This number was showing up as 775-412-4499 now they are using 213-261-0003. What kind of tactics are they using? Are they thinking that maybe they'll call from an area code I'm familiar with that I'll answer the call? I screen my calls because of telemarketers mostly and wrong number calls. I generally talk to all my "current" creditors to keep everything straight with them. Accounts that I know for a fact that have reached their SOLs, and how accounts are acquired by other companies, I deal with on a whole separate level. Or I don't deal with them especially if they cannot provide "evidence" of the debt they claim I owe.
In short, from all of the forums I've been reading, and web sites that talk about statute of limitations and how they are handled, and what can renew it, I don't talk to anyone about accounts that are over the statute of limitations by a month or more...say like years. I fell on hard times starting back in 2003 when I left my old job. Took a pay cut to take another job, and spent from 2003 - 2005 making one bad choice after another which burried me, then spent from 2005 - 2009 cleaning up the mess I made as best I could, even going terribly broke to do so until I just couldn't do it any more because things were already out of control. Happily, I've gotten to a point where I was able to pay off some old accounts, and was able to receive documentation to verify I did: 3 credit cards and 6 payday loans accounts. Everything else have reached their prime. I'm not advocating to ignor your debts because we all have an obligation to the accounts we create and the decisions we make in creating those accounts. At the same time we as debtors do have rights and it's the collectors who are often breaking the rules.
Know what your debts are. Keep good communication with your creditors. Make good-faith efforts to pay your debts, even if it's in small monthly payments. Have all of your debts verified to make sure they are yours, and be ready to dispute them if you know for a fact they aren't. Be ready to report a collector who violates the rules, too.
They've just started calling me today. I do the same thing you do, Nae...don't answer an unfamiliar number. Thanks for reminding people about the statute of limitations.