Am i responsible for a debt after 4 yrs have passed, and this is the first time they have contacted me?

I have just been asked to pay a debt after 4 yrs, I know I still owed part of the moneys the person is asking of me, but not all as most of it was paid in 2003, I have proof. I have been told that once a debt is older then 5 yrs then you know longer have to pay it. This is not a bank loan or credit card debt, and no contracts where signed at the time.

Am i responsible for a debt after 4 yrs have passed, and this is the first time they have contacted me?
Refer to this hyperlink to determine if your debt falls within scope of the law on the statute of limitations.





Good luck.
Reply:A debt never goes away. In most cases, after 4 years they can not take you to court but you should check your state to see with the SOL is. They can call you till the day you die and ask for money. If you make any payments, the SOL starts all over again.
Reply:This depends on the statute of limitations in your state.





Check your state law.
Reply:Where I live the statue of limitations is 4 years. so if you live in Texas yes your free.
Reply:You heard wrong. You owe the money.





If you refuse to pay, they can take you to court. If it's a bank or other financial institution, if they write the debt off (lose money), they have to report the cancelled debt to the IRS...at which point it's potentially taxable income to you.
Reply:This would depend upon your states statute of limitations, they vary quite a bit from state to state.


If this is a personal loan and there is no record of the loan, then they would have a hard time proving it exists in court. But you say you made payments and have proof, so there is a chance they could use that as evidence of the debt. So you can ignore the requests and forget about it, but might wind up in small claims court anyways.


If it is of a private nature, then the person cannot report it to the CRA's as individuals can't report anything unless they have a court judgment or it is public record.


Check here for your states limitations http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-...
Reply:what country do you live in?





laws in this regard vary state to state, country to country.





in my opinion, if you owe money, then you pay it. you don't run from it and wait until the other person forgets about it.
Reply:Absolutely YES!
Reply:If they can prove you only paid part of it, they can take you to small claims court. Likely they will win. If you can afford to pay, don't try to back out of it. Word gets around and if they have the ability they will put it on your credit report for you to challenge. Fighting that battle is a tedious process.





Guess I'm saying: honor your debts.
Reply:lol yes you have to pay it. I once paid a bill online that was 500 dollars but wasnt taken out of my account...3 years later someone noticed and corrected their mistake. Kind of a different situation but yes you owe the money.
Reply:Proof that you have paid shows that the debt exists. The person or entity to whom you have money can take action to collect. If action is taken, it will go on your credit report. The bad debt action will hurt you in the future. It will also shhow that you have tried to get away with not paying a bedbt you confirm does exist.