Topic: Interesting note from Portfolio Recovery

[rubberduck]

After several years of receiving twice-yearly offers of settlement (and a scattered distribution of phone calls, never answered) from Portfolio Recovery, the latest offer states:

Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it. If you do not pay the debt, we may report it to the credit reporting agencies as unpaid.

Has anyone seen this? Obviously I'm happy about the first sentence, though the debt is a month away from SOLC anyway. What I'm concerned about is this new report restarting the 7-year time limit on reporting derogatories. Is "unpaid" even a legitimate status?

[kevinmanheim]

They can only report it to the CRAs for approximately 7 years and 6 months from the date you defaulted.

[innocentme]

After several years of receiving twice-yearly offers of settlement (and a scattered distribution of phone calls, never answered) from Portfolio Recovery, the latest offer states:

Has anyone seen this? Obviously I'm happy about the first sentence, though the debt is a month away from SOLC anyway. What I'm concerned about is this new report restarting the 7-year time limit on reporting derogatories. Is "unpaid" even a legitimate status?

All they are saying is that they will not sue you anymore, as it is now SOL. 

They have always been reporting it as unpaid, and will continue to do so until they can't anymore.  They would change it to say "Paid" if you paid them. 

[trueq]

This is the new boilerplate "safe harbor" language talked about with the Consumer Protection Bureau when debt collectors are trying to collect debt past SOL.

This was talked about at an FTC conference on debt collection practices.

This was one of the ideas, requiring debt collectors to indicate you cannot be legally sued for out of statue debt, which appears to be coming to fruition as public policy.

This is sound public policy in the 48, or so states that do not have a statue of Repose.

In Wisconsin, this language would be an FDCPA violation because we have a statue of Repose, which goes further.   A normal limitation statue eliminates the right to sue once its past.    A Statue of Repose eliminates the debt, or makes it $0...so nothing would be owed by a passing of a Statue of Repose.