Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

debt collection after 10 years

I took out a loan sometime in 1987. I defaulted in 1989. The loan company (ITT Financial) has through the years sold my debt to various collection agencies in an attempt to collect on this debt. Each time this debt is assigned a different "account number" so as to appear as a recent debt and not the same one from 1989. ITT NEVER took me to court or received a judgement..it has been a negative mark on my credit report since 1989. ITT has dropped from my credit file...but the company they sold it to still appears. Since the negative info stems from 1989, shouldn't it have dropped from my credit file? How long can a collector attempt to collect on a debt?


Asked on 8/19/00, 1:03 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Ken Koury Kenneth P. Koury, Esq.

Re: debt collection after 10 years

I'm not sure what the rules are as far as the credit report goes, but they only have four years from the date of default to go to court in collect the debt. After that, statute of limitations has run and the debt is not collectible.

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Answered on 12/15/00, 2:11 am
Alexander Trueblood Trueblood Law Firm

Re: debt collection after 10 years

The 7 years began to run from the date of the last delinquency plus 180 days. So the debt collectors' entries should by law have fallen off. You need to challenge those by writing to each consumer reporting agency on which they appear.

A threat to file a suit on a debt this old is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or comparable CA law. If threats were made to sue after the limitations period, please contact my firm or another consumer attorney in your area.

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Answered on 8/25/01, 8:04 pm


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