Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Washington

Re: Is there statute of limitations on bad debt

There is a statute of limitations on written instruments in Washington: Six years.

If the person who contacted you is a third-party debt collection agency, you need to get their actual or mailing address and write to them, advise them that the debt has been uncollectable since 1994, and that they need to stop their collection efforts immediately.

Send the letter certified, and send a copy to the Attorney General.

Nobody can file a judgment - one files a lawsuit to get a judgment.

However, if your memory is accurate that the debt became uncollectable in 1988, the debt collector is facing risk exposure for coming after you eighteen years later.

Debt collection agencies purchase portfolios of bad debt for pennies on the dollar, and then make money by convincing the alleged debtor that they'll get garnished if they don't pay up.

Good for you for figuring it out.

Hope this helps - Powell