hi everyone,

when I was 18 i got a credit card and quickly maxed it out on silly things. I got behind on the repayments and then was paying a monthly amount off of it.
When I moved out of my Mums house I did not give any forwarding adress and did not hear anything from this company again. This was about 8 years ago now.
About 6 months-1year ago I decided to finally take responsibility and go through my credit report to sort out all the mess!
All the companies on the report I contacted and have started to make payments again. I assumed everything was back on track however today my mum and her partner had a debt collector come to their house on behalf of the credit card company and tried to list items. Fortunately my mums partner is a police officer and told them where to go and that I do not live there anymore. This has really annoyed them though so I need to sort it out.
Problem is, I have never heard of this company before, assume they have bought the debt but this debt is now nearly 10 years old. I am sure I have not heard from them for at least 7-8 years and it does not appear on my credit report.
I am sure that after 6 years of no contact the debt must be written off unless I acknowledge it.
I know this is irrisponsible but if its true then is there a way of getting them to stop going to my mums door without me actually acknowledging the debt?
thanks for any advice

Hi vwgolfnutter,

Legally, your parents only have to put a restraining order out against this company. It has nothing to do with your parents as your mothers partner well knows. A restraining order can be made on the grounds of harassment if the debt collecting company attends your mothers property again. If the record is not showing up on your credit report, then of course it won't affect anything else you are doing and, by default, records are and should be removed after x number of years depending on the country you are living in. National records are only kept for x number of years as a requirement of law of that country for auditing purposes (including credit reports). It does not necessarily remove your debt.

I'm sure that your parents won't hear from the company again because they do know that they can be reported for harassment if they don't back down. The company CANNOT list THEIR items to sell to pay YOUR debt. It's illegal in any country.

The ONLY time that this can be done is if a Court Appointed Officer and a Bailiff attends YOUR property, not your mothers, and lists items for seizure if payment is not made by a certain date.

The only other instance that they CAN attend your mothers property with a Court Appointed Officer and a Bailiff is if your mother co-signed for your credit card.

That makes her as responsible for the debt as you were.

Hope this helps.

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Real-Time Budgeting