I think the options are two: bully and harass the debtors until they pay or go to courts and try to get the default judgement.
As the program points out what they buy is name and number. So I suppose if the person involved showed up in court and demanded any sort of confirmation of debt (like original bills perhaps?) then the case would be dismissed. After all the company needs some proof. But they overload the courts and if no one shows up to defend then the default judgement goes in favor of the debt collector.
And then they go and collect with the power of law behind them.
This is crazy but that's how they roll in the land of the free :)
The statute of limitations applies to whether the creditor can go to court. Since these debts we're talking about are older than that, getting a judgment is off the table.
That's also why they were sold for a fraction of a penny on the dollar -- the only way you could collect on them is to call the debtors and hassle them. At this point those debtors are probably also wise to the fact that you have no legal power to enforce.
Apparently pretty much anything including answering a phone call under some jurisdictions.
Pretty much they can hook you in by calling you and saying "Good day Mr. Smith you have a debt for 50$ to Acme Medical do you want to hear about our debt relief plan with payments as low as 1$ a month".
If at any point you seem to show any response to it they can use it to prove that you've acknowledged the debt at which point they can go to court and force you to pay.
The laws should be made that way that debt that has expunged is not tradeable or actionable in any way period.
Well yes, but most people won't be able to not to put their foot in their mouth.
Oddly enough saying "the debt is past this statutory limit and cannot be forcibly collected" might actually be an acknowledgement of the debt by itself.
All the laws regarding this are completely bonkers.
As the program points out what they buy is name and number. So I suppose if the person involved showed up in court and demanded any sort of confirmation of debt (like original bills perhaps?) then the case would be dismissed. After all the company needs some proof. But they overload the courts and if no one shows up to defend then the default judgement goes in favor of the debt collector.
And then they go and collect with the power of law behind them.
This is crazy but that's how they roll in the land of the free :)