So I had an old CC from college with about 1200$ on it that I never paid off. Honestly, the whole thing over the years had completely slipped from my mind.

Over the past six months I’ve actually been checking up on my credit reports and paying off old debts, tracking down debt collectors to settle, and working on improving my score. I’m all caught up and my score is doing a lot better.

I assumed that if I didn’t see a debt on my report, there was no debt reporting to collection agencies and there was nothing to worry about. I recently got a call from Calvery debt collections reminding me of this debt and asking for payment. They negotiated the payment down to 562$, HOWEVER they start their calls with this long Schpeel about how the statutes of limitations for suing for this debt has passed, they can’t sue for it any longer unless I wave the statute of limitations or make a legal promise to pay it. Also, The debt no longer shows up on my credit report so it’s not affecting my credit (and it’s also why I didn’t get to it when I started repairing my score bc I didn’t know about it). They have provided proof that they own the debt. They’ve owned it from 2012/2013.

Am I legally obliged to pay this debt? Will there be consequences for not paying it? Is this their last ditch effort to recoup some of the debt they bought years ago? Any relevant info is greatly appreciated!

Normally I pay these things off and try not to get into trouble like this, but with COVID I’m hurting and a 562$ payment is the LAST thing I need.

Thank you so much for your time!