Pay them?

7 years is how long you should keep paperwork.
The only rule on bills is they haunt you until you pay them.

Your "friend" might have created the bill but the bill is in your name so you are the one responsible to pay it.

Pay the bill and get better friends.

The collector wouldn't be Allied Interstate, would it??
Google 'em.

Boy, I sure wouldn't pay them. You're saying that your friend used your name without your knowledge or permission, right? If so, you're not responsible legally or morally. In fact, I'll bet the statute of limitations in your state has run by this time, and the creditor will never be able to get you to pay the debt by going to court. They'll just hound you to death to see if you'll cough up some money to get them off your back.

I would make a call to your state's Attorney General office consumer hotline, and discuss whether there's anything you can do about this. I would also stop taking the calls from the debt collector. If you have caller ID, just don't answer, and if you don't have caller ID and happen to pick up a call, hang up.

In fact, I have a creditor who's been calling me for years, trying to get me to pay a debt I know I don't owe. They call every month or two, I tell them to send me copies of the original loan document with my signature on it, they say, "C'mon, you know what this is is about," and I hang up. End of story. Periodically, they threaten to bring suit, and I tell them to please go ahead, and let them know what court is closest to where I live.:)

"You're saying that your friend used your name without your knowledge or permission, right? If so, you're not responsible legally"

For that to be true, she would have to file a police report for identity theft.
Which IS an option.

Or it might be less hassle and less expense to pay the bill that is in her name.

For that to be true, she would have to file a police report for identity theft.
Which IS an option.

But several years too late to do that, isn't it?

Sue

Why would she have to file the police report alleging identity fraud? I agree it would make it easier to prove, but is it actually required by some code?

If the creditor ever filed suit against her, wouldn't her written response read something like, "My former friend, Jane Smith, took out this debt in my name, without my permission. I have explained that to the debt collector every time they've called, for the past X years."

I don't specialize in collections, but I would think that part of the creditor's case would be to prove that the debt actually originated with the poster. If she has never accepted it as her debt, I would think that the creditor would need to show some evidence - maybe a loan or credit card application with her signature on it. Then they could argue about whether it's her signature.

I'm not saying this will happen, because I can't imagine they're going to take her to court on a 10-year-old debt, even if the statute of limitations hasn't run. All I'm saying is that it would take a court case to make *me* pay something that I knew wasn't my responsibility.