Questioner:	Nicole
Category:	Collections Law
Private:	No
Subject:	Type of debt
Question:	I have received a call from a debt collector regarding a bill from 1998. I know the statutes for collection in my state, however it has four different kinds of dept listed-oral, written, open ended, and promissory note. However I do not know what kind of bill a phone bill is considered. I do not believe that this bill is mine, but it would be a lot easier to get cleared if it is too late to collect. Do you know what type of bill a phone bill is considered?
Answer:	Telephone bills, much like credit cards are an ongoing offer of credit. The company provides the service then bills you for it at the end of each month or billing period. So the same statute of limitations would apply. I fail to understand why you think it will be any easier to get cleared if it is too late to collect. Debt collectors often demand payment on debts that are more than 20 years old no matter what the statute of limitations might be. They rely on the fact that most people don't know about such things as statutes of limitations and will often pay the bill whether they owe it or not just to keep themselves out of trouble. If they know about the statute of limitations they often ignore the debt collector because they think that the debt collector can't collect it. They often learn the hard way that if the debt collector files a lawsuit and they don't defend by filing a proper response to the complaint the statute of limitations means nothing and they will get a judgment. They also rely on the fact that finding competent legal help at a reasonable price is not an easy thing to do. The lawyer costs more than just paying the debt in many cases. The debt collector gets paid on out of Stat debt so often that it is very profitable to buy those old debts for pennies and go for the entire amount. Folks need to learn how to deal with abusive debt collection practices like that and do it without having to resort to lawyers or credit repair organizations. It just isn't all that difficult. The first step is learning how to combat the phone calls. To learn about that all anyone has to do is to go to www.creditwrench.com/18questions.html and then visit my message board at consumers.creditwrench.com where they will get lots of tips and tricks and inside information about dealing with debt collectors. They will learn how to stop them in court without resorting to lawyers and sue them for their abusiveness in federal courts. They can also learn how to do it by calling 405-616-7901