What happened to you was a collection firm trying to collect on a Zombie debt. Whether its legit or not is hard to tell. You may have of never owed them that $100 in the first place.
Posted on 09/27/2007 1:17:56 PM PDT by AFreeBird
That’s not what I was thinking about, maybe I meant Cease and Desist Letter.
I operate a collection agency. It sounds like the poster is getting hit by Zombie agencies that buy up old paper for like .02/$1.00 then mass-mail everyone on the list. Some pay because they’ve never been dunned before and don’t know their rights/obligations under the Fair Debt Collections Act.
1. Every notice must contain the name of the Agency, a toll-free number and the statement basically that if you disagree, send them a letter telling them why, ask for the original creditor and other information.
2. Do everything in writing. These zombies will threaten you with your credit report but tell them to comply with the FDCPA or go to hell.
3. Call them. Ask for a supervisor. Ask that the file be noted as disputed and tell them the dispute document is in the mail and you expect a prompt response.
4. If you have no written response within the designated period, send a copy again, together with a cover cc’ing the consumer protection agency in your state.
5. If an entry is made to your credit report, contact the bureau, explain the situation, ask for it to be coded a dispute and then call the consumer protection agency.
If the debt is more than 7 years old, or if they’re fishing in the wrong pond, you could make some serious change here.
Also, the company that sold the debt does not lack responsibility for actions of it’s agent. Sprint is one of the foremost sellers of debt in the industry, although they usually unload it promptly. It’s when the agency that bought the debt for $.30/$1.00 sells it to another agency and they sell it to another that the problems begin.
Everything in writing. Do not accept assurance by phone that it is taken care of. Demand written responses. Know your rights but keep up with your obligations insofar as perfecting your dispute under law.
Good luck. A quick reference on statutory debt limits can be found at www.lawdog.com BUT it’s not always current and may even be misleading. Check your local state’s consumer protection agency for spefics.
Maybe it's changed but a couple of years ago they were useless. Art of Credit was a good board but appears to be gone.
The problem with creditboards is they get people sending stupid "validation" letters filled with pseudo-legalese that is meaningless & is a clear tip-off to the creditor that you're using those boards. The collectors read the boards too.
The best approach is a folksy, home-spun sounding letter that accomplishes your task without making you sound sophisticated. So instead of quoting the FCRA and FDCPA, you send a letter that says:
I received your letter regarding this debt and I don't think it belongs to me. Please send me more information so I can determine whether this debt is mine.
That does two things from a legal standpoint: You (a) have disputed the debt, and (b) have requested that they validate it. You did both without sounding like you knew what you were doing. They will be far less careful with you under those circumstances.
So then later they report the item to the credit reporting agency without also reporting that it is disputed. Bam. That's your first FDCPA violation and is enough to sue over. You sue in your local JP or small claims court. If you owe them less than $1000 or so, they won't fight you and will likely write you a check, absolve you of the debt and remove the item from your credit report. I know this is true because, to quote Ron White, "I've seen me do it".
Only $500? Maybe it’s a state-by-state thing, but we can sue for $1000 in Missouri. Per violation of the FDCPA. I know one guy that collected 5 grand from one company.
After reading through some things here, I'm not going to request anything except for them to cease and desist. And with the warning that any reports of a 15yo debt, obtained from other agencies, to the credit bureau's would probably (since it would be reasonable to assume it's already been reported there 15yo) violate the Fair Debt Collections Act, and if that occurred, all sorts of agencies would be called into play: FTC, State AG, Lawyers, etc.
Ah. Cease and Desist works very well for debts that are out of statute. You end up living with a ding on your report, but its impact fades with time.
The very super-duper bestest way I've found to deal with small items is by writing them a check for the entire amount of the debt plus $1 in return for complete removal of the offending item. I laser-printed the agreement on the back of the check with a conspicuous note on the front referring them to the back. This is a twist on an Accord & Satisfaction but made safer by including the extra dollar. In a normal A&S the dispute provides the consideration for the agreement and isn't valid in all states. In this case the extra dollar does and is close to bulletproof, at least in my experience.
bump for later
The FDCPA only allows for $1000 total (in one suit). States that have their own laws may have additional per-violation penalties but the FDCPA doesn't.
That said, you always sue for $1000 per violation because it looks scary and they're too dumb to know better. Make sure it doesn't go beyond the limits of the court you're suing in. Here it's $5k in a Justice Court.
If only the FDCPA applies, no lawyer of theirs is going to let them get taken for $1k per violation. The $500 is a fair compromise between nothing (if I lose) and the maximum I can be awarded.
I concur - that's the best course of action for you.
What happened to you was a collection firm trying to collect on a Zombie debt. Whether its legit or not is hard to tell. You may have of never owed them that $100 in the first place.
Bite the scammers. I like it, and if I didn't have enough personal grief to deal with right now, I might consider it. As it stands though, I think cease and desist is all I care to do. Although I will be checking my credit reports. If I see it on there, I will bite them back.
Thanks!
I think it's VERY suspicious that my coworker got the same letter, same alleged creditor and same alleged amount.
re: FDCPA/FCRA
What I cited might not be true as you see it, but that was exactly what a federal judge overseeing a bankruptcy case involving my cousin ruled when creditors going back 10 years sought to be included on the list of those parties my cousin owed money to. I quoted the judge verbatim.
That was 1999.
Yes. I've sued four collection agencies and got settlement checks from three. The last one I just kind of let go and the court dismissed it (without prejudice). In the three cases, the settlement also required that they completely remove the account from my credit reports.
So yeah, it works great. Nobody can argue with the math. They are going to pay their attorney $200 per hour to deal with it. So if you figure answering the original petition and maybe one set of interrogatories, they're out $600 and we've only gotten started. Then they have the downside of acutally losing - that's potentially another $1000 and who knows what in attorney's fees.
My downside? Nothing. Nada. If I lose I don't have to pay their attorney's fees. I don't have any of my own because I do it myself. What if they countersue? Generally they can't. They don't have standing to countersue - I don't owe them the money, I (allegedly) owe their client the money.
Bait, document, bait, document, sue and settle. Not one got anywhere close to seeing the inside of the courtroom.
Well the judge had it wrong, which is no surprise because unless you immerse yourself in this stuff it's hard to understand. Likewise, a bankruptcy court judge probably isn't really up to speed on maritime law.
I heard that too, but apparently if you make a new payment, the clock is started all over again and your credit can suffer.
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There are a lot of tricks that the scam artists know. I once had to file in small claims court in North Carolina to collect a $500. bad check. The clown who wrote the check saw me on the way to the court house and tried to give me a partial payment of $10.00. I had been warned about this tactic so I refused anything less than full payment. If you accept any partial payment then it changes from a bad check charge to a loan which is impossible to ever collect. He waited until the court day and went in and paid the thing in full to the court rather than pay me. I got my money but it cost me a whole day and a hundred mile drive to get it.
bookmark
Paying an out of date bill does indeed reset the statute of limitations in many states and does allow it to update your credit report with more lates up to the current payment.
Ping to self. Someone I know needs this information.
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