It is a common (and legal) practice for many debt collectors to purchase old debts and to attempt to collect them years after the original debt was incurred. When being contacted about a debt, even a recent one, it's helpful to know your rights. With older debts, it's important to:

• Know what the statute of limitations is for the state in which the debt was incurred. If the statute has run, a debt collector has no recourse other than to continue to call you and write letters. You can request they cease & desistf rom further collection activity on the debt, and they are legally bound to do so.
• Understand that if the statute has run and you attempt to negotiate the debt, or make a partial payment, you can restart the clock on the debt, and may end up being sued.
• Keep an eye on your credit report. It's illegal to re-age debts, but it happens. If an old debt does show up on your credit report, you'll need to write to the credit reporting agency to dispute the negative items.
• If the statute of limitations hasn't run, you may want to try to negotiate and settle the debt with the collection agency.