Can a collection agency keep renewing the 'date opened' on an open collection account?

No they can not this is called reaging a debt to make it appear newer than it is.

This is illegal.

file complaints with your states BBB and the FTC

also your attorney generals office.

you should see some results.

I feel your pain. My husband has a collection account on his credit for a judgment/wage garnishment from 1993. The judgment now appears on his report as a collection account date open Oct 2003. We spoke to the collection agency Debtorbase Collections and they said that the debt has been "renewed". I've called the FTC and various counsumer protection agencies and frankly I knew more than they did. Who trains and hires these people? Basically we are currently trying to track down the initial judgment via the courts so that we can send the credit reporting agencies proof that his debt is beyond 7yrs. We've already disputed it with no results. Basically when Experian conducts their "investigation" they just ask the collection agency what are the dates etc.. and of course they lie, no duhh! The last we spoke with the credit reporting agency we were told to provide proof of the initial judgment and then they will delete it. We also requested documention of the original debt from the collection agency. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a joke. No one obides by it nor does anyone care. Basically we are on are own. We live in CA.

Pay your bill instead of hiding for 7 years and hoping it will disappear. Re-aging may not be right, but where I come from, taking money and not paying it back is called stealing. Period.

That was a stupid and unfair answer. Not everyone who hasn't repaid a debt is "hiding from it". And, if I attempt to arrange repayment of a debt (regardless of why it made it to my report in the first place), I EXPECT that the creditor will assist me in making the item "disappear" from my credit report. Otherwise, I wil let it sit there and vanish in 7 years.

I am right now in the process of suing Debtorbase. I have done some research on them (as well as talked to them) and they are the worst kind of company. They have even been sued by people that worked for them, they are no one to deal with. Take the other person's advice as well as this: Get them on tape when you call (it's admissible in Federal court and you can have it transcribed) and file complaints with everyone you can. Then sue them.

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Good for you, as for the 2nd answer, you must be working for a collection agency to have made that kind of insensitive remark. I had to do this as well with a horrible company too that just about ruined me over $30.00.