First off let me be clear, I am NOT an attorney or lawyer. If you have any doubts about your actual legal position, contact a bar certified law professional specialist in your state.
These are a bottom feeder debt buyers/collectors. They buy old debts for pennies on the dollar. Many that have expired statute of limitations. This means that they have lost most of the legal standing to sue you in a court of law to force you to pay. Which virtually makes the debt uncollectable. Often these kinds of debt buyers will try to bully you into making any kind of payment arrangement. Most are outright rude and can be very threatening. Sometimes they will use terms like "officer of the court" or other "official" sounding titles to try to intimidate you. Often though, the people that are actually calling you are working in a contracted call center. Most of these, are alcoholics and drug addicts. Vile little urchins, and often when they don't get what they want, (your agreement to pay) they will use profanity that would make a seasoned sailor blush. Some, will even falsely identify as some form of law enforcement officer (police, sheriff's deputy, marshal), which in most states is a crime and can be a felony. (And if you have them recorded and want to push it, they can be prosecuted for.) BUT, keep in mind, they can NOT have you arrested, sell your children, or take your money, until, at the very LEAST there is a judgment from a COURT OF LAW.
However, there are a number of types of "contact" that can reset the clock for the statute of limitations. GUARANTEED they are recording the call. NEVER even utter the word "yes" to them. Most of these types of debt buyers/collections agencies are completely unscrupulous. They can cut and paste the audio to make it sound like you agreed to something. Which, if you DO agree to ANY kind of payment arrangement, WILL reset the clock on the statute of limitations. And even if you just acknowledge the debt, will probably also reset the clock. Which then means they may have 5-7 years (or more) to take the case to court and sue you. THEN they will have a judgment. And once they have that, they can force you to pay them.
The easiest way to deal with these folks, is just not answer the phone. However, they love to use spoofed numbers. What this means is that they use an internet based phone system called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and they can, at their will, set the phone number that is displayed on caller ID systems. So it may appear as the call is originating locally. And sometimes you need to answer even if you don't know who the caller is. The best defense then, is if you see these numbers come up, is sites like this where someone reports who the actual caller is.
First off let me be clear, I am NOT an attorney or lawyer. If you have any doubts about your actual legal position, contact a bar certified law professional specialist in your state.
These are a bottom feeder debt buyers/collectors. They buy old debts for pennies on the dollar. Many that have expired statute of limitations. This means that they have lost most of the legal standing to sue you in a court of law to force you to pay. Which virtually makes the debt uncollectable. Often these kinds of debt buyers will try to bully you into making any kind of payment arrangement. Most are outright rude and can be very threatening. Sometimes they will use terms like "officer of the court" or other "official" sounding titles to try to intimidate you. Often though, the people that are actually calling you are working in a contracted call center. Most of these, are alcoholics and drug addicts. Vile little urchins, and often when they don't get what they want, (your agreement to pay) they will use profanity that would make a seasoned sailor blush. Some, will even falsely identify as some form of law enforcement officer (police, sheriff's deputy, marshal), which in most states is a crime and can be a felony. (And if you have them recorded and want to push it, they can be prosecuted for.) BUT, keep in mind, they can NOT have you arrested, sell your children, or take your money, until, at the very LEAST there is a judgment from a COURT OF LAW.
However, there are a number of types of "contact" that can reset the clock for the statute of limitations. GUARANTEED they are recording the call. NEVER even utter the word "yes" to them. Most of these types of debt buyers/collections agencies are completely unscrupulous. They can cut and paste the audio to make it sound like you agreed to something. Which, if you DO agree to ANY kind of payment arrangement, WILL reset the clock on the statute of limitations. And even if you just acknowledge the debt, will probably also reset the clock. Which then means they may have 5-7 years (or more) to take the case to court and sue you. THEN they will have a judgment. And once they have that, they can force you to pay them.
The easiest way to deal with these folks, is just not answer the phone. However, they love to use spoofed numbers. What this means is that they use an internet based phone system called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and they can, at their will, set the phone number that is displayed on caller ID systems. So it may appear as the call is originating locally. And sometimes you need to answer even if you don't know who the caller is. The best defense then, is if you see these numbers come up, is sites like this where someone reports who the actual caller is.