<prompt> Human: I had a small amount of debt 800 from an old closed bank account that I racked up overdraft fees on when I was a dumb teenager.About 3 months ago I received a letter that I was being sued by a creditor for the debt. I called the creditor, told him that the debt is outside the statute of limitations and I would not be paying it. He gave me some double talk about how it was in my best interest to pay it, I insisted I would not be, reiterated why, and told them that Id be happy to appear in court.I received a letter a few days before my court date stating the lawsuit had been dropped and the case closed.Yesterday I received another letter for collection of the debt from the same creditor, but instead of for the roughly 800 they were asking for before, its now about 80.A friend recommend I not pay it as it may further affect my credit negatively. Im tempted to pay it off just to get rid of them, but thats seems wrong, especially if its unnecessary. Edit: I should add I dont know 100 that the debt is outside the statute of limitations, but from the research I did and am able to understand its 6 years if I remember correctly in the state of MN.---Wow, thanks everyone for all the comments and advice.Id just like to comment about those that are saying the moral thing to do would be to pay the debt. Ill admit it was my fault for incurring it, Im not debating that. However I think buschdogg summed it up the best in his responseWhat people dont seem to get here is the guy has already more than paid the debt in another way - his credit report. I wouldnt be against paying the debt if it wouldnt affect his credit yet again, but the system is stupid and at this point paying the debt would in fact hurt him for another 7 years. Being moral if you really consider paying overdraft fees setup with immoral intent is simply not worth 14 total years of shitty credit, IMO.---eireann_throwaway also posted some great information on how to properly handle these types of situations. Good information for other people in similar situations.Assistant: What state?You need to send a debt validation letter. Basically just say I dispute this debt, please verify. This will preserve a lot of your rights to sue them for illegally collecting a debt outside of the SOL.Human: MinnesotaThanks!  <response>: This is not legal advice.It is my non-professional opinion that, upon contact with a debt collection company, one should always do this: Stay calm. Do not yell, do not get agitated. Admit nothing. Answer no questions except for your name. Ignore their spiel. Calmly interrupt if necessary to ask your questions. Ask who it is you are speaking to. Get their direct e-mail address, if theyll give it to you.. Write it all down. Ask for the contact information name, address, phone of the collection agency that owns the debt in question. Write this down. This is for sending written communications. Ask for all relevant information original owner, dates, account numbers, personal information on file pertaining to the debt in question. Write all of this down. If they cant give it to you without more information, take whatever they will divulge. This is information to help you determine if its actually something you owe, a case of fraud, outside the statute of limitations, etc. Please be advised that I will contact you in writing. Do not call this number again. Hang up. Do not answer unknown numbers for a while. Contact them in writing with a form letter appropriate to your situation. Read more here. Send it via certified mail so youll know when theyve received it. After that point, your phone should be safe to answer. If they do not obey your written instructions, seek a judgement against them. Youll almost certainly get it. Conduct all further communications in writing.An exception is if the amount of debt is considerably higher than you could conceivably or comfortably pay. In that case, do everything to the part where you hang up, and then immediately call a lawyer. Id also, personally, record the conversation if I had the means, after informing them that I was doing so for my records. 