[Altariel]

Dave Ramsey ping

[Dr. Sivana]

Depending on the age of the debt, and the period of last activity, the debt may be legally unenforceable, which is not the same as forgiven, but should have been mentioned.

[ExTxMarine]

Dave is right, but be aware of these credit card companies selling the “forgiven” balance.

My wife and I had two credit cards with the same company. We got behind on payments and ultimately they offered a reduction in the total debt if we paid 80% of the total due. We did that, but then they sold the remaining balance to a collection agency.

So, be aware of that crap!

[HomeAtLast]

Not to be cynical but, to the lady of the house: you need to get your little sister out of there ASAP, for reasons I can’t suggest without being cynical.

So I’ll go with the practical. If the girl’s not offering to pay for her share of the living expenses, you’re teaching her something she should not be learning, and which will be hard to unlearn when she finally moves on.

But get her gone before YOU learn something hard to unlearn.

[Still Thinking]

If a credit card company decides to take less than the original amount owed, that’s a business decision that has changed the terms of the deal, both morally and legally. Sometimes they’d rather have a bird in the hand rather than promises in the bush. You don’t have an obligation to pay the original amount because the terms of the deal have been altered.

Besides, I believe that they report this to the IRS as income to you, so you can't very well go back and pay it later, once you've already paid taxes on the amount they let you off as if it were income. You'd end up having paid taxes on money you never earned.

[JoeProBono]

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-state-statute-limitations-1282.php

[JoeProBono]

http://bankruptcylawyerpa.com/blog/pennylvania-statute-of-limitations-on-debt/