AFNI Collections Tried to collect a debt I don't owe 16 years after the fact Beyond Statue of Limitations Ripoff Bloomington Illinois

A summons is also used for CIVIL COURT matters, which is what a debt collector might try.

Even though the statue of limitations would be an active defense against such a suit many debt collectors will still file a civil suit in the hopes that you don't show up - they get a default judgement.

Should anyone receive a summons for civil court, it's important to attend, and if the SOL is expired request the court to dismiss it on that grounds. Most courts will not employ the SOL for you - you must be present (or represented by counsel) to request dismissal on SOL grounds.

Interesting that you would live in the same state as AFNI...I'm guessing that this is no coincidence considering your support of this reprehensable outfit.

Because the OP consulted an attorney, which by definition means his collective intelligence outweighs that of an AFNI rep by a 1000-1 margin, I'm guessing he sent a Cease Communications Letter - which means that AFNI will have one chance to communicate with J before they are in violation of federal collection law. At that point, as J pointed out, they can be successfully sued for $1000 for each communication beyond the one they are allowed.

Therefore, your assertion that AFNI can keep collecting on this debt indefinitely is 100% FALSE and incorrect. By law, they are required to validate ANY debt that they try to collect on - including billing documentation to prove that the balance is valid and that the charges are correct. Verizon doesn't even have any old Bell Atlantic billing records anymore. What they receive from Verizon is nothing more than an electronic printout of a balance, a name, and a service address.

Resonate some understanding here, Chris: Why would Verizon sell a $1300 debt for $20 if they could legally collect $1300? They sold debt that was legally uncollectable to put a little coin in their pocket, but they knew (as AFNI knows) that legally the customer doesn't have to pay a cent. A judge would not only throw out any attempt to sue for this balance, but would likely grant any countersuit (including lost wages for having to appear, etc.) for attempting to sue for an outside-of-SOL attempt to collect what was an uncollectable debt.

Legally, AFNI is entitled to $0.00 with regards to a sold out-of-SOL debt. They are using scare tactics to try to bully these consumers to pay - but in reality, if every customer who received a letter like this sent a Cease Communications Letter to AFNI, AFNI would ultimately realize that they just paid millions of dollars for some very expensive paper.

"(7) yr. Statue of Limitations"???


It is not a criminal case, it is a debt... 7 years is only how long they can report it to the credit bureaus, but the debt just does not go away. You still owe it and they can still attempt to collect on it.

From what I understand about verizon they do not do any of their own in house collections so they are all farmed out. So you would not of been contacted by them and again this is not a criminal case so no summons is involved.

And when you mailed Afni did you notify them to cease communications? If not they can still contact you and they will not be fined a thing.

"(7) yr. Statue of Limitations"???


It is not a criminal case, it is a debt... 7 years is only how long they can report it to the credit bureaus, but the debt just does not go away. You still owe it and they can still attempt to collect on it.

From what I understand about verizon they do not do any of their own in house collections so they are all farmed out. So you would not of been contacted by them and again this is not a criminal case so no summons is involved.

And when you mailed Afni did you notify them to cease communications? If not they can still contact you and they will not be fined a thing.

Afni also contacted me for a charge based on a Verizon charge. I was told that when Verizon purchased AT&T or Bell or some other phone company in the Albany area that Verizon tried to contact me and collect a debt that I can't remember owing.

My account, so they claim (and from what I can remember) is over 11 years old. That should be well past the statutue of limitations to sue or to put on the credit report.

Is that correct?

I have contacted my attorney, but I am going to send a letter anyway.

Did you receive return receipt notification that they got your letter? Anyone receive this?

How do they have our SSN to contact the credit report agencies anyway?