Tammy
Lowville,#2Consumer Comment
Wed, July 30, 2003
As I understand it and I could be wrong(it happens dangit) the statute of limitations for a collection agency to collect on a judgement would be the SOL on the actual judgement. It would no longer be the SOL on an open ended account, written account, ect. Let us take California for example. You have a credit card that you have not paid on in 5 years. The SOL on a credit card in cali is 4 years so legally they cannot sue you(it happens though). Let us say in 3 years they sue you and get a judgment which makes the new SOL at 10 years. Cali also let's you renew for another 10 years. If it is sold to a collection agency then they get the rights to the credit card at the judment SOL time of 10 years. If you do get by the 4 years without a lawsuit and you are sued be sure to show up and defend yourself. It is also very important that you countersue for $1000 for violations of the FDCPA. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scott, using this same example above you used. Let's say that the original creditor on this credit card did get a judgment before the SOL was up and could not collect on it for whatever reason and sold it seven years later. Now legally the collection agency can enforce the collection because the SOL are not up. Now can the collection agency renew the original judgment within the SOL or does the original creditor have to do that. Thanks a bunch.
Audrey
Groton,#3Consumer Comment
Wed, July 30, 2003
In most stes the statue of limitation and judgements run the same amount of time. In my state the statue is six yrs. from the date of default and 10- 20 yrs. judgment, so the original creditor has 3- 16 yrs. to try to collect a judgment. If he sells it and charges it off, the buyer cannot sue for the judjment, he can try but you have the right to ask that the original creditor do the business with you because you did not sign a legal contract with the buyer. In most cases then it will be dismissed because of lack of evidence. You also have to be a licensed CA in this state to collect. If there is no judjment in your file the person who bought the charge-off is not supposed to be able to obtain one because you did not agree verbally or written to do business with them. CAMCO is a predator that prey on people who have had bad misfortunes. I find they themselves are not licensed in Ct. unless they are trying to say they are licensed under Whitewing. The Attorney General in this state is preparing to take aim at people like them. Tell them you will sue them if they continue to violate your rights send them a cease and desist letter certified, print your name and do not sign it(some will try to forge your name to say you made agreements), and tell them you will only talk to the alledged original creditor to see the validity of the debt; and blow them off. They should try another business instead of trying to prey on people who have paid dearly because of an illness, job loss, loss of health, loss of a loved one etc. Good luck Good luck
Scott
Akron,#4Consumer Suggestion
Tue, July 29, 2003
As I understand it and I could be wrong(it happens dangit) the statute of limitations for a collection agency to collect on a judgement would be the SOL on the actual judgement. It would no longer be the SOL on an open ended account, written account, ect. Let us take California for example. You have a credit card that you have not paid on in 5 years. The SOL on a credit card in cali is 4 years so legally they cannot sue you(it happens though). Let us say in 3 years they sue you and get a judgment which makes the new SOL at 10 years. Cali also let's you renew for another 10 years. If it is sold to a collection agency then they get the rights to the credit card at the judment SOL time of 10 years. If you do get by the 4 years without a lawsuit and you are sued be sure to show up and defend yourself. It is also very important that you countersue for $1000 for violations of the FDCPA.
Tammy
Lowville,#5Consumer Comment
Mon, July 28, 2003
Thank you Scott for the wonderful work you are doing here at this site. I wished this site existed twenty years ago and we wouldn't be having the widespread corruption we have. When addressing the question, I was thinking about collections on accounts that have judgements against them. And the states that I looked up had ten years. Some have only five years. So I think that it is good to know about this. Now I have one question about judgements that I couldn't find answered anywhere and this has got me confused on the collections process. If an account has a judgement against it, does the ordinary statue of limitations apply only to third party collection agencies, or does the judgment statue of limitations apply to the collections agency as well. In other words, if an account has a judgement against it, it is logical that the original creditor can use the statue of limitations for the judgement and have judgements renewed again and again into perpetuity. But do the collection agencies also have the right to use the statue of limitations for the judgment if they have purchased the account with the judgement against them? Or are they required to go by the ordinary statue of limitations for that state in that Case? I think it is an important distinction because some accounts that are really old if they have a judgment against them may still fall into the statue of limitations even if they are fifteen years old and have been turned over to a third party collection agency. That is where I am confused and where my concerns are. Again thank you for your work on this site and thank you in advance for any information you can give me on this matter.
Scott
Akron,#6Consumer Suggestion
Sun, July 27, 2003
You were talking about collections. Actually each state has a different law so 10 years is rather vague. They run from 5 to 25 years. Some states are renewable and some are not. believe me I am not on camcos side. They know me. they hate me. The bbb knows me. The illinois attorney general knows me. The ftc investigator who does camco knows me. Attorneys call me for advice on camco. I despise camco. oh, I have talked to a few people who work for camco and they tell me what is going on. I love moles. I have talked to past camco employees. Heck, I have talked to parents of camco employees who are concerned about the welfare of their children who work for camco. Everyone knows about this company yet something funny is going on. anyway, I am thinking within 6 months we will all know alot more and they may know the inside of a jail cell. My fingers are crossed but what is going on now has nothing to do with my efforts. Others have finally had enough.
Scott
Akron,#7Consumer Suggestion
Sun, July 27, 2003
You were talking about collections. Actually each state has a different law so 10 years is rather vague. They run from 5 to 25 years. Some states are renewable and some are not. believe me I am not on camcos side. They know me. they hate me. The bbb knows me. The illinois attorney general knows me. The ftc investigator who does camco knows me. Attorneys call me for advice on camco. I despise camco. oh, I have talked to a few people who work for camco and they tell me what is going on. I love moles. I have talked to past camco employees. Heck, I have talked to parents of camco employees who are concerned about the welfare of their children who work for camco. Everyone knows about this company yet something funny is going on. anyway, I am thinking within 6 months we will all know alot more and they may know the inside of a jail cell. My fingers are crossed but what is going on now has nothing to do with my efforts. Others have finally had enough.
Scott
Akron,#8Consumer Suggestion
Sun, July 27, 2003
You were talking about collections. Actually each state has a different law so 10 years is rather vague. They run from 5 to 25 years. Some states are renewable and some are not. believe me I am not on camcos side. They know me. they hate me. The bbb knows me. The illinois attorney general knows me. The ftc investigator who does camco knows me. Attorneys call me for advice on camco. I despise camco. oh, I have talked to a few people who work for camco and they tell me what is going on. I love moles. I have talked to past camco employees. Heck, I have talked to parents of camco employees who are concerned about the welfare of their children who work for camco. Everyone knows about this company yet something funny is going on. anyway, I am thinking within 6 months we will all know alot more and they may know the inside of a jail cell. My fingers are crossed but what is going on now has nothing to do with my efforts. Others have finally had enough.
Scott
Akron,#9Consumer Suggestion
Sun, July 27, 2003
You were talking about collections. Actually each state has a different law so 10 years is rather vague. They run from 5 to 25 years. Some states are renewable and some are not. believe me I am not on camcos side. They know me. they hate me. The bbb knows me. The illinois attorney general knows me. The ftc investigator who does camco knows me. Attorneys call me for advice on camco. I despise camco. oh, I have talked to a few people who work for camco and they tell me what is going on. I love moles. I have talked to past camco employees. Heck, I have talked to parents of camco employees who are concerned about the welfare of their children who work for camco. Everyone knows about this company yet something funny is going on. anyway, I am thinking within 6 months we will all know alot more and they may know the inside of a jail cell. My fingers are crossed but what is going on now has nothing to do with my efforts. Others have finally had enough.
Tammy
Lowville,#10Consumer Comment
Fri, July 25, 2003
If a creditor has a judgement against you and has won that judgement, it is ten years for most states and it can be renewed. The problem is that the creditor within the statute of limits has to take you to court and get a judgment. Once he gets a judgment, the ordinary SOL is ten years, but it can be extended. For ordinary accounts and transactions that do not involve lawsuits and judgements, the ordinary rules apply. The web site I got this from is here. http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitationsJudgements.shtml I was looking at the judgements and confused the scenario situation.
Scott
Akron,#11Consumer Suggestion
Thu, July 24, 2003
There is no 10 year rule for collecting a debt. IT is legal to collect on time barred debts except in wisconson and possible california. That being said, all you need to do is send a notification that the statute of limitations to sue on is up and include a cease and desist which bars them from telephone and mail collection and you have blocked them off from all collection prodecudes. It IS illegal to sue on a time barred debt so they cannot do that. They cannot pull your credit report. They cannot call you. They cannot send you letters. They are finished.
Tammy
Lowville,#12Consumer Comment
Wed, July 23, 2003
Ok, there are two statue of limitations. The first set of statue of limitations is when a debt is allowed to appear on the credit report. It is seven years from last activity. The second statue of limitations is when a company may officially attempt to collect a debt. That is usually ten years depending on the state. Most states have it as ten years. There are also two types of collection agencies. One is the assigned collection agency. This agency still works for the original creditor and has not bought off the debt. The original creditor has already charged off the debt (law requires them to for any account 180 days past due), but the creditor still hopes to collect something from the debtor. The assigned collection agency collects for the creditor for a commission of 25-40%. The second type of collection agency is the scavenger who purchases outright the debts that have been charged off. These will buy the debt for about 2 to 3 cents on the dollar and hope to turn around and make tons. Usually these companies will buy a debt that is years old. Here are some facts to consider. One, the law put the statue of limitations in place for a reason. One to balance the needs of justice with the needs of mercy. It is true that there will always be a certain percentage of consumers in a credit driven society that will not be able to pay. Sometimes it is through their own fault and sometimes it is through no fault of their own. It is not for us to judge. The law doesn't. It states that there is a statue of limitations for a reason. No one should have to pay indefinetely for a mistake that they made or for the misfortunes of life. There is built into our legal system, the means for starting over, and suitable restitution. Anyone who has gone through the experience of falling on hard times where they cannot honor their debts do pay for it. They may not pay in monetary terms, but they always pay for it with their credit, through higher than average interest rates as other creditors judge them to be risky and through missed opportunities. They are punnished for those who wish to argue morality. This bad credit also has an amazing ability to make those who can afford to pay back the loan to actually try and honor the loan. Now onto another fact. Collection agencies who purchase old debts for pennies on the dollar do so with the intention of making a substantial profit. One fact that people don't realize is this. Once you make a payment to this collection agency, the clock starts over. That means, this collection acency has the right to enter this debt onto your credit report and the entire cycle (credit reporting statue of limitations and debt collection statue of limitations) all over again. That means if you are sitting on a debt that is nine years old and it is impossible for you to pay it, don't. It is off your credit report and the statue of limitations is almost over. Let them take you to court and cite the statue of limitations as your defense. The law says you can do so because the law built this into the system for a reason. It understands that it is inherently unjust to make someone pay a bill that they can no longer afford to pay forever. It is inherently unjust to hound someone twenty or thirty years after the fact.
Terry
Toledo,#13Consumer Suggestion
Mon, July 21, 2003
Actually, CAMCO and their bottom feeding kind buy this kind of debt for LESS THAN ONE-HALF CENT ON THE DOLLAR! If your not good at math this means they can buy an old $10,000 debt for LESS THAN $50!. This means that if they can can get a hold of less than 1 out of 10 debtors and manage to harass and con those 10% out of even 1/4 of the orginal debt they still make out like bandits, making something like $2000 on a $500 investment. This isn't even debt collection, its pure greedy speculation. NO ONE has any kind of moral obligation to pay these scumbags anything. Why don't they try buying up some old Tsarist bonds and calling people in Russia to see if anyone there would like to make good on their debt.
Scott
Akron,#14Consumer Suggestion
Mon, July 21, 2003
It is illegal to sue on a time barred debt. Look up Kimber v Federal Financial Corp. It is considered an fdcpa violation for deceptive means and if you are sued you must show up for court and present all the information you having proving the SOL is up. You must also countersue for $1000. Camco rarely sues because if the FTC finds out they will be in more trouble than they already are. Make sure you complain to the FTC and the illinois attorney general.
Vanessa
Buford,#15Consumer Comment
Sat, July 19, 2003
I wish to thank Kent & Sandy from Utah on their comments. I agree that if I did owe anyone for this debt, it would be the original creditor, not CAMCO. But it is not the original creditor trying to collect now is it? As Kent & Sandy stated, they wrote it off a long time ago, so they don't expect to collect and have never tried. I feel CAMCO & other companies like them do indeed buy debts for penny's on the dollar and then try to collect for their own profit. They ARE NOT going to turn over any money they collect to the original creditor, and you can take that to the bank! Since they did not grant the debt to begin with, they are not entitled to anything from me as far as I am concerned. Just so Amanda from Chicago knows: I never signed an agreement, contract, or purchased goods or services from CAMCO, therefore I defend my stance that I do not owe them one red cent. If they purchased a bad debt that is over 9 years old, that's their problem. They can certainly try to collect, but I am unemployed, and have no verifyable income. So let them try; let them sue me. They might win a judgement in court, but if I have no income, they can't collect. If I am correct, 'Debtors Prison' was done away with a very long time ago, at least in this country, so they can't put me in jail for being broke, poor, unemployed and having debt. (The exception would be for court ordered child support, which is not the case here). As the old saying goes: "You can't get blood from a turnip"!
Audrey
Groton,#16Consumer Comment
Fri, July 18, 2003
CAMCO buys debts that are old and sold for pennies, they then try to stronghold consumers for any payment for profit. Most of these debts are charge-offs from the original creditor. While you may owe the debt, you have the right to tell them you will only do business with the original creditor. This group is currently being investigated for illegal practices and I'm not sure if they are even licensed; if they are it is under whitewing financial.
Kent
Sandy,#17Consumer Suggestion
Fri, July 18, 2003
I am So sick of reading post Written by collection agents about owing debt and the morally right thing to do. Id like to bring up the point the original Creditors in these cases sold that debt years past. For penny s on the Dollar, so as far as their concerned the account is closed Now where is the morality in buying someone else's debt only so you can hound them and if your not the original debtor where do you get off trying to make money off of other peoples misfortune. There is no morality its simply profit you buy an old debt for pennies. Some how I doubt that if you collect more than you paid for the debt that you are going to hand it over to the original creditor no your not. You are right people still owe the debt. But not to lowlife opportunist who have found a way to make a dollar and not to scumbag companies like camco who call up pretending to be law enforcement and scaring the hell out of people. As far a being perfectly legal to collect a debt. Ok how about collecting what was paid for it . No that wouldn't work were would be the profit, which is all it boils down to so don't post about morality and the right thing to do. When you have no intentions of trying to compensate the original creditor. These debt that are 7 to 20 years old some of the companies are not even in business any more. If you owe a debt and its playing on your Morality donate to charity and tell camco & Companies like them to kiss your a*s! P.S On second thought donate to the Rippoff Report So they are able to keep bringing these low life bottom feeders to light!
Amanda
Chicago,#18Consumer Suggestion
Fri, July 18, 2003
I hope you know that just because it cannot be reported on your credit and that you cannot be taken to court, you still owe the debt. I advise you to read the F.D.C.P.A.(Fair Debt Collections Practices Act) guidelines and regulations on this subject. It is perfectly legal for them to collect a debt, no matter how old it is. Also, why would you dispute a debt you know is yours just because it is past the statute of limitations?