Afni Collections agency – How to handle the collector

Ok, since you disputed with the CRAs and they verified, you send them a letter asking for their procedure....you want to know who validated the debt and a contact phone number. By law they have to provide it.

Then you send a letter to the CA, address it to whoever verified it (if you don't get anything from the CRA then just address it to the CA in general). Inform them that they have verified an account that you never had and that you want validation, otherwise you will sue them. If you do sue them, also sue the CRA if they refuse to provide you the verification information.

You are a little mistaken, many states have have passed laws that are similar to the fcra and are not pre-empted.

#114---Federal Law trumps state law any day of the week if they use it

There are a few states that have better consumer laws than the federal ones, but many states just follow the federal laws.

what is the sol on a bill? afni sent me a discounted payment offerfor a bill from 2002

If the debt is not legitimate report it to the postal service as mail fraud.https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/f...complaint.aspx


A federal investigation of fraud tends to get people to play by the rules

I just looked on credit report.com and saw I owe a 441.00 debt. My question is to who? It doesnt tell me who opened this acct. and it is hendering my progress in cleaning up my debt. Please can someone help me?

This thread is freakin awesome. When I was 19, brand new married soldier wanting to buy furniture for my new home, I couldn't because some G-D $5000 write off was on there erroneously from when I was 15 years old (name didn't even match). I didn't know what to do. This was 1991, there was no internet. I just lived with the bad credit because I was naive and dumb.

So today I get this splashy, family friendly notice saying I owe $306.26 from Verizon, Feb 2005. But they will graciously accept $153.13. The kicker was they so lovingly invited me to their website to log in with the last 4 of my social. (I've read this thread that some have done that... Gr! Don't do that. And don't call them from work or home, either, because they can snatch your phone number).

Anyway, at that point in 2005, I hadn't had Verizon (landline) since Fall 2004 and no Verizon (cell) again until 2006-present (with no problems, no notices that I owe a prior bill) and even more Verizon internet last month.

I'm glad to see this here, but I have to admit that it's sad that this thread is so many years old (frog even did a count-off 2 years ago) and this is still a problem.

If I can address those who are inclined to be frightened into paying for stuff so easily: Don't. This is what drives people like these.

To use an example: You know all the spam you get in your email? Have you ever wondered why they try so hard, because you can't imagine anyone falling for it? Well there's your reason. For a spammer, it's well worth spamming 1,000,000 email boxes to get one sucker to buy their product, or divulge their private information.

Same here. Just do not pay people money you don't recognize. Learn to trust yourself to stand up to the verbal assault when you say clearly and confidently, "No, not today. But I will research this."

Don't be like me from 1991, living with someone else's charge off from when I was a minor.

Thank you.

Send the DV letter first. If they cannot validate it then you have the right to have it removed from your credit report. The cease and desist letter does nothing to get it removed. A non-validated debt can be removed by contacting the credit reporting agency.

I just checked my report and came with a hit from Afni, Inc. that I owe $352. from where I dont know. Looks like most of what you guys have been saying here is that most Afni collection charges come from phone bills. (I dont use major phone carriers myself, just minute phones.) How do I find out who/where the original bill came from?

Dispute the account with the credit reporting agencies. If they verify it, ask them for procedures because by law they have to supply you with the name and number of why verified the info. THEN you send the company a letter asking them to validate, since they obviously have the means to verify with the CRAs.

omg i didnt know this afni collections was this bad can i request that they send my 3 accounts to a new collection agency.

I just received a wonderful letter from Afni, stating that I owe Verizon 475$ for ____(they really didn't say). But wait, there's more. If I acted soon, I would get the bill cut almost in half. WOW, what an amazing offer. Too bad I have NEVER had Verizon, nor anything affiliated with that company. Thankfully, my free yearly credit report cleared up any questions I might have had....On all three reports generated, not one 'negative' from Verizon, nor from Afni came up to say hello. Nothing in collections, squat. Due to this, I don't believe that I will be paying the full amount of 475$, nor the half price deal. Instead, I'll be making a formal complaint about the company! Many, many complaints....

#124 unfortunately no. You can send them a cease & desist, but I would only do that after sending validation letters and if they did not answer in a satisfactory manner.

#125 Be sure to send AFNI a debt validation letter, in it explain that you have never had a verizon account and that you want to see proof of this debt, because it is not yours.

If you read up on the FDCPA, you would know that Afni is one of the most qualified agencies to handle your debt. Don't throw a hissyfit because someone calls you on being irresponsible. While you're reading up on the FDCPA, why don't you visit the BBB website, Afni is also a member and has an A rating. So before you open your mouth and sound like the fool you surely already are, you should check some reliable sources.

---Someone Who Pays Their Bills.

Are you a lawyer, where do you get off giving people advice? I hope you realize the damage you are potentially doing to these innocent peoples credit by giving out your thoughts. You my friend are the reason our economy is in this condition. These people in collections have had so many opportunities to resolve their debts outside of collections, responsibility does not get you in Afni Collections. There are occasionally exceptions to this rule, and it sure has nothing to do with Afni, especially on newer debts. Afni does not own the accounts, the charges are from the clients (DirecTv, Dish, Sprint, Verizon...etc.) So if your loyal readers really have a problem with the charges, they should take it up with the source of the problem. Now even on the accounts that Afni does own, these people are pulling your leg when the say they've never heard of the debt. Maybe you should invest your time in doing something to better our economy rather than giving scumbags more reasons to not pay their bills.
Thanks

--- Responsible FDCPA Certified Collection Associate.