My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Texas
Junk debt collectors are taking advantage of the difficulty in preserving complete copies of the historical record by both the original lendor and the credit card holder. The original lendor may no longer even exist and the only records that have been passed through a successor of purchasers is a computer printout showing a few significant account action dates and an amount.
Junk debt is often decades old and was thought by all parties at the time to have been resolved through the means available at the time. The lendor wrote the debt off and put a hit on the debtor's credit record. The presumption was that the statute of limitations would then expire and that was that. It was not understood at the time that junk debt could be collected upon in the way that we currently experience it.
It is difficult to maintain records for decades on matters that are thought to have been resolved. Records get lost in moves, damaged when water pipes leak, etc. Documents that would clearly establish lack of liability or the date of expiration of the statute of limitation are lost. The junk debt buyers position themselves to take advantage of that inevitability.
Assume for the purpose of this question that the records establishing either no liability or that the statue of limitations has expired are necessary to establish that lack of liability or to show that the statute of limitations has expired.
Does the law make any provision for the difficulty involved in maintaining records in perpetutity? Are there any established legal arguments that one may assert in court when confronted with decades old debt and no records that remain other than that printout the debt collector is using?

