<prompt> Human: My wife worked at a hospital during her schooling and they paid a portion of it. Not knowing if she switched jobs it would have to be paid back before a certain time, she got a new job. We were contacted by that financial department 10 years ago, setup a payment plan and paid off the debt. They are now sending us a bill via a lawyer for a thousand dollars 10 years later, wouldnt this have been an outstanding debt on her credit we have bought two homes and cars since, we would have seen it? Do we have any choice but to pay it? We have no proof it was paid off, because it was so long ago. We are struggling after a mishap on our taxes and owe so funds are tight currently.  <response>: I had a similar situation with loanscholarship from when I went to collage. In my situation, the people in charge of the loanscholarship started outsourcing the debt collection. However, they hadnt previously kept proper records. So when the new company took over, they sent letters to everyone claiming we owed. I had personal records they had sent which got me off of the hook. Perhaps a similar thing is happening here? 