in 1992 i filed for bankruptcy . last month after 10 years i'm being
hounded by a creditor saying i owe $3,133.oo after you include
interest from the original 1200.00 i owed . i went to retreve my
original bankruptcy records & low & behold that creditor is not on the
list. i do not have the original hand written list i gave my lawer so
it's my word against her's, from what i can find out i'v been passed
onto other creditors 8 times in ten years i'v only had 2 addreses in 10
yrs. & in the same town in ohio. these creditors say the statute of
limitations is 15 years i find that hard to believe, i can't find
anything about the companny other than thier from newyork ny.named
camco & use a postoffice box

Hi harry22:

Thank you for the question. 

I wish I had better news for you, but it looks like the statute of
limitations on debt collection *is* 15 years for the state of Ohio.
Unfortunately, Ohio has one of the longest statute of limitations for
all the states, as can be seen from the following table:

Statute Of Limitations For Debts
http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html

You can see from the table on this page that if the collection agency
has proof of a written contract or a promissory note from you, then
the statute of limitations is 15 years. If there was only a *verbal*
agreement of the debt, then the statute of limitations is only 6 years
- and you would be beyond that now. (These figures were backed up by
other websites that I found.)

In reality, these agencies can hound you forever on this debt, but
they can only take you to court over non-payment during the 15-year
period. After that, you could have any court case easily dismissed.

It is truly a shame that this debt was not on your bankruptcy records
and that you cannot prove that your lawyers made a slip-up in
processing your bankruptcy.

As for the company that is hounding you, CAMCO, their full name is
Capital Acquisition and Management Company and they certainly seem to
have quite a reputation. If you read through some of these threads you
might gain some insight into how to best "work with" this company.

http://www.cardreport.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html
http://www.cardreport.com/wwwboard/messages/16232.html
http://www.cardreport.com/wwwboard/messages/16138.html
http://www.cardreport.com/wwwboard/messages/15672.html

It appears that CAMCO is based in Illinois, not New York. Their
address is:

Camco Services 
303 N. Main Street
Rockford, Il
60611 

Since you didn't really ask for anything other than the statute of
limitations information, I'm not sure what else to look into for you.
If you have need of clarifications, please ask and I'll do my best to
help out. Please allow me to provide any requested clarifications
*before* you rate this answer.

Thanks. 

websearcher-ga


Search Strategy:

"Statute of limitations" "debt collection"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Statute+of+limitations%22+%22debt+collection%22

camco debt collection
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=camco+debt+collection

answered fast and to the point

Here is a letter that I sent to CAMCO on behalf of my Michigan client
(note:  Michigan has a six (6) year statute:

Mr. X
Collections Manager
CAMCO Capital Acquisition & Management Company
Post Office Box 158
Rockford, IL 61125

Dear X,

Re.	[Client Name]Troy Gaw
		CAMCO No. xxxxxxx

	Thank you for your letter of [Month] 3rd which contained an offer of
settlement.

	Respectfully, I am reluctant to recommend this offer to my client for
the following reasons:

1.	The last activity on the account with [store name] was in May, 1991
and there has been no reaffirmation or validation event since that
time;
		
2.	I believe that Michigan’s statute of limitation on accounts such as
this is six years:

No person may bring or maintain any action to recover damages or sums
due for breach of contract, or to enforce the specific performance of
any contract unless, after the claim first accrued to himself or to
someone through whom he claims, he commences the action within the
periods of time prescribed by this section . . . . (8) The period of
limitations is 6 years for all other actions to recover damages or
sums due for breach of contract.

Michigan Compiled Laws, § 600.5807. 


3.	Further, it is our position that the filing of a lawsuit on a debt
that appears to be time-barred, without CAMCO having first determined
after a reasonable inquiry that the limitations period has been or
should be tolled, is  an unfair an unconscionable means of collecting
a debt and would be violative of the Fair Debt Collections Practices
Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1692f; Kimber v. Federal Fin’l Corp., 668 F. Supp.
1480, 1487 (M.D. Ala. 1987). I believe that Michigan’s Regulation of
Collection Practices Act, M.C.L. § 445.251 et seq. mirrors most of the
federal provisions.

4.	My understanding of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is that any
adverse item of information (other than records of convictions of
crimes) which antedates the report by more than seven years are
improper under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(5).  The running of the reporting
period of seven years begins upon the expiration of the 180-day period
beginning on the date of the commencement of the delinquency, charge
to profit and loss, or similar action. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(c)(1).

Given that the alleged delinquency is reported to me as commencing May
1991, this debt would not reportable after November 1998, which is
almost four years ago.

	Therefore, it is my opinion and advice to my client that actions to
collect the alleged debt are time barred by the Michigan statute of
limitations for such actions, and that derogatory reporting to the
three major credit reporting agencies is not permissible under the
Fair Credit Reporting Act.

	If my understanding is incorrect or if my argument is flawed, I would
appreciate your communicating that to me.

	Otherwise, I will assume that this matter is closed. 


weisstho-ga