Source
r/povertyfinance•
Slacker_090

Any benefit to paying old ignored debt?

Back in 2014, despite being poor, my body decided it was bored and needed to have a medical emergency. I took an ambulance to the ER, had surgery, and fixed that problem. All is well in that department but this bit of excitement cost me almost $10,000 in an ambulance bill that was, for reasons I still do not know, not included in the self pay (of course I couldn't afford insurance) relief that I worked out with the hospital. I honestly didn't now this debt existed until I started getting collections letters about it a little while later. I decided to make a bad but necessary decision to throw those letters in the same pile that my other medical debt collections letter went to so that I could ignore them and pay rent instead.

I am now happy to be in a better spot in my life and have paid all but the ambulance bill debt off with about $9,700 left on the debt and my credit report, listed as bad debt. I have not paid or had any contact with this collections agency in several years. Ignorance is bliss (right?). I now make better money and can potentially pay this off if they will work with me but I noticed that this debt is scheduled to come off my credit report in 7 months. I am afraid to contact them about paying this because I am worried it will restart the timer but my wife is interested in applying for a home loan soon and I am not sure of the best way for me to handle this so that I don't trash my credit more than it already is.

If any of you fine people have any good advice for me, I promise I will be grateful and silently thank you for at least the next 30 years.

Posted Aug 3, 2019, 3:45 PM UTC

56
kendricsdr•

Repaying old debt in collections does not really help your credit at all. Also, if the debt 4-5 years old it is likely passed the statute of limitations and cannot be collected from you. The only reason to pay off the debt is for moral purposes since you did receive some sort of benefit. Whether that is important or not is up to you.

9
Slacker_090OP•

Thank you for the clarification on it not helping my credit. Does the debt really just disappear after it's off of your credit report and the statute of limitations has passed? It seems like there would be another catch of some sort.

3
kendricsdr•

As someone who graduated law school, as far as I know, its just gone. My mother had debts that were not collected after the expiration of the statute of limitations. The collection agencies could not do anything. I am 99.99999% sure you are good.

6
calexxia•

Check the statute of limitations in your state, first. See if they are beyond the point of being able to sue. If they are and it is that close to falling off, let it fall off. If they are still able to sue, then it's a much harder call, as they may. However, if they do, generally companies will be willing to negotiate a payment plan prior to a judgement (at the first or second court date)

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Slacker_090OP•

My state's statute of limitations is 6 years. Am I correct in thinking the best thing for me to do is wait until March when the SoL is passed and this falls off of my credit report before I talk to a bank about a loan?

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calexxia•

I'm not a banker, but.....

If they can no longer use and it's about to fall off....let it fall off.

4