collection agency trying to collect on debt that does not appear on credit report

by Sara
( Brighton, UK)

I was contacted in May 2011 by a collection agency about an old debt (last payment date 09/2005) that does not appear on my current credit report. It does appear on a report from a year ago. The original debt was about 10,000 and now they are claiming it's at $14,000.

If it does not appear on my current report has it exceeded the statute of limitations? I have a feeling it has and that this agency is trying to collect on an invalid debt.

I've been in the UK for 8.5 years and this US based agency has threatened to put this forth to UK attorneys.

I'm wondering if their bulldog tactics are a front or if this debt could still be valid though it's not listed on my CR...

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Jun 03, 2011
 collection agency trying to collect on debt that does not appear on credit report
by: Debtcollectionanswers.com

The statute of limitations on a debt begins when you first miss a payment on the debt, which means that in the case of the debt in question, it began in September of 2005 or a little more than 5 &1/2 years ago. Whether or not the statute of limitations on the debt has expired by now or not however, depends on the nature of the debt and the state where you were residing at the time that you acquired the debt, information you did not provide in your question. You can google "statue of limitations in XX (name of state) state" to obtain this information.

I would not assume that just because the debt does not appear in your current credit report that it has expired however. Negative information, like an unpaid account, can be reported for 7 years, which would be sometime in 2012 for the debt you write about.

The fact that you are no longer living in the US makes resolving your problem a bit complicated. However, you may want to begin by searching on the Internet for a consumer law attorney in your former state who helps consumers resolve their debt collection problems and contact him or her via email for advice about what to do. Given that you are being threatened with legal action and that the amount of your debt is increasing, I would act sooner rather than later.

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