Lenders Attempting To Recoup Outdated Debt

Over the past several years, millions of Americans have experienced charge offs by credit card lenders that deemed their past debt uncollectable.

However, for some consumers in California, this outdated debt is resurfacing in the form of costly interest payments that could amount to thousands of dollars.

"If they want me to pay the original amount, I would do that," said Frank Cavestani, who received a more than $5,000 bill from Capital One on a decade-old debt, The Los Angeles Times reports. "But they charged off the account and stopped sending me bills. I don't think I should now have to pay all that interest."

Tatiana Stead, a spokeswoman for Capital One, says the company's actions are in full compliance of the recent Federal Reserve Regulation Z, the news source says. Under this law, the bank says it can send out statements regardless of whether they are seeking to collect on the debt.

Most states have laws that ban debt collectors from suing after the statute of limitations has been passed, though the success of these recent actions may inspire more lenders to attempt to recover past debts to combat declining revenues from debit cards.