Can creditors still come after you even if debt aged off your credit report?

[Evelin]

My debts are more than 7.5 years old and have aged off a few months ago.

[Tracy Winters]

Absolutely

Like so many people, you are confusing between the statue of limitation and the credit reporting time limit.

Derogatory items age off your credit report 7.5 years from the date of first deficiency, whether paid, settled, or unpaid. That doesn’t mean you no longer owe the debts. It just means it can’t be reported to your credit file.

The Statute of Limitations (SOL), which is the time frame to bring lawsuit, is governed by state laws. While the SOL for most debts is less than 11 years, some states have much longer times (Use this Complete list of Statue of Limitations by State to check the SOL for your state).

So they have plenty of time to file a law suit long after the debts fall off your credit report.
Some debt collectors will continue to attempt to collect even after the SOL has expired. They’re hoping you don’t know about the statute of limitations and you’ll pay up if they threaten you enough. They may even file a lawsuit against you, but then you can use the SOL as an affirmative defense.

Another very important issue – every time you take an action with an account, the SOL is restarted. Making a payment, making a promise of payment, confirming your debt, negotiating a settlement or entering a payment agreement can restart the statute of limitations on an account. When the clock restarts, it restarts at zero, no matter how much time had elapsed before the activity.

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