Fraternity unpaid bills from 2003?

Recently I recieved a letter from an attorneys office advising that I owed fraternity dues, meal plan and rent from 2003. I havent ever recieved a bill until now because I have been paying on other loans that I thought was all tied in to one. The atty advised that I owe $5500 in one lump sum. If I could not pay it they would put a lien on me. I own no property or cars. Can they still put a lien on me? If they havent put this on my credit when it has been almost 5 years can they? It seems like they would have alreay done that if they could. What are my options because I dont just have $5500 dollars to spend on it and they wont accept monthly payments of anyhting under $500? Any advise would be great.

First send them a certified Debt Validation Letter (DVL)
Go to this web site www.creditinfocenter.com and read up. There is a forum there where people in your position have more experience with what you are going through. If they can not validate they can not sue! Period. Good luck to you. I am not telling you to go to this site to advertise to you.It will really truly help you. I am very serious. The debt validation letter sample is also there. It is all free reading and free help from others.
PS you can look up the Statute of Limitations (SOL) on this site also.

A lien is something they put on real property such as a home or vehicle. They can attempt to get a judgment against you, and if you don't pay that judgment, and have an asset, they can attempt to place a lien on a property. If they obtain a judgment, they can garnish wages or wipe out a checking account, if you have either. I would try to settle with them for say .15 cents on the dollar, maybe 20. No unsecured debt is generally purchased for more than 15 cents. I would also request validation of the debt, which they must send you. I say that this was probably purchased, because generally nobody will keep a debt on the books this long, they generally sell it. Good luck.

1. A lien goes on property (cars, real estate, etc.), not humans.
2. Whether they put it on your credit report earlier has nothing to do with whether you have to pay.
3. The real question is whether the statute of limitations (which determines whether they can still sue you) in the state where this happened is more or less than the number of years that have passed.

Check your state's Statute of Limitation (SOL) to see if you still have a legal obligation to pay.

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-...