FYI: Surviving Debt Collection the next few DECADES (bankrupt, limitations, foreclosure)

[Thatguywho]

With all these short sales, forgiven or diluted debt, selling off of millions of contracts to dozens of companies, and potential for lost, misplaced, or ignored payments and payoffs......

it might be time to think about how to protect yourself, if you can, from a criminal debt collector for the next 10 to 20 years (yes, decades.)

Although something falls off your report, it does not go away and there is no time limit for that old debt. They will come.

Surviving debt collection for the next few decades - Dealing with debt collectors and the debt pool...

beware of the Cadle company

[texdav]

I have never had that problem and hopefully will. Best way is to pay your debt and don't buy what you can't afford or if the worse happens eliminate it by selling what you have to.

[scuba steve]

Yep.

Step 1 - pay what you owe, and never borrow more than you can cover
Step 2 - ???
Step 3 - avoid debt collectors for decades!

[Thatguywho]

i understand what you guys are saying,,, sure would be nice.
Lots of people have debts they have incurred though, medical, etc.

You will find bills that are paid off are sometimes not recorded that way.
And after a company goes bankrupt their assets go into the debt pool.
You get a call or a letter 20 years later, can you prove you paid it off?

A lot of elderly are hit with this from these companies and threatened and intimidated to pay or 'else' and they do.

paying your bills does not mean you will not accidently end up in a bad situation with those criminal collectors.

Do not forget identity fraud...all it takes is one bill to make your life a nightmare with these people.

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by Thatguywho

i understand what you guys are saying,,, sure would be nice.
Lots of people have debts they have incurred though, medical, etc.

You will find bills that are paid off are sometimes not recorded that way.
And after a company goes bankrupt their assets go into the debt pool.
You get a call or a letter 20 years later, can you prove you paid it off?

A lot of elderly are hit with this from these companies and threatened and intimidated to pay or 'else' and they do.

paying your bills does not mean you will not accidently end up in a bad situation with those criminal collectors.

Do not forget identity fraud...all it takes is one bill to make your life a nightmare with these people.

You don't need to provide the evidence. Send the credit bureaus a request for validation letter (creditboards.com is your greatest resource here) and it'll be gone since there will be none. Do NOT under any circumstances communicate with the debt collector.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

Yep.

Step 1 - pay what you owe, and never borrow more than you can cover
Step 2 - ???
Step 3 - avoid debt collectors for decades!

That's great, now lets say an average person gets sick, or has a spouse that now requires expensive meds, etc. Now you have a choice, pay your CC or pay for meds that keep your loved one alive.

It's not always black and white.

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

That's great, now lets say an average person gets sick, or has a spouse that now requires expensive meds, etc. Now you have a choice, pay your CC or pay for meds that keep your loved one alive.

It's not always black and white.

Then you pay for meds and forego the CC payment...and living and accepting what fate has given you. Which means - bad credit, debt collectors, and a lower standard of living for yourself as you pay off your debt...and being damned thankful that we have a system that forgives debt to a certain degree.

We (your fellow taxpayers and credit holders) will pay for your debt to a certain degree. We don't have debtors prison, we have entitlement programs for those in need. That's how our system works. Be thankful for that. But don't expect not to pay, and not to have problems, down the road.

by the way - I think this article deals with attempts to collect debts that have already been paid off, rather than suggesting scum-bag ways to avoid paying debt.

[wheelsup]

Relax I have $0 in CC debt (well actually a $45 credit) and drive a 14 year old car but I also took a 40% paycut this year and my wife left her job so I could relocate for mine. Life happens, unless you come from money or have had a well paying job for the past 10-20 years and were able to pay cash for a house anyone could end up in the same situation.

In other words I'm not naive enough to think that it can't happen to me, some people on here forget where they came from or have no clue what reality is. Life happens. And sometimes it sucks.

My relatives even owned their house outright, property taxes skyrocketed, all of a sudden they can't pay their taxes on a fixed income. What's next? Foreclosure of their home due to not paying taxes. Now what? They are screwed.

[subsound]

There's a good number of zombie debt collectors out there that either dig up debts long past the statute of limitations or "mistakenly" try to intimidate people to pay debts of some one else.

'Zombie' debt is hard to kill - MSN Money
Debt: Debt Collectors Incessantly Harass Dead Son's Parents
Sleazy new debt collector tactics - MSN Money
Audio: Recording Of A Pathetic Debt Collector
Zombie Debt: Third-Party Debt Collectors Misusing Courts To Increase Profits
http://consumerist.com/5031790/psych...one-elses-debt

[scuba steve]

ahh, see that stuff there. That's pure evil. There should be recourse against illegitimate debt collection. Like they have to pay you the amount they say you owe on top of whatever lawyer fees are racked up taking the dirtbags to court.

The demand for validation (DV) letter is of great use here. My fiance and I caught a medical billing error on her credit report and used that to get the bogus item off there. Seriously, it works wonders!