State of Maryland Central Collection Unit 13-Year-Old Insurance Lapse Scam Baltimore, Maryland

Your DMV sold your car registration debt to a collector...who sold it...who sold it...etc....  However, the date of determining the statute of limitations is not date of loss necessarily, but date of last payment.  In your case, they happen to be the same (it sounds like)...  What you should do:

1.  Don't pay anything on it.  EVER.  Don't even fall for their "make a good faith payment."  If you make any payment on it, the clock begins at 0 days and you've confirmed the debt as yours.  Just tell them to pound sand.

2.  Pull a copy of your credit report; go to FTC.gov and pull a copy for free.  I suspect that debt is now appearing on your report.  You need to write the 3 reporting agencies, deny the debt is yours, and have the item removed.  The item is probably affecting your credit score.

From this point on, this debt is not yours, OK??  If they call again wanting payment, let the collector know the debt isn't yours, but that you'd be happy to get a tape recorder and record the conversation...do you wish to hang on??  If they're stupid enough to hang on, include the word "harassment" as often as possible.  If they threaten to take you to court, tell them "thank you - I'll see you there!!". 

I don't think you'll have a problem with the MD DMV in getting renewal tags....if you even need them at this point.  Best of luck to you....

Thanks for your advice.  Because the letter was so awful-looking, my first thought was that it was some sort of identity theft.  So I took your advice and checked my credit record through Equifax.  There was absolutely nothing on that report that seemed linked to the insurance charge, or whatever it's called.  For the seven years on my report I had no debts or loans I was unaware of, no late payments, no collection agencies, no public filings, nada.  And as I kept thinking about it, I realized that it hadn't been on my credit report at any time in the last 3 years, because I checked my report each year, or saw a report from a loan officer who checked it.  This was really a bolt from the blue.

I felt hopeful when I found a Maryland attorney's website that explained the statute of limitations on debt collection.  It was 3 years since the last activity, and 12 years after a court ruling (which never happened), but I'm still nervous that this doesn't apply in my case. 

I haven't called them yet, partly because I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row first.  I will keep your advice about how to handle the phone call in mind, too; especially about any tricks to get me to make a "good faith" payment.  I am nervous, but I think it'll turn out okay now.  Someone else had mentioned that this seemed like a bug in their computer system that is going through accounts from over a decade ago and sending out automated notices, and I think they're onto something.

I just feel like I need to clarify my situation one more time:  I had insurance on my car while it was driveable, it was totalled (you couldn't even turn it on) 13 years ago, and I moved out of MD 10 years ago.  I will never pay a dime on this charge.