Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
Collection Agency extending collection past original creditors 7 year limit
My husband was divorced in June 1999. He transferred to CA, but didn�t arrange to remove himself from the joint credit cards, even though their divorce decree states that they are to �hold each other harmless of debt not stated in the divorce decree, and to discontinue use the joint accounts.� This he did, but she did not. He was in the USMC, deployed overseas back and forth for 3 years. His credit is a mess, she charged on credit cards for years afterwards and never paid the bills. She had the billing addresses changed to reflect her address, so he never received them. He �trusted� she would abide by the decree, and sent $ to her to pay his debt owed in the decree. She never paid the debt, and it defaulted. He found out and quit paying her and she sued him! He also had his USMC retirement garnished by this same creditor, unbeknownst to us, for 2 years (retirees don�t get statements) so we never had a clue. We have been plugging along for 5 years now and are almost past the 7-year mark. One of the last creditors is due to drop off in May 05, but they sold his account to a collection agency, and his bureau report states this will not fall off for 7 more years. Why doesn�t this end? It's like being in jail for 7 more years!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Collection Agency extending collection past original creditors 7 year limit
First of all, he should sue his ex for violating the divorce decree. This is between him and her, and the credit card company is not privy to that agreement. He should have notified the CC company to have the accounts cancelled, or sent them a letter of non-responsibility at the time of the separation.
Regarding the credit bureau, they cannot extend the life of a negative report simply by selling it to a collection agency. It must fall off after 7 years from the date of last activity.
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