Can a Debt Collector Refuse to Respond to a Debt Validation Letter?

If you're one of the many people who have received calls and letters from collectors regarding debts you weren't even aware existed, sending the collection agency a debt validation letter is one way to ensure the debt is yours before you pay it.

What many debtors don't realize is that, while federal law gives you the right to request debt validation, it doesn't require the collection agency to actually provide it. It merely prohibits the debt collector from continuing with any collection activity (except credit reporting) until it validates your debt. There are some situations, however, in which a collectors will ignore your debt validation request altogether.

1. The Validation Period Has Expired

A debt collector has all the time in the world to respond to your debt validation request, but you have a limited amount of time to send one. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act notes that after its initial contact with you, a debt collector must send you a written statement notifying you that you have 30 days to send a validation letter.

You have 30 days to demand validation--don't squander it!

That doesn't mean that you can't request validation after the initial 30-day period expires: you can. After all, not everyone receives the collection agency's initial notification letter. Technically, the 30-day validation period begins when you first become aware of the debt. Proving that you weren't aware of the debt's existence, however, can be tough--especially if the collection agency is claiming it send you the required notification. So if the 30-day period has expired--regardless of the circumstances--the debt collector may use this as an excuse to ignore your debt validation request.

2. The Debt Collector Isn't a Third Party Collection Agency

The federal laws in the FDCPA that give you the right to demand validation only apply to third-party collectors. A third party creditor is any company that buys a debt from the debt's original creditor in order to collect it and make a profit. Collection agencies that recover debts on a contingency are also third-party creditors--even though they don't actually own the debt.

Some collection agencies, however, are owned by the debt's original creditor. Certain large credit card companies, for example, have a collections department owned and run by the original creditor itself. These "in-house" collection agencies aren't considered third party creditors and the FDCPA's collection laws do not apply to them. Thus, don't be surprised if they ignore your debt validation request.

3. The Collection Agency "Didn't Receive" Your Request for Validation 

Never send validation letters via regular mail.

If you send a debt validation letter but the collection agency never actually receives it, how will they know you even sent one? They won't. And then the validation period will expire and poof! The collector can now safely ignore any and all of your validation requests.

Of course, the odds of your letter getting lost in the mail are small. If you don't send it certified mail, return receipt requested, however, it doesn't create a paper trail. There's no proof that the collection agency received it and it may mysteriously vanish. Don't make this mistake. Send all communication with debt collectors via CRRR. Always.

4. Blatant Breaking of the Law

I almost hate to include this one because today so many collection agencies are mom and pop outfits that do their very best to uphold the letter of the law. Unfortunately, the following scenario does still occur and should be addressed.

Debt collectors (just like you hard-working folks) love loopholes. In the absence of loopholes, however, some collection agencies--mostly junk debt buyers--have been known to blatantly break the law. Because there is no time frame to adhere to, ignoring your debt validation letter isn't illegal--but, if you send your letter during the 30-day validation period, refusing to validate and continuing to conduct collection activity is.

Note: The one exception to this rule is credit reporting. A collection agency may report or update previous reports with the credit bureaus regardless of whether or not it has responded to your request for validation.

Why would a debt collector leave itself open for a lawsuit? It's playing the odds. Debt collectors know that filing a lawsuit without legal assistance is daunting for most people. If these debtors could afford an attorney, they likely would have paid their debts. In addition, few debtors truly understand their rights well enough to defend those rights in court without help.

Even if a small handful of debtors' sue and win, collection lawsuit awards are tightly regulated. In most cases, consumers can't expect to win more than $1000 per infraction (there are exceptions, but not many). If this gamble--even though its against the law--brings in more money than it costs, some collectors won't hesitate to take that risk.

5. Collection Agency Can't Validate--So It Doesn't

Debt collectors often buy debts in bulk. While this lets them pick up accounts on the cheap, it has its drawbacks. One common problem is that they may get very little information about the debt other than the debtor's name and how much he/she owes. They'll still pursue it, of course, but clearly aren't able to validate it.

The right thing to do for a collector that cannot adequately validate your debt is to cease all collection activity and "drop" the debt. They aren't supposed to sell it pending a validation, but many do so anyway.

Collectors rarely "drop" debts because there are no federal guidelines that establish what does and does not constitute legitimate validation. For this reason, a collection agency can send you a simple printout of how much you supposedly owe, call it validation and resume collection activity.

6. They Already Have a Judgment

If the collection agency has already sued you, won, and has a judgment against you, you can probably

Court judgment=validation not necessary

forget all about having your debt validated. They may send you a record of the judgment and they may not. Either way, a court of law has already deemed your debt legitimate and granted the debt collector the right to recover it. It's a fair bet that the collection agency will refuse to respond to any debt validation letter you send post-judgment. Any objections that arise at this point must be addressed by a court.


Related Posts:

Debt Validation After 30 Days

Does Requesting Debt Validation Restart the Statute of Limitations?

What To Do When a Collection Agency Validates Your Debt

Q&A: NCO Re-aged Collection Debt on Credit Report/International Identity Theft

Lee,

I found your info by googling NCO Collection Agency.

I am a United States citizen living in Canada.  I moved here in Dec. 2002 and would visit home every few months as my parents were both ill and were both deceased in just over three years.  There is a collection account on my credit report that I didn't recognize at first.  I injured myself in the 3rd week of January 2006.  My father died on Jan. 28, 2006 and it honestly slipped my mind.  Quite frankly, it took me until this past April to even remember I had been hurt.  Now, there's this entry that shows NCO "opened" it on Aug. 16, 2007 and a "report" date of May 17, 2009.  To date, I have not been contacted by them. 

I was reading your comment to Lisa dated June 19, 2014 on collectionagencydebt.blogspot where you stated, "If the original default date was more than seven years and 180 days ago this shouldn't be on your credit report at all and you should be able to get it removed as obsolete." and wondered if this also applied in my case. 

Further complicating matters, someone in my hometown has apparently obtained cell phones under my name and social security number and (according to the credit reporting agencies) a mortgage.  It is one of the security questions and when I reply I have "no mortgage", I get an "incorrect answer" and a phone number to call.  My friend is the retired Chief of Police in my hometown and informed me that until I move back home, there is nothing that can be done from here.

Any advice you have to give is appreciated and I thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Nancy

Nancy,

The seven-year credit reporting period is the same for everyone. so what I told Lisa would also apply to you. Debt collectors generally have to remove their negative tradelines when the original creditor removes its charge-off. Unfortunately, you owe a medical debt, and medical debts don't come with an original creditor. Particularly insidious collection agencies use this to their advantage. The original creditor's report is the yardstick that both you and the credit bureaus can use to determine if a collection is obsolete. Medical debts don't appear on your credit report if they're paid on time, so there is no original account for the debt on your credit report. Without an original creditor account on file, the burden of proof is on you to demonstrate that the collection agency is in error. 

Here's a fun fact for you. The Federal Trade Commission already hit NCO with the largest business fine in history for altering collection accounts dates to ensure they remain on debtors' credit reports far beyond the seven-year limit. The clock on the credit reporting period should start ticking when you stop paying the original creditor--not when the collection agency receives the debt. 

If you dispute this directly with the credit bureaus, NCO will probably verify it as accurate. What you want is some proof that the original debt was incurred in 2006, not 2007. An old medical bill for your injury that notes a late payment and how late the payment is (i.e. 30 days late, 60 days late, etc.) should work just fine. You can also check with your insurance company or the original medical provider for the date of service. The hospital records may not go that far back, but your insurance company might. It can't hurt to try.

Black out any information you don't want to share with NCO on your documents of proof (the details of your injury, for example, are none of their business) and make a photocopy of each item you're using as documentation. Highlight the date. Also print and photocopy the credit report pages from each of your credit reports that reflect the error.

Write NCO a letter stating that the account they are reporting to the credit bureaus is obsolete. Note exactly when you incurred the debt and refer to your medical paperwork as evidence. Point out that you never made any payments on this debt, thus the date of delinquency occurred in 2006, not 2007 and the debt should no longer appear on your credit report. Tell them that re-aging a debt is against the law, and that you have the right to sue (and will exercise this right) if they don't immediately delete this tradeline from your credit report. 

If they don't delete, make photocopies of the same information you sent to NCO and send the proof, along with a letter explaining that this debt is obsolete and must be removed, to each of the credit bureaus whose files reflect the collection. If you want to make absolutely certain that your dispute falls into human hands and doesn't get shuttled into the computer system (the computer system neither acknowledges or analyzes your evidence) write out the letter by hand. Make sure to send both the NCO dispute and all credit bureau disputes via certified mail, return receipt requested. 

I have to wonder though....why does this matter? You're living in Canada. I used to live in Canada. American credit doesn't mean squat over there. Although they have the same credit bureaus, their credit system is based on Social Insurance numbers, not Social Security numbers. You can't pull an American credit report using Canadian credit bureaus. Their system simply isn't set up that way. 

On to the case of identity theft. Identity theft is serious business. Most debts don't follow you to Canada, but if the identity thief racks up enough of it, sooner or later a creditor is going to find you and outsource that debt to a Canadian collection agency which will hunt you down on your home turf in Canada. Don't let this happen. 

You need to file a police report. I think what your policeman friend meant wasn't that you had no course of action to defend yourself but rather you can't fill out an identity theft report with the U.S. police. Go down to your local police station, explain that your identity was stolen and ask to fill out a police report. You can use a Canadian police report the same way you would use an American police report. Use your Canadian police report to file an identity theft complaint with the credit bureaus. 

Make sure to point out that the report was filed in Canada because that it where you're currently living. You don't want the credit bureaus to think that you're a Canadian citizen and dealing with Canadian identity theft concerns yet somehow reported the theft to the wrong bureaus. If that doesn't work (I can't see any reason why it wouldn't unless you keep running into idiots who don't know what they're doing. Believe it or not, the credit bureaus employ scores of these people) Wait until your next trip to the U.S. and fill out a police report about the identity theft there. According to the FTC, you can file a police report either with the police station where you live or the police station where the identity theft occurred. 

You'll also want to place a fraud alert on your American credit reports pronto. The following resource from the Federal Trade Commission should provide you with a detailed guide on exactly what to do when you find out your identity has been stolen: Federal Trade Commission: Identity Theft. 

I'm going to list some numbers for you to call if you run into problems along the way. 

• Federal Trade Commission headquarters: (202) 326-2222
• Experian:  1 (888) 397-3742
• TransUnion Identity Theft Department: (800) 680-7289
• Equifax fraud alert: 1-888-766-0008

If you are financially able, consider contacting a consumer law attorney within the U.S. You can do what's necessary to take care of these issues on your own, but its time consuming and extremely stressful. A good consumer law attorney has extensive experience doing this very thing. In addition, collection agencies and credit bureaus alike take lawsuit threats from an attorney much more seriously than lawsuit threats from the debtor. You also have to consider that this person committed a major fraud by purchasing a house in your name. You would retain the right to file a civil suit against the individual and force them to pay for your attorney. 

I cannot stress this enough: Do NOT ignore this. DO NOT. If this person has gotten a mortgage in your name, she knows that you are living out of the country and plans to simply live as you indefinitely. Someone has to bring her to justice. A fraud this significant can carry jail time and, lets face it, this lady belongs behind bars so that she can't turn around and do this very thing to someone else. 

Best of Luck,
Lee

Q&A: Collection Agency Not Updating Credit Report After Debt Settlement

Hello Lee,
I hope you can help me here. I called a collection agency to inquire about a debt I have settled and asked why this was not reported to the credit bureaus and they said they did even if my Equifax still shows it as unpaid. then they asked to talk about another account and I was surprised. It is an old account from 2005 that was not showing on my CR and my first reflex was to say I have no knowledge of this and she kept asking if this was my mine and still said I have no knowledge of it. can they use this to restart the SOL?

--Anonymous

Anonymous,

Ok, lets address the credit reporting issue first. Federal law requires the collection agency to report changes to your account and requires that the credit bureaus keep these records updated and accurate. All too often something gets lost in translation. I'm going to give you two methods of dealing with this, but I need to first point out that, if you're doing this to improve your credit scores, you're wasting your time. Collection accounts have the same negative impact on your credit scores regardless of whether you've paid them off or not. Although paid collections may illustrate to some lenders that you're making an effort to be responsible, paid collections are just as bad for your actual scores as unpaid ones. 

You have two options here: 

Option #1:

Make a copy of the credit report that shows the collection account as unpaid. Use a permanent marker to black out any identifying information on the credit report (because you never know what information they do or don't have, and you don't want to give them the tools they need to pursue you in the future). You'll also need to make a copy of your proof of payment to the collection agency. I sincerely hope you requested a zero balance letter. If not, provide a copy of the collection agency's written settlement offer and evidence of your payment, such as a cancelled check. 

Write a letter to the collection agency pointing out that your Equifax credit report still shows the debt as being unpaid. Feel free to point out that federal law requires the collection agency to update your tradeline with each credit bureau. Demand that they immediately update your credit records and, if you're feeling squirrelly, threaten to sue.  Oh, and make sure you send your letter via certifed mail, return receipt requested. This forces the collection agency to sign for the letter and prevents them from claiming they never received your dispute. 

Option #2:

Make a copy of the credit report that shows the collection account as unpaid. Make copies of your proof of payment along with a copy of your settlement letter, just as before. This time, however, you're going to write a letter to Equifax disputing the debt. Point out that the collection agency is not abiding by federal law in reporting this account correctly. Refer to the documents you've enclosed and request that Equifax investigate the entry and update it accordingly. 

If both methods fail, you could call and attorney and file a lawsuit. You'd be well within your rights to do so, and it might even be worth it if better credit were the result of all that hassle. The only way these disputes could improve your credit rating would be if the credit bureaus decide to delete the collection agency's tradeline rather than merely correct it. 

Ok, on to the statute of limitations. 

I wish I knew what state you're in, but it shouldn't matter. The odds are on your side that your nine-year old debt is no longer within your state's statute of limitations and the collection agency can't sue you. States have very strict guidelines dictating what does and does not restart the clock on the statute of limitations. Merely having a phone conversation with a debt collector isn't enough to renew the SOL on this debt. Heck, you didn't even admit that you owed it. You're in no danger on that front. Also, the collection agency can't legally reinsert the debt into your credit report, but I'd keep an eye on it just the same if I were you.

Given that you've just settled a debt with a collection agency, you need to know how to protect yourself. I know you didn't ask me about this, but its important that you realize that the collection agency may just turn around and sell the unpaid part of your settlement balance to another collector--letting the nightmare begin anew. Take the settlement offer and your proof of payment and put them away somewhere safe. If you get a call from a new collector in the future, you can use these documents as proof that the debt is no longer viable.

Best of Luck,
Lee

Can Debt Collectors Call Your Boss?

No one wants to look bad in front of the boss--and there are few things as embarrassing as having your boss discover that, not only do you have bad debts, but that debt collectors are so focused on recovering them that they're willing to call you at work. Sure, a debt collector can't just call up your boss and say, "I'm Dave from XYZ Collection Agency and your employee, Gina, owes us $3,000. Just thought you'd like to know." But the fact that a debt collector can't openly disclose your debt to your boss doesn't mean that your employer won't find out indirectly.

From a legal standpoint yes, a debt collector can call your boss, but only in its search for you. The collector may identify himself on the phone, but he cannot volunteer information about the company he works for--unless your boss asks for it. If your boss wants to know just who it is on the phone looking for you, the collector will disclose the name of his/her employer. Now that may be all fine and good if the collection agency's name is something elusive, like XYZ Corporation, but if its XYZ Collections or XYZ Acquisitions, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to make the leap from "A collection agency wants information about my employee" to "My employee must owe the collection agency a debt."

Collectors may call your boss.

Although your boss might be a big enough idiot not to put two and two together, its highly unlikely.

If the collection agency knows where you live and work, it no longer has a legal reason to call your boss directly, but the company will still try to call you. If a debt collector finds your work number, you can rest assured that you'll receive a barrage of collection calls throughout the day--especially if those calls frustrate you. The reasoning is simple: Once you're frustrated enough you'll agree to make a payment on the debt just to make the calls stop. This is particularly beneficial for the collector if the statute of limitations on your debt has expired. By making a payment, you once again make yourself vulnerable for a lawsuit.

Your boss will likely take notice if you start receiving a much higher-than-normal volume of personal calls at work and look into the matter. You don't want that to happen. The name of the game is keeping the boss in the dark when it comes to your personal business--and collection calls are very, very personal business.

How to Stop Collection Calls at Work

The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from calling you at any time or place they know to be inconvenient for you. It also makes a special allowance for collection calls at work.

a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt --..
at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication.

This means that all you have to do to stop collectors from calling you at work is to tell them that you are not allowed to take personal calls at work and that calling you at work is an inconvenience. Most collection agencies train their collectors to adhere to the FDCPA in order to avoid FDCPA-violation lawsuits.

Unfortunately, sometimes verbal communication doesn't go over very well with debt collectors. Unscrupulous third-party debt buyers may ignore your requests not to call you at work. This may be due to ignorance of the law, but whatever the reason, you can cover yourself and ensure a paper trail exists by notifying the collection agency in writing that you cannot receive collection calls at work. Send the notice Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested and keep the return card. This provides you with proof that the collection agency received the request if the harassing calls at work continue and you're forced to take legal action.

Debt Collectors Can Inform Your Boss About Your Debt After a Judgment

If a collection agency sues you and you don't show up in court with a defense, the court grants the collection agency a judgment against you by default. State laws vary, but a court judgment generally gives the collector the right to seize your assets. One common method creditors use to collect judgments is wage garnishment.

If a collection agency decides to garnish your wages, it no longer has to hide your debt's existence from your boss. The collector will serve your employer with a writ of garnishment or writ of execution, depending on your state. Your employer must then direct a portion of your paycheck to the judgment holder until the debt is either paid off, the judgment expires or you quit your job. As embarrassing as it may be for your boss to know that you are under a garnishment order due to an unpaid debt, your employer cannot fire you based on the garnishment alone. Strangely enough, your employer can fire you if you receive a second garnishment order. The moral of the story? if a collection agency is tailing you, tread carefully and act fast to keep your job stable and your boss oblivious.

Related Posts:

Can Bill Collectors Call Your Family?

What Happens If a Collection Agency Sues You and Wins?

Debt Collection Lawsuit Statute of Limitations By State

Q&A: Will Midland Credit Management Sue?

Hello Lee, 

I am unable to post to your blog for some reason, but I have been reading your blogs and you have some great information. I hope you are able to provide some insight on some of my questions regarding Midland Credit. 

My problem is that I have a super old account from Beneficial Household Finance from 2007. My DOFD was 5/2007 and at that point the debt was approximately $2800.00. In 2009, I understand that HSBC closed Beneficial Household. In May of 2010 Midland purchased the debt (or so that is the date that is stated on my credit reports that they purchased the debt). In December of 2010 they said I made a payment. And I kept racking my brain to try to figure out why I would have made any kind of payment to these scumbags. Perhaps I was just trying to do the right thing. So since I had paid off some accounts through a non-profit organization "Consumer Credit Counselors" I called and checked with them.... Sure enough they made a payment going to Midland for my Beneficial account in December of 2010. So now I have renewed the SOL and it will be on my credit report for 3 more years. Midland is now saying that I owe them $9700.00!!! How can they escalate to such an outrageous amount? And then just this year they started sending those ridiculous offer letters and calling twice a day on my phone, but I never answer them. Now it seems that they have recently stopped or slowed down. Is this a sign that they are getting ready to sue me?

This was an account that was a revolving type of account like a credit line, but it was not a credit card. I am in Nevada so does that mean that the SOL is 4 years (for an open ended account) or 6 years (because it was a contractual account).

So I will get to my questions based on the information above, and if you need more info from me in order to answer them, please let me know:

1) What do you think the likely-hood of Midland getting ready to sue me is?
2) Is it possible that they may give up and sell the debt? If so, what happens next?
3) They have the last recorded payment from CCCS as 12/2010, but how likely is it that they will have documented proof that it is for me and to be applied to this account?
4) Do you think the SOL for an account such as this would be 4 years or 6?
5) Since Beneficial closed in 2009 and Midland purchased the debt in mid-2010 how likely do you think it is that they have documentation of the debt?
6) Should I just continue to play Ostrich on this for now since they have been unsuccessful in contacting me?
7) Should I contact a consumer protection attorney and discuss the possibilities with them before I get served? 
8) Is there any way I can be proactive now (without making payment arrangements on a debt that is 3x the amount that I actually owe)?
9) How can a $2800 debt turn into 3x the amount originally owed?
10) What are my options to fight them and get this off my credit report?

Thanks for your input!


--Monique


Monique,

For starters, thanks for letting me know which state you're in. State laws often apply and you wouldn't believe the number of people who don't include their state in their question.

I get from the tone of your letter than your credit report and scores is the most important thing to you here and on that front I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the date Midland first purchased and reported your debt has no effect whatsoever on the debt's reporting period. The credit reporting period for most debts, including this one, is seven years from the date of first delinquency. That means that if you made your last payment to Beneficial Household Finance in May of 2007, the credit bureaus will remove the account records--including all collections associated with that particular debt--in November 2014. That means you've got six months to wait until federal law requires the credit bureaus to remove Beneficial Household's original charge-off and the Midland collection account that resulted from the charge-off. The payment your credit counseling agency made has no effect on this. It comes off in six months, paid or unpaid.

That being said, lets get to your questions. I'm doing them out of order so that I don't have to go back and rehash anything and this can be as simple as possible.

Do you think the SOL for an account such as this would be 4 years or 6?

Credit cards are generally considered open accounts as far as the statute of limitations is concerned. Sometimes debt collectors who want to sue will try to argue that the debt is, in fact, a written account since the SOL for written accounts tends to be longer. Your state's statutes pretty clearly define credit card debt as an open account. That means your statute of limitations on this debt is four years. This gives Midland seven months to sue you or hang up their hat.

You can find Nevada's stance on this here. Read NRS 97A.060 at the very top of the page.

How can a $2800 debt turn into 3x the amount originally owed?

The fine print of your original credit card agreement contained a clause stating that, by agreeing to the card, you were also agreeing to the accrual of interest that would continue even if you defaulted on the account. So even though the account is no longer open, credit card interest has been accumulating ever since 2007. That's why your debt is now so much higher than it was when you originally defaulted.

What do you think the likely-hood of Midland getting ready to sue me is?

That depends on a wide variety of factors. If they're serious about suing you, they'll likely start to investigate you. They need to know if you are employed or receive income they can't garnish (such as Social Security) and they'll want to know if you own property they can place a lien on or if you are just a renter. Any collection agency, to increase its chances of actually getting paid, is going to go after the people who are most likely to have the funds to actually pay the debt. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip, and if you don't have assets Midland can seize, you may not be worth the time and money it takes to drag you to court.

You are, however, dancing around the danger zone. Not only do you have a debt high enough to elicit a lawsuit, you're nearing the end of the statute of limitations in your state. Most collection agencies will throw everything they've got at you and use lawsuits as a last resort, since they're left holding the bag for the legal fees if they can't collect the judgment.

Keep in mind that Midland can sue after the statute of limitations expires. The case would get dismissed on the grounds of an expired SOL, but only if you bring the expired SOL to the court's attention. I don't know Midland's policies well enough to say whether or not they habitually file out-of-statute lawsuits.

Since Beneficial closed in 2009 and Midland purchased the debt in mid-2010 how likely do you think it is that they have documentation of the debt?

A record of the debt exists, otherwise you wouldn't have Midland on your back. But Midland will need more documentation than just its word to prove this case in a lawsuit (if you show up to defend yourself). If they sue you and you don't show up, they win by default without needing any proof. Most debt collection lawsuits end this way. If I were to guess, I'd have to say its highly unlikely that they have the kind of documentation to prove a case against you if you respond to a summons and demonstrate your intention to fight the lawsuit all the way down. Collection agencies buy debts in bulk and thus often have no records to support their claims--just a name and the amount the person supposedly owes.

They have the last recorded payment from CCCS as 12/2010, but how likely is it that they will have documented proof that it is for me and to be applied to this account?

The documented proof that the payment occurred is that the payment occurred. They should have no problem proving that via electronic records. As for whether or not the payment was sent from the credit counseling agency specifically for your account...that's trickier. It's an interesting claim to challenge because, if they can't prove it, that means the SOL has technically already expired. This is just my opinion, but this seems like a very weak defense because its relatively easy for them to request those records from the credit counseling agency that made the payment in the first place.

Should I contact a consumer protection attorney and discuss the possibilities with them before I get served? 

You're clearly worried about this otherwise you wouldn't have contacted me. The fact remains, however, that while you're well within your rights to consult an attorney, he/she isn't going to be able to save you from a danger that simply hasn't presented itself yet. I know its agonizing to wait and see what Midland does, but its a heck of a lot cheaper than hiring an attorney who's going to charge you a couple hundred dollars to tell you exactly what I'm telling you right now for free. Or worse--one who'll be shady enough to refer you to a bankruptcy attorney. If you opt for an attorney, be very, very careful taking that route. There's some thumping good lawyers out there who genuinely care about the little guy, but there's just as many who see you as just one more way to line their wallets. Do your homework on this one.

Should I just continue to play Ostrich on this for now since they have been unsuccessful in contacting me?

They haven't been unsuccessful in contacting you. By your own admission they are calling and sending letters to your home address. If it were me, I'd keep a record of this. Every call you get, write down. Every letter you get, save. This way, if they try to gutter sue you and get a default judgement using a fake or outdated address, you'll have proof to use in court to have the judgment vacated later on. So no, do not become an ostrich. Become a hawk. Watch and wait and pay attention. Because guess what? In your state, failure to properly serve a summons is grounds to vacate a judgement. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do your best to fly under the radar, if you catch my drift. Making contact with them now, right on the cusp of the expiration of the SOL, would probably be unwise...

 Is there any way I can be proactive now (without making payment arrangements on a debt that is 3x the amount that I actually owe)?

Not to my knowledge. The time for proactivity passed quite a while ago. At this point, even paying the original amount isn't going to clean up your credit. It won't even leave you with a "paid in full" mark on your credit report. If you paid the original amount now, the collection agency would likely just sell the remaining unpaid balance to another collection agency and this nightmare would begin anew. Your best way of being proactive is to know your rights and exercise them when and if it becomes necessary to do so.

What are my options to fight them and get this off my credit report?

Well, as we've seen, this thing should come off your credit report on its own fairly soon. If it doesn't, that means its been re-aged by Midland. That's when you can send a nice letter informing them that it is against the Fair Credit Reporting Act for them to continue reporting an account 7 years and 180 days beyond the date of your payment. Failure to adhere to those rules leaves them subject to a consumer lawsuit. Here, I'll even quote you the statute: You can find this under section 605 in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, page 22

Information excluded from consumer reports. Except as authorized under
subsection (b) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make
any consumer report containing any of the following items of information...

Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which
antedate the report by more than seven years.

 I always recommend that people reach out to the collection agency for corrections first because, while you have every right to dispute the item as "obsolete" with the credit bureaus, you're once again in a situation where the collector has the ability to verify the lie and suddenly it becomes that much harder to dispute. Once they've "investigated" once, federal law doesn't require the credit bureaus to investigate a second time. If its any comfort, from what I know of Midland, they're pretty good about deleting their tradelines on time.

Now, this brings us back to that gargantuan debt they claim you owe. Midland, in my experience, will occasionally shelve debts rather than selling them to other debt buyers. In other words, once the SOL and reporting period have expired, the debts seem to disappear as well (that's weird for a collection agency, but I have seen Midland do this before, so you have to give them at least some credit for that)  But we have to face the facts, your debt is large and the odds are someone will have an interest in collecting it. If Midland passes the debt on to a junk debt buyer, it's very possible that this new collection agency will magically insert itself into your credit report. Be prepared for this and regularly monitor your credit from now on. You can get a free annual credit report from each credit bureau without a credit card by using the Federal Trade Commission's approved website for pulling free credit reports--AnnualCreditReport.com. Since you can get a report from each agency, I have always found it most prudent to pull one report every four months from a different agency. Unless, that is, you want to spring for a credit monitoring service.

One more thing, the expiration of either the credit reporting period or the statute of limitations is not going to cause Midland (or any other debt collector) for that matter, to simply give up on that debt. Once you're out of the woods on the lawsuit front, you may want to consider sending a cease and desist letter to put a stop to the incessant collection calls and letters once and for all. And for the love of all that is holy to you, keep a paper trail to back yourself up with the expired SOL/credit reporting period. This is incredibly important if a future collector ever decides they want to reinsert this nastiness into your credit record.

Occasionally I'll put links to other related articles that readers might find helpful at the bottom of certain posts, but the ones I'm including today are specifically related to you and your situation. This post has already become the longest Q &A I've ever done, and I don't want it to turn into a novel. Plus, there is a cheesesteak waiting for me in the kitchen and the very smell of it is fogging up my better judgment.

Best of Luck,
Lee

Related Posts:

Send a Cease and Desist Letter to Debt Collectors 

What Are Your Odds of Being Sued By a Collection Agency?

Dealing with Midland Credit Management

Removing Re-Aged Collection Accounts From Your Credit Report

How to Stop Collection Calls at Work

Few things are quite as embarrassing as receiving collection calls at work. Even if the collector doesn't identify himself as such, many employers frown at employees getting personal calls. It's illegal for a collector

Collectors calling you at work? Make it stop.

to discuss your debt with a third party, such as your boss or co-workers, but as we've seen in the past, just because its illegal, that doesn't mean it won't happen. Long story short, bill collectors calling your workplace have the capacity not only to shame you, but to put your job in jeopardy. As angry and frustrated as you may be, you have the ability to stop collection calls at work for good.

Read More: Can Bill Collectors Call Your Family?

Stopping Collection Calls to Your Employer

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act governs collection tactics. It states that, while debt collectors have the right to call you, they don't have the right to call you at any time or place they they know to be inconvenient for you. If calling you at work is inconvenient, then its time to let them know that.

Your first course of action should be to tell the collector verbally that you cannot take personal calls at work therefore calling you at work is inconvenient. Make sure to use the word "inconvenient." Its a trigger word that some bill collectors are taught to listen for. Some collection agencies will honor your verbal request and only call you after hours. Others will ignore you. Keep in mind that a debt collector who doesn't know the ropes may not understand your rights. Feel free to cite Section 605 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in your conversation. Inform the collector in a civil manner that you are invoking your right to dictate the times and places that you cannot be contacted by a collector.

Read More: Can Your Record Phone Calls From Debt Collectors?

Cease and Desist Letter Stops Collectors Calling You at Work

If a verbal request doesn't work, its time to create a good old paper trail. Write a letter to the collection agency notifying them that the FDCPA protects you from receiving calls at times and places that aren't convenient for you. If you feel its necessary, point out that if the collection agency doesn't heed this request, you have the right to file a lawsuit against the company for damages due to its failure to adhere to federal law and any lost wages you suffer as a result of getting fired due to the number of personal calls you receive from collectors. Send your letter Certified mail, Return Reciept Requested. This forces the collector to sign for it--preventing then from claiming they didn't get your letter and continuing with the collection calls at work.

Read More: The Partial Cease and Desist Letter

Your Legal Rights Regarding Workplace Collection Calls

Odds are that once you've sent the collection agency a formal request to stop calling you at work, they'll comply. After all, this demonstrates that you know your rights. Unfortunately, not all collection agencies are alike and there are always a few bad apples in the bunch. If the collection agency calling you at work is one such bad apple, a verbal and written request may do little to deter them. Should this happen to you, its time to pull out the big guns: legal action.

The FDCPA gives all consumers the right to sue third-party collectors that don't adhere to federal collection guidelines. If you've sent the collection agency a Cease and Desist letter and have been ignored, send

Write a Cease and Desist letter to the collector.

another. By sending a second Cease and Desist, you aren't attempting to make the collection calls at work stop, you're trying to build a strong court case.

You don't need a lawyer to file a lawsuit against a collection agency. You may even wish to notify the collection agency, in writing of your intentions. Few collectors want to face down a debtor in court over an FDCPA violation. The very fact that you're suing will likely make you--and your debt--more trouble than you're worth. Should you decide to sue, keep in mind that the FDCPA limits your damages to no more than $1000 unless the calls have caused you real-life financial  hardship. One example of a real-life financial hardship would be if the collection calls caused you to lose your job. Few cases of workplace harassment by collectors actually comes to this, but its crucial that you are well-informed of your rights and options in order to stop embarrassing collection calls in the workplace.

Credit Checks: Do Collection Agencies Conduct a Hard Pull or Soft Pull of Your Credit Report?

If you owe debt to a collection agency, expect that agency to pull your credit report. Not only does the information on your credit report help debt collectors track you down, it also gives the company information about whether you are likely to pay or not. But beware – a collection agency can do more to hurt your credit  score than merely adding its negative tradeline to your credit report. Why? Because collection agencies conduct hard pulls.

Credit Checks: Hard Pull vs. Soft Pull 

Whenever a business pulls your credit report, it conducts either a hard pull or a soft pull. A hard pull dings your credit score (generally no more than 10 points, if that) while a soft pull has no impact on your credit scores at all. Hard pulls are associated with financial transactions in which there is a measure of risk, whereas soft pulls are not. For example, if you apply for a loan or credit card, your lender will conduct a hard pull because the inquiry is related to a financial transaction. When an employer pulls your credit or you pull and review your own credit report, the inquiry falls into the "soft pull" category because is not connected to a financial transaction.

Pull your own credit online at AnnualCreditReport.com

Regardless of whether you have any intention whatsoever of paying your delinquent debt, the collection agency's credit check is connected to a financial transaction. They want to see your financial history to determine the best way to get you to pay up.

Collection Agency Made Numerous Hard Pulls 

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows your current creditors to pull your credit reports whenever they wish. This includes debt collectors. Any rational person would expect a collector to pull their credit report intially, but some collection agencies make multiple hard pulls. If the collection agency's trade line on your credit report weren't bad enough, multiple hard inquiries within a short time frame can literally kill your credit scores. Some collection agencies go so far as to pull your credit report every month.

Why do they do this? Most will claim they do so to keep an eye on your assets and see if anything in your financial life has changed – rendering you able to pay off your debt. But collection agencies are capable of conducting soft pulls to meet this goal. If a debt collector is conducting a hard inquiry every month, the company is likely intentionally damaging your credit score as much as possible. This is especially true if you still have a decent credit rating after the collection trade line appears on your report.

Also, negative information hurts your credit scores less as time goes by. By making numerous hard credit inquiries, debt collectors make your life that much more difficult. The rationale behind this (imho) is, "If we harass these debtors for long enough, they'll eventually pay us simply to get us off their backs." Even worse, your current and future creditors can see which companies have conducted hard pulls in the recent past. A slew of hard inquiries from a debt collector can indicate you're in financial trouble – leaving future lenders to think twice before doing business with you. This serves two purposes: it makes you more likely to pay off the debt to stop the harassment and it also reduces your chances of acquiring new debt – leaving you extra income that you can now apply to your collection debt.

Related Articles:

Collection Agencies Conduct Hard Credit Pulls Without Your Permission

How to Get Real Free Credit Reports Without a Credit Card

Collection Agency Re-aged Derogatory Information on Credit Report

Can a Collection Agency Charge Fees and Interest?

It isn't uncommon for a person to owe a debt for a certain amount only to find that amount has increased significantly after the account goes into collections. Just because a debt collection practice is common, however, that doesn't mean its legal. Collection agencies can only add fees and interest charges to your debt under very specific circumstances.

What the Law Says About Collection Fees and Interest Charges

Many consumers are under the mistaken impression that federal law prohibits a collection agency from demanding fees and interest charges from the debtor. This isn't always the case. Let's take a look at Section 808 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which details collection practices that are a violation of federal law:

"The collection of any amount (including any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation) unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. "

We can see here that a collection agency cannot arbitrarily decide to charge you a random fee just to pad its profit margin. Nor can it have a policy of charging fees for the same ridiculous reasons that debt settlement companies do, such as charging a fee to set up or update your account information.

Collection Agencies and Interest Charges 

We know that debt collectors cannot charge arbitrary fees, but that doesn't mean that they can't charge fees at all. A collection agency's right to tack on additional charges to your debt depends on the agreement you signed with the debt's original creditor.

If you're like most Americans, you probably don't read the fine print when you apply for a loan or credit card, or use financing to obtain goods and services. The fine print, however, almost always addresses how much – if anything – debt collectors can add to your debt.

Take credit cards for example. Credit card account agreements sometimes stipulate that interest will continue to accrue should the account fall into collections. This means, simply, that when you don't pay your credit card debt and the credit card company charges it off, the collection agency that receives the debt will pick up right where the credit card company left off – charging you interest.

Credit cards often pass collection fees on to you.

As illogical as it may seem (because, lets face it, if you couldn't pay the original debt, odds are there's no way you're going to be able to afford an even higher amount), this practice benefits both the creditor and the debt collector. If the creditor hired the collector on a contingency, the collection agency receives a percentage of the amount it collects. The higher the debt, the higher the amount the credit card company recovers and the higher the debt collector's profit. A higher debt also ensures that a debt collector can offer you a debt settlement without losing money.

General Debt Collection Fees

Collection agencies don't collect debt out of the goodness of their hearts. Quite the contrary. Creditors pay dearly for the service. Well....they used to. Recently more and more creditors are including provisions in their contracts with consumers stating that, should the debtor default, the debtor will be responsible for paying the total cost of collection. Just look at this snippet from Capital One's cardholder agreement:

"You must pay us all of our collection expenses, attorneys’ 
fees, and court costs unless the law does not allow us to 
collect these amounts. "

By passing the debt on to the consumer, creditors can save money and further increase their profit margins. Unfortunately, this also means that you may end up owing a much higher debt to the collection agency than you did to the original creditor.

Related Posts: 

Bill Collectors Demanding the Wrong Amount

Improving Credit Scores After Collections

Community Property States and Defaulted Spousal Debt

No matter what you may have heard, in most cases debt collectors cannot legally pursue you for debts that are in someone else's name (unless you co-signed, which is a whole 'nother can of worms). If the person who owes the debt is your spouse, however, the same rules don't always apply. Whether or not bill collectors can legally force you to pay off spousal debt depends on whether or not you live in a community-property state.

Community Property States and Spousal Debt

Only nine U.S. states follow community property laws. Those states are as follows:

• Arizona
• California
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Washington

Because community property laws exist primarily to make the division of property in a divorce a simpler and fairer process, this statutes generally applied to assets rather than to debts. Community property regulations may apply only to certain debts or only under state-specific circumstances. Don't assume that community property laws are identical in every state. They're not.  We're going to use California as an example here because California's spousal debt statutes are clear – if your spouse owes it, you owe it.

Do I Owe My Spouse's Debts?

Division of debt typically comes up only in legal separation and divorce proceedings. When a creditor or collection agency decides to sue, however, who they can sue depends upon the community property laws in the debtor's state. Unfortunately, knowledge of the debt is not a prerequisite to payment. In other words, you're legally responsible for paying off the debt whether you know about it or not. Lets look at the following example:

Suing the Spouse and Not the Debtor

In a state that applies its community property statutes to debt as well as assets, a collection agency has the option to either pursue the debtor directly or pursue his spouse. Most companies will pursue payment from the debtor first as a matter of policy. If the debtor lacks the assets to pay or is considered "judgment proof," bill collectors have the option to pursue the spouse. Lets look at an example of this in action:

Lisa and Joe live in California. Joe lost his job and currently receives unemployment. He has not found work yet. Although Lisa has a stable nursing job, the two are struggling financially and Joe defaults on his credit card. He knows that the credit card company is unlikely to sue him since he does not have wages the company can seize. Because the account is in Joe's name only, he assumes his wife's wages are exempt from garnishment. To the couple's surprise, the credit card company sues Lisa. Even though her name is not on the account, she is still liable for the debt under community-property law.

Domestic Partnerships and Community Property Law

California recognizes domestic partnerships in addition to traditional marriages. This gives many of the same benefits (insurance, inheritance rights, etc.) to those in a domestic partnership that married couples receive. Unfortunately, the downsides of marriage also apply.

Domestic partners are also liable for spousal debts under community property law. Granted, its not phrased that way because domestic partnerships are not classified as marriage (although I firmly believe that this can and should change. It's only a matter of time). Thus, a domestic partner can also be held responsible for debts that were incurred by his partner.

The Exception to Community Property Debt Responsibility

The exception to the community property rule that applies in all community property states is that an individual cannot be held liable for his spouse or domestic partner's debts if those debts were incurred before the couple  entered into their union. For example, if your spouse has outstanding student loans that were never paid and the two of you married after college, you aren't liable for those defaulted loans – regardless of whether or not you live in a community property state.

Can a Collection Agency Come After a Minor?

A contract isn't always legally binding

Just about everyone has heard horror stories about children and teens who carry a dismal credit record because a collection agency pursued them for a debt while they were still a minor. If you are a minor and debt collectors are harassing you, you generally have more secure rights than a legal adult facing the same problem.

Minors, Collection Agencies and Contracts

In most states, minors cannot be held responsible for contracts they sign because a minor is not legally capable of entering into a binding contract. Let's look at this in regards to credit card debt.

Judy is 16. A credit card company sends Judy a credit card application (against the law per the CARD Act, but that's irrelevant to the point here), she fills it out, sends it in and gets her new credit card. Judy doesn't manage money well and defaults on the payments. The original agreement that Judy signed with the credit card company gave the company the right to pursue collection activity against her in the event she defaulted on the debt. Because Judy is a minor, the credit card agreement – and the debt she incurred on the card – may not be legally enforceable.

This isn't to say that Judy won't have a fight on her hands. The collection agency does not want to be told that it can't collect and will go out of its way to make sure that Judy pays. Judy's parents will likely need to hire an attorney to draft a letter to the collection agency notifying it that continued collection activity is against the law.

Adult Co-Signers Responsible for Minor's Debts

Parents are generally responsible for teens' debts

In most cases, minors are protected from Judy's situation. The vast majority of merchants will require a minor to have an adult co-signer before providing the minor with a contract. This gives the creditor someone it can legally pursue in the event the minor does not pay the debt. For example, if Judy's parents had to co-sign with her for the account, the credit card company and collection agency would doggedly pursue her parents for payment – not her.

Emancipated Minors and Debt Collection

A minor can gain the ability to enter into a legally binding contract by becoming emancipated. Emancipated minors have all the rights and responsibilities of a legal adult. If Judy was an emancipated minor, she would have the ability to sign a binding contract with a creditor without having a co-signer. Because an emancipated minor is bound just as tightly to the contracts she signs as an adult, a collection agency can pursue the individual for payment using the same methods it uses to collect from adults.

Voidable Contracts for Minors

Now, here's where things get slightly complicated. Remember when I said minors can't enter into binding contracts? That the technical side of things. The contract isn't technically void until its voided by the minor. It's simpler than it sounds. Lets look at the example from a different angle:

Judy loses her job at the department store where she works after school and knows that she cannot afford to make payments on her credit card. She writes the credit card company a letter informing them of her age. She sends a copy of her driver's license with the letter to prove that she is, in fact, a minor. Judy notes in her letter that, because she is a minor, she is voiding the contract she signed with the credit card company. The credit card company has no choice in the matter and must terminate the agreement.

This does not mean that the credit card company won't still pursue Judy for what she owes. It will, but it will likely wait until Judy turns 18 to do so.

All of this comes into play because the credit card company knew that Judy was 16 when she applied for the card. Had she lied about her age and claimed to be 18, the situation gets more complex. State laws vary, but lying to a creditor in order to obtain an account as a minor is a clear case of fraud. In that situation, a creditor or collection agency would likely be able to pursue the cardholder for payment regardless of whether or not the debtor is a minor.

Collection Agency Re-aged Derogatory Information On Credit Report

If you're one of the many Americans who are lying low and waiting for old collections to fall off your credit report, you may be in for a nasty shock. Some unethical collection agencies tamper with the dates they report to the credit bureaus. By changing the dates associated with the account, the collection agency can ensure that a derogatory entry remains on your credit report for longer than the law allows. This process is known as "re-aging" and it is illegal.

How Debt Collectors Re-age Debts

You may end up waiting longer than 7 years...

Let's say your original debt was a defaulted credit card debt and you stopped making payments in January of 2005. In June of 2005 – 180 days later – the credit card company assigns your defaulted account to a collection agency and updates your credit report to reflect that the debt you owe was charged off. When the collection agency gets the debt, it adds a new derogatory trade line to your credit report. Now you have both the original creditor's derogatory entry and one from a collection agency.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act dictates that most debts can only remain on your credit report for 7 years and 180 days from the date of first delinquency. The date of first delinquency is the date that your payments to the original creditor were first classified as late.

What many debtors don't realize is that the DOFD applies to all entries for a given debt. Because few creditors send accounts to collection agencies until they are 180 days' delinquent, collection agency entries rarely remain on debtors' credit records for the full 7.5-year period. The absolute latest a collection account should disappear is at the same time as the original creditor's charge-off. In other words, it simply isn't legal for a collection agency to leave derogatory information on your credit report for longer than the original creditor.

SOL and the Credit Reporting Period

Don't confuse the statute of limitations for lawsuits with the credit reporting period's statute of limitations. These are two totally different time frames. The statute of limitations for lawsuits refers to the amount of time a debt collector can legally sue you in your state. Each state has different statutes of limitations. The credit reporting period – 7.5 years – is federally mandated and the same in every state. Generally the statute of limitations for lawsuits expires long before the credit reporting period.

This is covered in more detail here: The Credit Reporting Period vs. the Statute of Limitations

Re-aged Collection Accounts

If you pull your credit report and the original creditor's derogatory information is gone but a collection agency's negative trade line lingers on your report, there's a good change the collector re-aged your debt.

Re-aging sets back the clock on your debt.

When a debt collector re-ages accounts, it reports a date of first delinquency that is much later than the actual DOFD. In the above example, our DOFD was January of 2005. The collection agency gets the account in June of 2005. If the collection agency reports the date of first delinquency as the date it received the account – in June – the derogatory information will remain on your credit report until June of 2012, rather than being removed in January of 2012, as federal law dictates it should be.

Although clearly illegal, this nasty little trick is incredibly common. I see it literally All. The. Time. A collection agency that regularly alters the dates on its accounts could theoretically ensure that a collection account remains on your credit report indefinitely.

What To Do About Re-aged Collection Debts

Removing a re-aged collection account from your credit report is much easier if you have proof to back up your claim of re-aging. This is one reason I recommend that all individuals print out their credit reports from each credit bureau once each year. The dates reflected in the original creditor's trade line prove your claim of re-aging – but that's much harder to do once the original creditor's trade line ages off your account. Most credit card companies don't keep charge-off records longer than 18 months, so getting proof from the original creditor after the fact is difficult, if not impossible.

If you have proof, send it to the credit bureau along with a letter explaining that the collection account is obsolete and should have been deleted, as the 7.5 year period for that particular debt has already passed. Make sure to use the word "obsolete" in your dispute. Disputes are coded and while I won't get into that right now, I will say that you want your dispute to have the "Obsolete" code.

You can also take your re-aging issue up with the collection agency itself. A well-written "I have every right to sue you" letter along with proof of the re-aging is often enough to coerce debt collectors to remove derogatory information from your credit report. Make sure you point out that you want the trade line deleted. Anything less is against federal law.

Do My Fiance's Bad Debts Become My Responsibility After Marriage?

Reader Question: 

Lee,


I am planning to marry my girlfriend of 3 years this summer. I pay my bills on time, carry low balances on my credit cards and have a decent credit score, but my fiance's credit is a real mess. We pulled her free credit report to see what was on there and discovered two defaulted credit cards that have gone to collections and a car repossession from 2007. 


This scares me. I love her and want to get married no matter what, but I don't want to marry into her debt. Am I legally responsible for these accounts after we get married? Will they then show up on my credit report and trash my good credit score, or am I safe?


Darien

Answer:

Darien,

Marrying your girlfriend doesn't automatically make you responsible for her debts. You don't mention where you live, but even couples living in community property states (states that consider assets and debts the responsibility of both spouses, no matter which spouse's name is attached to the item or liability) protect you from "marrying into debt" so to speak.

Marry her, not her debts.

Any property you and your fiance own individually of one another before you get married, remains yours alone. The same is true for debts. Because you aren't legally responsible for a significant other's debts, they will not appear on your credit report. Contrary to popular belief, the credit bureaus do not merge the credit reports of married couples. Everyone has his or her own credit report. Provided you continue paying off your debts responsibly, you will keep your good credit score.

But don't breathe a sigh of relief just yet. You aren't quite in the clear. If your girlfriend's creditors sue her after you get married, they can do things like garnish her pay or garnish your joint checking account. The financial pitfalls of a debt collection lawsuit affect both spouses, not just the one who legally owes the debt.

The car repossession on your girlfriend's credit report should fall off sometime this year. You don't mention how old the collection accounts are, but the Fair Credit Reporting Act limits those to a reporting period of 7.5 years from the date your girlfriend stopped making payments on the cards. Eventually, they'll fall off her report and her score will probably improve. She'll need a decent credit score if the two of you want to make big purchases together after marriage, such as a home or new car. But don't worry about creditors being able to legally come after you for your fiance's debts. You simply aren't liable.

Best of luck,
Lee