I have an 11 year old debt from an old $3100 credit card account. All of a sudden I get letters threatening me to pay. Verbiage like if you do not respond you will be held in contempt and incarcerated. I live in New Jersey and thought that after 6 years they can't do this any more and the debt is dead. Can they do this and am I in jeopardy of being arrested?

i have an 11 year old debt from an old $3100 credit card account. All of a sudden i get letters threatening me to pay. verbiage like if you do not respond you will be held in contempt and incarcerated. I live in New Jersey and thought that after 6 years they can't do this any more and the debt is dead. can they do this and am i in jeopardy of being arrested?
I doubt you can be arrested unless they prove theft by deception, can't imagine how you would be deceiving them if you didn't pay, centuries ago in England you could be put in debtors prison but that's history, this is 2007. They can cause you a lot of financial issues though.

They can't do much to you other then kick your credit score down. If they start calling you, you can demand to be never contacted. This is just another company's way of making money off old debt. They try to make it sound like you will be prosecuted but they really have no power.

They can't arrest you even if you owed the money from yesterday unless it was done by a criminal act.

Did they really have this in a written letter ?

I believe this activity is illegal, and perhaps you can sue them for blackmail or something.

The Statute of Limitations prevents a creditor from suing someone for a debt after a specified period.That doesn't mean the debt is dead or that the creditor can't continue to dun you. However, they are constrained as to what they can do or say while dunning you.

I would take those letters to the local office of the NJ Attorney General.

Hello lex:

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifically forbids collectors for threatening ANYTHING other than a lawsuit, because a lawsuit is the ONLY remedy they have.

The perpetrator of such an act is punishable for up to $1,000 per day. The Federal Trade Commission is the governing body. Make a complaint to them. You can do it online.

Send these scumbags a letter telling them what you did, and if they ever contact you again, the fine would be multiplied by the amount of days between the first contact and the second. That could be substantial. I would close the letter with the refrain, "contact me at your peril".

excon

PS> Of course, you owe the money. If your moral compass allows you to beat people out of their money, then go for it.

I have a 2nd mortgage on my home, never missed a payment in the last 7 yrs or so, been past the due date but never past the date when I would have incurred a late fee, never ever. They start calling me when its about 5 days late, sometimes on a Sunday!!
I have asked them not to call me on a Sunday though it's not illegal for them to do so - I do consider it unethical but I've read the statute and they can call me anyday they want and it's legal but they cannot call me at work if I request them not to do so, nor can they call me after 9pm and they cannot call me real early in the AM (forgot exactly what time they can start calling). I just hang up on them or tell them to forget about talking to me until they agree not to call me on Sunday, they haven't agreed and continue to call me. I don't live in NJ but ck the law there about them callng you - my guess is they can call you without any penalty or punishment but cannot call you late or early as I mentioned before. If they have threatened, especially in writing, to have you incarcerated, then that seems to me to be illegal.

Thank you all for responding to my question about the 11 yr old credit crad debt I am being asked to pay. With your help I was able to find out that yes they (citibank) did get a jugement by default against me in 2001. The last time a paymenty was made is 1995. Doesthe judgement change the SOL and can they actually arrest me if I don't respond

The judgement DOES change the SOL. As I said, the SOL prevents them suing you within a certain period. But once a judgement is obtained the clock starts a new and under different rules. As long as they renew the judgement it may be kept open indefinitely.

No they cannot arrest you. But they can attach cash assets, garnish your salary or possibly attach some non cash assets.