim that you are wasting their time.
After calls to the MN state AG's office I was told that this is a grey area of the law. They still may have the right to attempt to collect the debt.
They still have to abide by the FTC's Fair Debt Collection practices though.
After 7 years the statute of limitations is expired. They may not sue you and they may not report you to a collection agency.
HOWEVER, if you make ANY payment on this account you may re-activate it and restart the 7 year counter. They may then sue and report you to credit agencies.
If you are aware of the debt and they claim it is old debt (over 7 years).
First right a letter disputing - they must stop all collection practices at the time and prove in writing the debt exists.
If any claims are made that they will turn you over for a suit or to a credit bureau and the debt is over 7 years old contact the FTC at WWW.FTC.GOV or 1-877-FTC-HELP.
This is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection practices since they may not take you to court or report you to a credit bureau after seven years - AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT RE-ACTIVATE THE ACCOUNT BY PAYING THEM MONEY!
Second after the dispute if the debt is not valid make sure they leave you alone.
Third if the debt is valid and over seven years old you may contact them in writing to request not to be contacted again. They then may only send you a letter telling you they will not contact you further. Again, since the debt is over seven years old you may not be sued or reported.
Here are some FTC links on the Fair Debt Collection act:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/commentary.htm#807
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm
Also, please note that in some states credit card debt statute of limitations expire earlier than seven years. For example, in MN the limit is six years. In FL the limit is five years.
Contact your state attorney general's office for more information.
John
Minneapolis, Minnesota
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Scott
Akron,Ohio,
U.S.A.
I share your enthusiasm in a mutual hatred of scamco your info is incorrect
#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, March 20, 2003
While I share your enthusiasm in a mutual hatred of scamco your info is incorrect. The 7 years does hold true for reporting to your credit reports. Camco likes to tell people they will place it on their reports if they do not pay. This ia violation of the fdcpa. However, the SOL for sueing is different in each state. You would have to look up the statute in your state. Also, credit cards are NOT written accounts. They are open ended accounts. Scam agencies like camco like to tell people they are written so they can take advantage of longer SOLS. They are lying. A credit card is clearly defined as open ended in the TILA. Also, I have never heard of scamco collecting on a debt that is not time barred so anytime you get a call from these crooks just remember everything they say is a lie, the debt is no longer owed, and they will break the law repeatedly. They have been banned to collect in washington. They have class action lawsuits against them in 5 states now and growing. They have hundreds of BBB, attorney general, and ftc(although ftc keeps the amount quiet) complaints. Make your complaints and be heard.