What does it mean when a debt is re-aged? For credit reporting purposes, a debt is considered re-aged when the date of delinquency is moved forward. For example, a debt that was originally past-due in August 2006 may be “re-aged” to show that it was originally past-due in August of 2007, or even later. Your original creditor may do this as a part of a mutual agreement – if you had problems paying your bills in the past, but have worked out an arrangement for payment that allows you to avoid a charge-off. This type of re-aging is perfectly legal and can even be in your benefit if you are able to make the payments per the arrangement agreed upon.

However, there is another type of “re-aged” debt. When your past-due bills are charged-off by the original creditor, they are oftentimes sold to collection agencies. These agencies pay mere pennies on the dollar to acquire these debts, and then attempt to collect and make a profit. Sometimes, unscrupulous collection agencies will “re-age” this newly purchased debt. This is a major problem for two reasons:

1. It makes the debt look like a new debt that is delinquent, rather than the same old debt, owned by a new creditor.
2. It gives the collection company additional time to attempt to collect the debt, even if the debt is too old to legally collect.

The additional delinquency will cause your credit score to take another hit, and the revised delinquency date gives the credit agency a longer time to pursue the debt. While this type of “re-aging” is illegal, there is no simple way for the average consumer to get immediate relief from this type of unfair practice. In order to dispute re-aged debt, the consumer has to carefully document the discrepancy and file a complaint with the FTC. If the collection agency states that the falsely re-aged debt is legitimate, you may be able to sue.

Unfortunately, if you’ve made a payment on one of these “re-aged” debts, it can be almost impossible to have the matter corrected, as the payment serves to renew the time that the debt remains on your credit report! This means a payment to a collection agency can leave you with a delinquent debt that cannot be removed for another 7 to 10 years if it is not paid off.

Unscrupulous practices like these are why it is so important to carefully monitor your credit report, and to avoid dealing with any collection agency that uses high-pressure, unfair tactics to try to get you to pay. Most importantly, if the debt in question is too old to collect based upon the laws of your state, do not offer to pay! It is in your best interests to state that the debt is past the statute of limitations for collections and to send a certified “cease and desist” letter to any agency attempting to collect. Don’t let “re-aged” debt ruin your credit score or your chances for good credit.