Dealing with zombie debt
An excellent article in the October issue of Consumer Report discusses what they call zombie debt – debt that is very old and may have been resold many times to many debt collection agencies.
Importantly, the article has some information on debt that you may not know:
Statutes of limitations exist on the length of time a collector has to sue a debtor, as do restrictions on reporting the debt to a credit agency. But there’s no time limit on the sale of debt. And many states let debt collectors revive a debt that’s past the statute of limitations if they persuade the consumer to make a payment.
The fact that various statutes of limitations apply to old debt makes it even more troubling to see Chase confiscating funds to satisfy old debts, valid or not, without any warning, notice, or opportunity to challenge the validity of the debt. Often times this old debt is from companies that Chase has acquired over the years and the details of the debt may not be recorded properly.
If you have funds confiscated by Chase I urge you to challenge them as to the validity of the debt and investigate the statutes of limitations that may apply in your state and at a federal level. Every challenge to this practice makes it less profitable for Chase.
Bad bad Chase, Tips | admin September 17, 2010
