A debt collector pursues a debt that is older than a specified period and has never been acknowledged
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The Situation
What They Said
“It does not matter how long ago this debt was — you still owe it and we will collect it.”
A debt collection agency contacts you about an old debt, often one you do not remember or that was incurred many years ago, and insists it can never expire. They may use aggressive tactics to get you to make even a small payment or to acknowledge the debt in writing.
The Fallacy
False Permanence / Suppression of Legal Rights
The debt collector falsely treats debt as permanent and immune to the passage of time. Many legal systems provide a legal defence called prescription or limitation — after a specified period of inactivity (no payment, no written acknowledgement, no legal action), most consumer debts become legally unenforceable. Telling you the debt 'never expires' suppresses your right to raise this defence, often to get you to inadvertently revive a dead debt by paying a small amount or acknowledging it in writing.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Código Civil y Comercial de la Nación
art. 2560 del Código Civil y Comercial — Prescription of debts
“The statute of limitations period is five (5) years, except where a different one is provided for in local legislation.”
Under this law, most civil actions prescribe after five years, so an old debt may be time-barred if more than five years have passed since it became due, unless a different period applies under local law.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Leviticus 25:10 (NET)
“You must consecrate the fiftieth year, and you must proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be a jubilee for you, and each of you must return to his property and each of you must return to his clan.”
The Year of Jubilee embedded debt release into the social structure of ancient Israel — the principle that debt does not follow a person forever but has a defined end. This principle reflects ancient wisdom: debt has a lifespan. When the time has passed and the debt is gone, the demand to keep paying is not righteousness — it is oppression.
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You Know the Law — But Do You Know What to Say?
Reading your rights is one thing. Using them under pressure — calmly, correctly, in the right words — is what actually protects you. Members get the scripted rebuttal for this exact situation: what to say first, what to say if they push back, the tone to use, and the constitutional provision to cite. Practise out loud with audio until it's automatic.