According to Washington consumer complaints, Capital Acquisitions and Management Co. repeatedly has contacted people after being told that the company was going after the wrong person, or that the loan in question was never delinquent and was paid off years ago.

By CANDACE HECKMAN - SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Often, it was just a matter of the debt being too old. When she was "19 and foolish," Robin Wurtzel of Seattle ran up $1,200 on a Visa card and defaulted on it when she moved from California to Washington.

Her parents agreed to pay it off, but the credit card company would not allow her to simply send a check. "I said, 'Just tell me how much and where to send the money and I'll pay it off,' but they said no," she said. That was almost 20 years ago.

A couple of months ago, a CAMCO collector found Wurtzel, called and claimed she now owed more than $3,000. A follow-up letter indicated that her debt might be even greater because of daily interest charges. "I knew I owed money then, but not that much," Wurtzel said. "I can't believe that debt could be floating out there, accruing interest, and no one would have brought it up sooner."

Washington's laws limit collection to six years of a written contract breach and 10 years for a legal judgment. "Courts have continuously said that it is OK to ask somebody to pay a beyond-statute debt, within the rules, of course," said Daniel Edelman, a Chicago lawyer who has sued many collectors on behalf of consumers. Regardless of whether a debt is too old to legally force someone to pay it, a federal appeals court in December ruled that CAMCO and other debt buyers do not have to tell people when they charge interest.

That means a collector can buy a recently defaulted debt and sit on it, charging interest, then a few months before the statute of limitations expires, approach the consumer to pay, even filing for a court order, which gives the collector, in many states, another 10 years.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Consumers who feel they are being wrongly harassed by collectors can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by calling 800-FTC-HELP or visiting www.consumer.gov/sentinel and the state Attorney General's Office by calling 206-464-6684 or visiting www.atg.wa.gov Consumers who do not believe they owe what a debt collector claims can dispute the debt in writing.

When dealing with debt collectors, learn about your rights and how to dispute a debt by visiting the Northwest Justice Project at www.nwjustice.org/docs/200.html Learn about the statute of limitations for debt collection in other states by visiting www.fair-debt-collection.com