Did you know there are new requirements for reporting debts or delinquencies? Clark recently had the chance to speak with two experts on the Fair Credit Report Act and the FACT Act (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act). What he learned was illuminating. For example, if you have a credit card debt that went delinquent in January 2000, you might start getting calls from collection agencies in December 2006 -- one month shy of the seven-year expiration limit. What's probably going on is that the collection agency has put a new date on your account. By doing this the agency is breaking the law. If the debt has moved beyond the statue of limitations, you have no legal requirement to pay that creditor anything. Bear in mind that Clark is not talking here about the ethical obligation to pay up -- that goes on forever. He's only talking about your legal obligation.

So what can you do if your debt has passed the statute limit and the collection agency puts a new date on the account just to harass you some more? You can sue them in your own small claims court where you live. They have to come to you and answer for their actions! Just beware that these legal battles can be a two-way street. There are a lot of unsavory characters in the collection business who will try to sue you on expired debts. If you don't show up in court, they get a judgment in their favor when they didn't deserve it in the first place. Meanwhile, Clark also shared some personal anecdotes about working as a bill collector in graduate school, and trying to collect on past debts when he had his travel agencies. To do the latter, he often showed up in person to collect his money! He was always polite and calm. And you know what? It actually worked and he got a lot of money that way.