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Maybe these people should pay their bils???

What about people who never owed the bills in the first place? Ever heard of identity theft? I've always maintained a flawless credit record, and haven't so much as paid a bill late in over a decade. Still, when my ex-employer found himself in a financial sinkhole and used the contact info for several ex-employees (including myself) to "go out in a bang" (he's now in jail), about six of us found ourselves holding the bag for more than $120,000 worth of debt that wasn't ours. I had to deal with these subhuman collectors for more than TWO YEARS before I finally got everything cleared off my credit records, and even then it took a pair of lawsuits to get two of the companies to back off.

These people were vicious, attacking my personal credibility, my family, calling and harrassing my employers and family, and threatening me with everything from financial ruin to reposession of my house and cars. When I sent them evidence that the bills weren't mine, including the original court certified papers from my ex-employers case, they ignored them or denounced them as fakes. In one case, the original debtor on one bill did an internal investigation, determined that the bill wasn't mine, and sent me a letter apologizing for the inconvenience. A third party collector trying to collect on that bill REFUSED to accept the letter, called it fake, and repeatedly threatened to have me arrested for "forging fake documents in the companies name" if I didn't pay the bill. I repeatedly asked them to re-verify the bill with the original creditor and even sent them the original letter I received (thinking that it might be more convincing than the photocopy), but the collector refused to verify the debt and kept stating that I was "going to jail" if I didn't pay up. It took a second letter from the original creditor, accompanied by a letter from my lawyer, to shut them up.

The most entertaining conversation I had was with a collections rep from SBC/Pacific Bell when I announced that I was about to sue them. The rep informed me that it was my right to do so, but that I'd spend more money on lawyers than I could hope to gain. When I informed her that I had plenty of money to pay lawyers with, she asked why I didn't just pay her the $1,050 I "owed". My response? "I'd rather spend $5,000 to prove I'm right than pay a $1000 bill I don't owe". The stunned silence on the other end of the line was priceless. When they were served five days later, I promptly received a fax informing me that they had "reviewed" my case and were expunging the bill and removing it from my credit record.

All in all, between filing fees, service agencies, long distance bills, antacids, increased credit card interest rates, and attorneys fees, the whole thing ended up costing me about $3,000 to get cleared. A drop in the bucket next to the nearly $60,000 I supposedly owed, but still a lot of money to spend on absolutely nothing.