If they were trying to collect on 6 year old debts, it's no wonder they weren't haraunging anybody for their home depot card. The statute of limitations is only 3 or 4 years here. Of course, if you can get a promise to pay, that makes it enforceable again...
Conan, debt collectors don't do anything to help a person re-establish their credit. Other than people writing mortgages, nobody cares a whit if you've skipped out on debt to others before if your score is good now, and if your score is bad, nothing's going to change that until the lates fall off and your utilization doesn't suck. Even if the debtor pays a debt collector, the likes of Amex and Bank of America would sooner see you die than extend you credit again. You're better off paying the original creditor (they'll usually buy back the debt if you write them with an offer to pay the full amount owed, and most of them will even remove the old account from your report in exchange)
If CFS was trying to launch a credit card, it's because there's a lot of money to be made in 36% APR $240 a year annual fee (paid monthly) $500 limit subprime credit cards. Especially if you already have a team of people to harass folks who pay late.
This all makes me wonder if CFS was the sort of scum that re-aged debt to keep it on your report long after it should have expired off. It's a common tactic, despite being an FDCPA violation.
Quite well aware of all that. I started my career in consumer lending.
I was simply re-stating what Bartmann claimed his company was doing. He almost made it sound like he was starting some sort of societal revolution by giving these debtors their dignity back. If the debtor was stupid enough to start paying again on the debt after the SOL ran out, it was considered reaffirmation and could be re-aged. Technically, all one had to do was tell the collector to blow it out their asspipe and they could not be sued if the debt had gone beyond the SOL. The problem is with these bundlers is that there are many different state laws when it comes to SOL on debt which has to be followed.