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My mom, 72, was pressured into paying $200/month for decades-old debt. After 1 year of payments, can she just stop?

My 72-year-old mom was pressured into paying $200/month for decades-old debt — collectors threatened her credit, even court time. After 1 year of payments, can she just stop?

In the wake of her husband’s death 25 years ago, Scott’s mom, Beatrice, went through some hard times and couldn’t pay her credit card bill. The credit card company cancelled her card and sold the debt to a collection agency that aggressively and frequently called but never took the legal action they threatened.

Eventually, Beatrice got back on her feet again, the debt collectors stopped calling and her credit score recovered. Still, Beatrice never paid the debt and, although she eventually forgot about it, the debt remained outstanding.

Then, about a year ago, debt collectors began calling again. They threatened to hurt Beatrice’s credit score and take her to court. Feeling pressured, she agreed to start paying $200 a month.

But Scott believes the statute of limitations has long expired and is wondering if his mom — after making monthly payments for the past year on decades-old debt — can simply stop paying.

The statute of limitations is the amount of time a creditor has to file a lawsuit to collect a debt after the borrower has defaulted. This varies by state and by type of debt, and ranges from three years to eight years for open debt, which includes credit card debt. Written contracts, oral contracts and promissory notes are treated differently in many states and the statute of limitations for these can be much longer.

Typically, the statute of limitations is calculated from the date of the last payment made on the debt. If, before the statute expires, you make a payment, agree to a settlement or payment plan, put a new charge on the account or acknowledge the debt, the statute of limitations will restart from the date you do so. Once the statute has expired, however, the debt is statute barred. That means debt collectors can still try to collect the debt, but they can’t sue you.

Sometimes, debts that are long forgotten and have fallen off your credit report will be revived by debt buyers. They may try to get you to acknowledge the old debt or make a payment, which could then revive the statute of limitations on this so-called zombie debt and allow them to take legal action to collect it.

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