<prompt> Human: I have a current credit score of 750 and 811 transunion, equifax. I live in California where the statute of limitations is 4 years. The collection agency has never tried to contact me at all during this period. Can I be sued even if they never made an effort to contact me? Am I still obligated to pay the debt even after the statute of limitations has passed? And if so, could I possibly negotiate the amount down by a significant amount?Assistant: Was the debt also incurred in CA?If so they can sue you but absent some claim like you were out of the country for several years, they would be dumb to do so because your defense would be that the debt is beyond the SOL and they would lose and their attorney would be wasting their time and money filing the suit.No, you are under no obligation to pay the debt and in fact it would be dumb to do so or even acknowledge that you owe the debt because a payment could restart the SOL clock.Let it fall off your CR in another year and if any collectors call about it simply write them a letter than says Do not contact me again. Dont fall for threats we are going to sue, we are going to have you arrested, ... just get their address and write them the do not contact me letterHuman: Yes the debt was incurred in CA. I read online that you are obligated to pay medical debt until the day you die. Im not sure if that only applies to certain states or if that is just complete hogwash. Would you happen to know?  <response>: Technically youre obligated to pay any debt you have, no matter how old. You dont simply stop owing the money just because its from forever ago. But since it cant be listed on your credit report for longer than 7.5 years after the date of first delinquency, and they cant win a lawsuit against you for it for 4 years after that date of first delinquency, theres little to no incentive to pay it. Now, if you try to go back to that same facility, they could depending on the type of facility and reason for your visit refuse to provide any service to you because you still owe them from last time, but thats about all they can do. 