There is nothing worse than getting phone calls all day long and postal mail from companies telling you that you owe them money, especially if you know that the Statute of Limitations has run out.

If the Statute of Limitations has run out, you have every right to throw the letters away, and not answer the phone calls. The debt collection company has every right to continue to call you and send you letters even if the debt is time barred. A debt is a debt and they have the right to collect. They can’t threaten to sue you nor can they file a lawsuit knowing this is a time barred debt; but some do anyway. That is when you tell the court that the debt is time barred.

Now as I have said with the annoying phone calls and letters, some people just decide to pick them up to get these people off of their back and talk with the person on the other end. That’s what they want you to do. They want you to pick up the phone.

In some states, making the tiniest payment toward that debt can re-start the clock. For example, you owe $700 and you make a $35.00 payment. The latest trick they want you to fall for is to make that tiny payment toward your debt so that they can now sue you. They hope that you make a payment. That sets you up to pay the entire bill. Making any type of payment will have you admitting that it is your debt, and you owe them money. So think twice.

A lot of people do not know that in some states just making a tiny payment can re-start the Statute of Limitations which will open you up for a lawsuit. Put up with the annoyance of phone calls and letters and let this thing die.

If you have old credit card debt and you know that your Statute of Limitations has run out, the best thing for you to do is put up with the letters, put up with the phone calls (or change your phone number) but if it was me, I wouldn’t make any payment toward the debt because it is a total set up to re-start the clock. I guarantee once I make that payment within the next few weeks a sheriff will be knocking on my door with a Summons!

There are lawyers and people out there who defend collection agencies saying that it’s too bad if the consumer didn’t know that a tiny payment would start the clock again and they owe the money so they should pay their debt. Collection agencies will not let you know the debt is time barred. That is up to you to know. They are not going to help you, just like a court cannot help you by telling you the debt is time barred.

Time barred debts should be left to die, not resuscitated!