Did anyone put a gun to head to take the loan? The mortgages are not a mess; everyone wants to blame everyone else but themselves for their bad decisions.

These guys really give me a headache. First you make people greedy by giving them free loan and then snatch away their houses in return. What a mess mortgage is.
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I wouldn't call; it’s been nine years and they are hoping to get money out of someone that doesn’t know the law. I would do a credit check for a peace of mind. If you read other peoples post on here you will see my advice is correct.

Thanks!

Do you know the specific law in question? I'd like to make sure that when we call (or write a letter) that we have all the facts and can quote the specific law that covers this.

I'm gathering we should, indeed, send this: /threadview/3168.html as it will keep them from calling us, and move this to the "sue" stage, which as you say, cannot happen as it's too old.

Thanks again.

The collection agency can probably call you up for the next ten years but legally they can not sue you. Whether you pay your debt or not by law the item must come off your credit report six years from the last time you made payment on the account or date of last activity which is the same thing.

Thanks for the answer, average_joe. Do you have a source I can refer to with regards to the legality of pursing a debt that is 9 years old? Does it matter when the original debt is from, or when the received the debt from Bell?

Thanks!

If the is debt is nine years old and that was the last time you paid on the account I would ignore their telephone calls because they can not legally do anything to you. I would do a credit check to see if they wrongfully put that item on your credit file.

I guess they're all strange.

A few days ago, my girlfriend got a call from a collection agency, claiming she owes them $150 from 2001. They claim they got the debt in 2008 from Bell Canada, but refused to provide any other details besides the address she lived at at the time.

She called Bell to find out WTF. They said they have no record of her, but that it only goes back three years, and will only go to the archives if she pays $5 per bill for as many bills as they decide to send her.

This seems a little surreal to me. My questions:

1) 9 years? Can they really even try to collect that?

2) Has this already hit her credit report? If so, should she just refuse to pay on the grounds that she has no evidence that she owes them anything?

3) Should we send them the letter from this thread: /threadview/3168.html and hope they decide not to waste their time over $150?

We'd be happy to pay if this was a legitimate debt that we can verify, but since they refuse to give any details, and Bell doesn't have any record of it, it's a hard pill to swallow.

Thanks!