Here is our story.

My wife is originally from Sweden earlier this year we were married and she moved to Florida.

In 1996-1997 she was an exchange student in California and while there she used the Ballys Gym facilities under what she was told was a student rate for which she was paying on a monthly basis. Her studies ended and she returned to her home country.

About a week ago she received a notice (under her maiden name) informing her that asset acceptance llc had bought her debt and that she owed them $1294.64. Naturally, she was extremely upset. You have to know my wife; she would never knowingly commit to paying something and then skip out.

We are very good people with no past history of debt problems and we could pay this bill if we wanted to but I kind of want some verification first that she really owes the money. So I called Asset Acceptance and I have never been treated so badly in my life. When I asked to be sent a copy of the original bill all this woman did is change the subject and ask me for additional information on my wife which of course I wouldn't give her. This lead to her screaming at me and finally I just hung up. I was really surprised, all she had to do was send me a copy of the original bill and I would have been very co-operative and open to settle this. So naturally I have to send them a dispute in writing and just wait and see what happens.

I did check her credit report and remarkably it had been reported against her but it was removed last November because it had passed the 7-year period. Pretty remarkable, she wasn't even a citizen of this country but still they used the temporary SSN that was give to her for her student visa to track her credit which was by the was the same SSN that they gave back to her when she immigrated.

So my feelings are if she did sign an agreement to pay them this money, then we should make good on it but I can't do that until I see some evidence. If she did sign something then I was more or less Ballys taking advantage of foreign person that didn't speak the language very well.

So my questions are:

Can they sue me? I think that the SOL in Florida is only 6 years and we're past that point.

Can they re-submit this on her credit report?

These seem like very difficult people to deal with any advice that you can offer would really be appreciated.

Thanks you for your help.

[roxette]

Hi

Welcome to the forums. The statute of limitation in Florida on contract or written instrument and for mortgage foreclosure is 5 years under F.S. 95.11.

So, speaking in terms of the SOL period, your wife's debt is past the collection period. Also, if information is removed from the credit report, it can't be put back unless and until legally proved. Please ask the collection agency to validate the debt as it is your legal weapon which you can exercise under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/validation.html

If they can't validate the debt, you can take legal action against them under the fdcpa Section 807..8 and fine them up to $1,000.

Do let us know the update as we all are right besides you. Make sure that you do all your correspondence through certified mail with 'return receipt requested'. You will be able to track all the correspondence done.

Regards
Roxette

I can give one word of advice to anyone who is dealing with Asset Acceptance and that is STAY OFF THE PHONE!

I consider myself to be a very astute business professional and I am very used to dealing with similar problems at work and have had extensive experience with regards to contract negation.

Let me tell you, these are professionally trained people that are extremely aggressive and know just what to say to knock you off guard so they can extract any information they can. As soon as they don't get what they want they immediately resort to yelling, threatening and screaming. I'm not at all surprised that they are so good at what they do, I myself was even intimidated by them and finally had to hang up the phone.

If you read my earlier post I stated that I called on behalf of my wife. I did this mainly because she is still new to the country and not familiar the with the way things work here. They were very insistent on talking to her directly even to the point of screaming “PUT YOUR WIFE ON THE PHONE NOW”! That's when I hung up. I can only gather that maybe they need to speak to her in person in order to take some kind of action. Who knows?

I'm kind of surprised that they work this way because all they would have had to do was be nice to me and I would have been very co-operative. It's actually quite shocking.

Take the advice of myself and other people on this board do not have phone conversations with these people. It is the only way to take the advantage away from them. Do everything through the mail.

[roxette]

There is one more method that you can imply to get rid of such harassments. You can also record all the telephonic conversations and inform them that you will be filing a case against them.

Regards
Roxette

[Rhonda28]

I dealt with this company years ago for a collection issue. I actually had no problems with them sending me something in writing to prove the debt. But as well noted on the forum, there is always at least one good experience out of the thousands of bad. I would as stated many times in the forum, refrain from providing any info over the phone.

I have had a similar ecperience with Asset Adeptance LLC. tHEY TOLD ME i HAVE A $700.00 +

I had a similar experience with this company. They told me that I owe a $700.0+ phone bill (which I don't) dating back to 1992 - 1999. When I asked for verification they refused to give it to me. They just sent me a statement on their letterhead. I got so infuriated with them I told them to never contact me again and hung up on them. The supervisor called me back immediately and said "I'm putting you on notice" and hung up on me. I am in the process of seeking legal counsel. The branch I have dealt with is in Arizona. The name of the collector is Lindsay Dobbles and the supervcisor's name is Michelle. I also spoke to another pair of equally rude people (managers), Bobby and Maris.

[roxette]

Hi Sabrina 01

Welcome to the forums.

If Asset has failed to validate your debt and still making collection efforts, It is a violation of the Consumer protection afforded by the fdcpa Section 809 (b) and you can sue them up to $1,000.

Regards
Roxette

At this time this company is taking 57 dollars out of my account for a dept I did owe, Now there is one They keep telling me I do owe, That isent mine at all. It is with Fingerhut. They say it was my dept. I done all I could, from sending them proof I dident even live in the state where the dept was made. They still are after me to pay this thing. Now I will pay depts I owe, But not the ones I dont.Thay ask if I made a police report due to fruad. Now, thats funny, after going through all this with them this goes back to 1990. And has been through different collections. I still cant prove I dident make this dept. It dident show up on my credit reports in the past, but its there now.
pekingese4u

Pekingese4u, sounds like someone may have committed fraud against you. What you need to do is send a letter (certified/return receipt) to the collection agency requesting they send you information so that you can validate the debt. You dont have to prove you made the debt, they have to prove it.

Under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act, you are allowed to challenge the validity of a debt that a collection agency states you owe to them. Use this letter to make the agency verify that the debt is actually yours and owed by you. Keep a copy for your files and send the letter registered mail.

Your Name
123 Your Street Address
Your City, ST 01234

ABC Collections
123 NotOnYourLife Ave
Chicago, IL

Date:

Re: Acct # XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on September 30, 2002). Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.

Please provide me with the following:


What the money you say I owe is for;
Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
Identify the original creditor;
Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau's (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:

Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Defamation of Character
If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.

If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS.

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. This is an attempt to correct your records, any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.

Best Regards,

Your Signature
Your Name

I just got court papers through the mail from asset Acceptance. They say that I owe them $4,678 for a bill that started out $1,528. They said it was from a credit card that I got in 1999. I have never had a credit card in my life and have no idea what they are talking about. They have been very rude to me called me at work even when I asked them not to. Now I am going to court. I feel so hopeless, I am a good person and I have no idea why they are doing this. But like many other people they would not proove the debt to me.

[ben]

Jamie, as you are pretty sure that you did not own the said credit card, you can definitely take legal help.

Asset Acceptance buys junk debt in a single time and contacts anyone with similar names. I am sure that this is a possible mistake from their side. Before you consult your lawyer, try sending a letter to the company through certified mail with return copy requested. Maybe, this letter will give you positive results and you will save the cost of your attorney.

If nothing works, then you might have to take the legal path.

Do let us know the update.

I see that people suggest legal help.. where might you suggest I go online to start looking for credible legal help in dealing with asset acceptance llc.

[roxette]

Hi micheled

Welcome to the forums.

As per the federal laws, the collection agencies are required to function according to the laws stated in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You can take legal actions against any company that is in violation of the stated laws. You can lodge your complaints at the FTC, BBB and state attorney general office.

It's a pity that many of the collection agencies are not concerned about the stated Federal laws and are regularly in the violation of it. Illegal companies will lie, deceit people and will misrepresent your accounts.

Send a cease and desist letter stating that you refuse to communicate with them. You can also consult your lawyer for this purpose

Regards
Roxette

I paid off a debt with (amazingly enough) the EXACT same amount as a debt that showed up in a credit report scan
and at my closing on my house today ......there was a check cut for me to remit to them for my "debt" that I had with them,in my maiden name from 23 years ago no less!
I am not paying them again,and after reading these stories,I am wondering if I should of paid them in the very first place. They sound like extortionists!

[4u.bryan]

Hi M,

Do you still have the records of your payments that you made earlier? That will help you to prove you've repaid the debt already.

Check your credit report. A 23 year old account is not supposed to be there; still you can confirm the status of the account and send copies of the records to them. It might be a mistake on their part also.