What are my rights regarding an 8 year-old bill?
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What are my rights regarding an 8 year-old bill?
I had service with a cell phone company back in 2002 and had 2 phones under this account. An ex-girlfriend took 1 of these phones and intentionally ran a bill up to around $900 in 1 month. When I got the bill and realized what she was doing I instantly notified the company. After they looked in to it they agreed that the numbers called were ones that I had never called before and said the bill would be forgiven. This was 8 years ago. Now I just recently started to get calls from a collection agency. I was never contacted before this and they say that I have to pay it.
Asked on October 6, 2010 under Bankruptcy Law, Iowa
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
If you are in the State of Iowa the Statute of Limitations for collection on a bill is ten years. So whatever is happening is happening legally under the law, from a time frame stand point. Although I know that you said that you spoke with the cell phone company about the matter did you ever get written confirmation that they were wiping out the debt? How about copies of statements after the conversation to show that you were credited with the amount back to your bill? Do you have any of those? It is obvious that something went wrong between the time that you made the call and today. The cell phone company sold your debt to a collection agency. That is a horrible roller coaster to be on. You need to get on top of the matter as soon as you can and dig up all old documentation that you can. Good luck.
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