Repossessed car over 7 years ago

[maryle]

A man who said he was from a law firm called my job to try and harrass me for money against an old car loan from a repo that occured in 1998. Can he legally do this? He said that if I didn't make payments on it that they would start garnishing my check 20%. Is there a possibility that it could be a collection agency lying about their identity just to try and get some money?

 

[debt_helper]

Wow- where to begin. First, I would check the statute of limitations in your state- 7 years may not be to long to collect. The thing is, if they threatened to garnish your wages (which is another thing you need to look up because the highest garnishment I have ever heard of is only 10%) it means they have a judgment against you. If there is a judgment, 7 years is nothing. Again a state law issue, most states have a 20 year period to collect a judgment. They can also file a motion to extend the judgment another 20 years, so 7 years is nothing. As for calling your job- perfectly legal. If you say don't call me here- they cannot. If you tell them not to call you at all- they cannot. If you tell them not to call you or write you- they cannot. Only if you say not to do one of these things and they violate that is there a harassment issue. As for a collection agency lying to collect- not entirely impossible. I would get a call back number and dial them- see what the receptionist says. If they say VISA, its a collector. If they say "law offices of ____stein, ___burg, & gold"- its a lawfirm. Finally, the money you owe is from an "old car loan from a repo"? So you got a loan, got a car, and had it repossessed? Or you got a loan to get a car back from repo? This needs to be cleared up. If you got the loan, defaulted on payment, and had the car seized- you probably don't owe anything- the repossession would have paid for the loan. If you got a loan to get your car out of repo, then you simply owe that money.