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Not sure who's SOL would apply since you opened the account while living in another country.
Also due to the fact that this was opened in another country there might be more laws to consider than normal hopefully someone with experience in this can chime in.
Is the collection company based in the US or out?
Have you ever had any communication with the bank about it? Besides the letters from them you ignored? Did you ever try and talk to them?
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Hi, thanks for your reply. The collection agency is based in New Jersey. I have not contacted the bank at all, and I have not received any communications directly from them in about two years.
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Actually I just noticed that tcollection agency collection agencycollection agency
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Hi, thanks for your reply. The collection agency is based in New Jersey. I have not contacted the bank at all, and I have not received any communications directly from them in about two years.
Being that the CA is US based at least they fall under FDCPA, so that is good. Normally the next step would be inform the CA that the account in question is outside of SOL. However again there might be more to know due to the international ties. For instance I know that if a contract breaks US federal law, then the contract is not enforceable in US courts. Not saying that this is the case, but it might be worth looking into, its possible them keeping the account open and continuing to charge fees is in violation of federal banking laws here in the US making the debt noncollectable here in the US for instance.
Not a lawyer by any means, and its such a small amount I can't imagine they would bother with trying to sue you but obviously keeping it off your credit reports is the other goal at hand. I Start with a SOL letter and see what that does, I had a CA that deleted its reporting and walk away after an SOL letter so they can be effective. I'd recommend creating your own version of instead of the letter you linked.
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One question before I proceed: If they do end reporting this on my credit history, will there be anyway for me to remove it? Or will it be there forever even if I pay it off at that point?
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While the contract may break US law, it is the location of where it is signed/entered that usually takes precedence. Arguing that a contract in France should be subject to US law wouldn't hold up too well.
However, and this is where you MAY be in luck in terms of SOL, France changed its Statute of Limitations to 5 years. However, that is effective June 19, 2008 with the caveat that if the "Cause of action" arose prior, then it is the lower of the remaining limit, as of June 2008 (previous limitation was 30 years).
So they are within SOL to try to sue you, but even that is just in France. And should they try that, they'll have to serve you according to specific Hague Convention rules on service. All that over 190 Euros, I doubt they'll even bother.
My suggestion at this point: DV the Collection agency for sure, and the letter from another collection agency saying "Collect for us" I'm pretty sure doesn't really count as proper validation so it should get deleted from your reports regardless.
Oh and if they DO try to sue in Florida, you can always claim Florida SOL (after delaying the trial enough). By the time it rolls around to dismissal, the hope would be you've rolled past June 19 of next year and they're out of SOL in France too.
All in all, with the communication required, and paperwork and procedures, most competent lawyers and collection agencies (are there competent collection agencies??) would not suggest taking something like this to court as it'll likely bite them in the a$$ if it went to trial, or cost more than actually recovered.
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And the standard I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, nor should anything above be taken as legal advice. If you need legal advice, I would suggest that you contact a professional in your area.