Send the debt validation letter because this is the first legal step by which you'll be sure that the CA is doing legitimate collections. Send the letter through certified mail return receipt requested. Once they have received the letter, they will be forced to give you the details. If it's a mistake, they will have to correct it.

In case, if they try to prove your avoidance in paying the debt and file a legal case against you, the debt validation letter must be your important defense. Send a dispute letter also mentioning that you are not aware of the account ever used by you. Show the dispute letter when the judge asks for it. You have to cover your grounds strongly while dealing with the debt collection companies.

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Bridget, thank you. Two questions:

1. What about the 30-day limit on debt validation? Is there any possible way of knowing when that limit is up (since, e.g., they might claim they've sent me stuff long before this letter, like in that link I gave)?

2. What's the difference between a debt validation letter and a dispute letter? I thought the debt validation request constituted a dispute.

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When you get a letter from a collector, you have 30 days from the date of the letter, I believe, to send an -I'm disputing this and want debt validation-letter. Don't ignore it, it could be identity theft. Have you checked all 3 of your credit reports? See if they are on it, and dispute with the credit reporting agencies also, if it isn't valid. Good Luck-Keep us posted..karen

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As long as you are alive, there's always hope

i have to go to court tomorrow over midland saying i owe over $1,400.00. i have had no prior contact with them until i got a court summons. my credit report has them listed as other account, and at the same time, a closed account. they keep going in, and it will say last "updated" on my credit report, and each time it listed the due date for being taken off my credit changes. they say its a debt from dec. 2000. there is no imformation about who the original creditor is, no account info, no date opened info, it all says n/a. so i have to go to court not knowing anything about this so called debt. since id never heard from them before, i couldnt validate any of this prior. do i make them lay all their cards on the table, or ask for more time to investigate and make them validate this... something isnt right here. i guess ill play it by ear....unless anyone had any advice. but i think theyre "updating" this to keep it open, and look more recent on my report. also what about the statute of limitations to collect on a debt, which is 5 years in my state,,,

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Bossy, thanks. Like I said, I'm pretty ignorant about this stuff. I've never even seen a credit report, much less checked my own.

The Internet tells me there are three main credit bureaus (or 'consumer reporting agencies'): Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. When you say "all 3 of your credit reports", do you mean one from each of these organizations? Also, I see that the federal government has a website for a free credit report here. Is this different from the three just mentioned? And since it's free, does that mean that the other three cost money?

Also, regarding the 30-day limit: does your claim still stand even if they claim they've sent me letters before this one? Again, that link I posted worries me.

Thanks again.

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I recieved a letter from MCM stating that they are attempting to collect a debt of 3,600 for an Associates account, of which I am unaware of. I managed to get in touch with a collection agency called ARS that owned the account before MCM. ARS was super nice and extremely helpful (unlike MCM). They informed me that the Associates account was opened in 1999 and "charged off" in 2003. (What does that mean?) ARS advised me to request a validation of the debt from MCM. MCMs reply for the validation request: "I refuse to send you any validation of this account. I am not required to prove anything to you. If you are not willing to send us the amount you owe, our attourneys will settle this account with you in court." Then she hung up in my face. ARS has since then advised me to send a written validation request to MCM and not to send them any money that they are attempting to collect without validation of the account. ARS agreed that the whole thing sounds suspicious. Is MCMs refusal to give me validation of the account legal? Does it matter that the account was charged off in 2003? Should I obtain a lawyer since MCM is threatening to take me to court?

If anyone has any helpfull information I would greatly appreciate it.

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They are required by fdcpa to validate the debt.Send you dv letter and stay off the phone since they are not willing to follow rules.

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thanks for all the advice i received on this site. which was none. this was a waste of my time.

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I had an account with Emerge Credit Card, I cannot even remember if it was a MC or Visa but anyway it was a $500 secured card. Needless to say the first mistake was mine as I was late on a payment by a week. They agreed to waive the fees and I made the payment over the phone with them. I continued to make my payment but the balance kept going up a lot. after probably 4 months I really started getting concerned and found out they did not remove the fees for the late payment and now there was an additional 79$ each month added to the balance. I tried to be cordial and explain what had happened but they did not care and told me to either pay the full amount or they would send it to collections. At that point I got extremely angry and told them to forget it, I told them to apply my 500.00 deposit to the amount due and close the account. This was all in 2003. Now they have turned the account over to MCM with a balance of 2542.00. Is this legal? Can they add 2000.00 in fees to a secured account with a limit of 500.00 which had never been over except by there fees. Total amount of purchases on the card was $437.00. I have no problem paying the amount of my purchases and even a reasonable fee but not 2000.00 in fees. This is my only bad debt left and they are just being totally unreasonable, wont let me get a word in on the phone, they keep threating to sue me and take my house and car and so forth. Isn't that harassment under the law. How long is the SOL for Virginia? Any advice will be appreciated.

Thank You,
Michael

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I got a letter from MCM yesterday saying "I need to pay up" or settle for a discounted amount owed to Montgomery Wards. I have not owed Wards in about 30 years. I do not owe this debt. It seems like a person has no control over your credit if a company wants to stick it to you.What can be done?

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I recived an account balance debt with mcm inc. Saing that i owed them $505.18 from sbc. But i've never had an account with this company ever and i want to know who i can contact to settle this problem because i don't want you to hurt my clean credit, only because of your simple mistakes.

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Maria, please do not post in all capitals. It's a violation of Internet etiquette, and it's also difficult for many people to read.

As to the claim you've received from MCM, you need to send them a letter telling them that you have never had an account with SBC and that you are formally disputing the debt. Send the letter certified mail, with a return receipt requested so you have proof that they received it. Once they've received it, they are not permitted to make any further attempt to collect the debt unless and until they send you documentation proving that it's yours. If it really isn't yours, you won't hear from them again.

You should also check your credit reports to ensure that they are accurate.

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MCM is known to violate the law. I had a client where they provided account statements for proof the account was hers. Unfortunately for them, they doctored the account statements to show her current address on bills from five years ago. Her home was not even built at that time. Those unethical collectors will be paying big time under Texas law for this.

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Leaving for a while. Need help in Texas, contact some other good attorneys at www.helpingtexas.com

Just wanted to say I stumbled across these forums by accident and found so much great info here. Tons of help thanks to all the mods who keep this going. Well thought I would share my experience and see where I go from here. I had an account with Nissan that was sold to Midland back in Feb 2001. I was hounded at work at home etc by these guys. I recieved all kinds of threats etc. I didn't know about doing the debt validation letter tell recently. So I sent that off last Nov with no response. I called them in Dec and was told they never received it, so I sent a new letter certified of course. Jan came and went they hadn't recieved it but I had a confimation they did. Instead of working the issue they sold my account off to Portfolio Recovery. My questions is A. The Statute of Limitations has passed if I am correct B. How do you work with these people when instead of providing you info they just sell it to someone else? C. Do I have an easy way to get this off my credit due to no proof of the debt?

Thanks
Johnny

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MCM will not work with you when you dispute or ask for validation. They count on people not knowing their rights. As it stands, you have a claim against them for failing to validate. Send the same letter certified to Portfolio.

To get off credit, dispute the negative information with the credit bureaus. If their investigation shows it is your debt, then negative info can only stay there 7 years.

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Leaving for a while. Need help in Texas, contact some other good attorneys at www.helpingtexas.com

the mcm account number is 8509486602 has this bill been payed off.

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