OK I just received a letter from a law office saying that they were retained to collect a balance owed from a judgment on 4/22/2005 for a property I wasn't even living in at that time I mite have lived there before 1998 but was so long ago I don't remember can they do this?

Obviously they can since they are doing it.

They can claim you owe a debt, but will need to prove it, This could be someone using your name, or a debt you have forgotten.

You deny owing the debt and ask for proof of debt. If it is out of the statue of limitation they may not sue you in court but can attempt collection of debt

Tyvm for the info

According to you, they got a judgement in 2005. That doesn't mean you were living there at that time. It only means the judgment was awarded then. Sounds to me like you vacated the apartment leaving either damages and/or unpaid rent. Since they already have a judgment, they can garnish wages, attach assets, etc.

Check with the clerk of the clerk of the court which rendered this judgment and find out how you were served with process. There should be a return of service in the file which may jog your memory.

To answer the question in the title, "laches" is an equitable principle that holds that, if plaintiff has delayed long enough in going after the relief requested so that you are adversely affected by that delay, relief may be denied. It's something like a statute of limitations.

What if they have the wrong address for where there saying I lived at that time?

At the time of what? If they had an incorrect address for where lived at the time they issued the summons, then it will depends on what they did to serve you.