This is just a small reminder that if a debt collector is attempting to collect a debt that has run the statute of limitations then this is a debt that you do not owe and therefore it is potentially harassment.
In California, debt collectors (and even creditors) have to pursue a debt that is legally owed by you. Therefore, in the case of a contract claim, be it a personal debt, a loan, a credit card, a foreclosure, you name it, the creditor or debt collector has two to four years from the breach of that contract in order to sue you for it.
The number of years is contingent upon the statute of limitations for that claim. In the case of contracts, oral is two years and written contracts is four. Either way, if the statute has run its course then you do not owe the debt, therefore any attempts to collect can be seen as harassing. If you do get a call like this, bring this to the collector’s attention and notate the contact information.
From there, you can ask them to validate the debt and to cease communication with them until they do so. If, within the 30 days they have to validate the debt, they contact you, notate the instance. Each attempt they make to call you should be notated. During this time, any calls are more likely to be considered harassment than calls made outside this time frame. This is an objective standard whereas calls amounting to harassment is more often than not a subjective standard.
So, at this stage, they have called you on a debt that is barred by the statute of limitations and they have called you after you have asked them to validate the debt. Well, another violation is if they threatened to sue you. If a creditor threatens to sue you on a debt they cannot collect on then they have violated another FDCPA statute. A collector may not say they can pursue judicial process if they have no ground or does not intend to do so.
Usually these three violations run into each other. So think, next time you get a call from a debt collector or a creditor, what was the date you stopped paying? and notate your correspondence with the collector. If they harass you, you have 1 year to bring your claim for harassment.
