[curlycarl]

Hi Daniel

Palisades has validated the debt you requested for. After reviewing the details, you found an account with AT&T you never had. This brings you to dispute the information with the collection agency.

A collection agency should cover the following details in a debt validation request. Have a look at the page below:

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

You can still dispute on the information provided by the collection agency if found incorrect.

i dont know who these people are and since my dad and i share the same last name, they call him, often. have not been with at&t in 5 years, and it was a wireless acct, that i had closed with no outstanding debt. can i get them to stop calling my dad?

[john]

Pcheck

Palisades is collecting for the account with AT&T. Send a debt validation letter to their mailing address. Have the details of the account in writing. If they don't do it, report them to the credit bureau. They will investigate the matter with the collection agency. You can also file your complaints with the FTC, BBB and the attorney general office in your state.

I agree with you TC, I cannot believe this is all legal. Like me, however, you're going to have to move on and forget about it. The fight may not be worth it. That's up to you, though.

Bottom line, this isn't legal, and it's so widespread that no one can stop it. Legal action would require lawyers and lots of money, and the people behind it all know that. I believe the collection agencies are just the pawns in this game. It's the AT&Ts of the world that hire other companies to reduce their debt by distributing small sums of money around various collection agencies to make themselves look good on paper. The collection agencies will back them up 100% too, since they're obviously making money off the deal, albeit illegitimate. $200 spread amongst 10000 people from all corners of the country who know nothing about this or about each other will go almost completely unnoticed; that's a quick and easy $2 million for the company bank account...or perhaps the embezzeling executives.

Probability says you will likely only be hit once or maybe twice by something like this in your lifetime, so don't worry about it anymore. It's not worth the stress. Your $400 10-fold would quickly be gobbled up by any lawyer assigned to the case, and in the end you may feel you have your integrity back and your 60 credit points, but you'll actually have spent more money and the problem will still be out there.

I like that everyone is trying to help everyone else out with the limited legal knowledge they have- but there is a really easy way to avoid dealing w/ Palisades and Pressler- PAY YOUR BILLS. The reason the amount you get sued for is so high is becasue you think you can dogdge debt for years and years without consequence. By the time Pressler sues you, you are years delinquent- and, wait for it- INTEREST! What you also don't seem to realize is that AT&T and others are not scamming you- they realize that you are a non-paying party and sell the debt you owe at a fraction of what they are entitled to from you. These companies realize they will not get paid short of suing and are not willing to do that- they just sell the debt and take what they can get. Also- the time to request validation of debt is 30 days after you are advised of the debt. If you ask for validation after you have been served with the cummons and complaint not only are you not entitled to validation, you need to come up with an affirmative defense and file an answer with the courts- good luck, because you most likely didn't pay a bill and now its biting you in the ass. hope this helps.

Do you have their address and phone number to find out what a debt is for ?
Thanks.
M

[john]

mhauser call Palisades at 201-567-5648 and inquire about the accounts.

Unfortunately, on my credit report I have Palisades and AT & T Wirelss listed on my credit report and don't know who I should pay to get it cleared off my report. Supposedly, it has been charged off by Palisades with Experian but AT & T Wirelss is still listed as active with TransUnion so I don't know what to do.

How do I get my accounts numbers without disclosing my SSN??

[john]

Talk to the original company with whom you have the accounts. They will help you with the details

Here's my situation... I had a 1 year contract with Worldcom Wireless in 2002, Worldcom went bankrupt and apparently passed my account to AT&T. Now this is a breach in contract and therefore my account should end right? I'm positive there is no signed contract with AT&T and through this forum I am attempting to dispute the validity of this charge. In the mean time my credit is sh*t and it solely due to this garbage. I'm paying because my contract was broken-doesn't make sense. So if this is familiar and anyone has some advice please let me know. I just got a letter back from Palisades saying this could take 90 days from May 15,2006 to get my info. on the account. I need to know what the next step is after that...

[FYI]

They have 30 days to validate the debt. If they don't they have to remove it.

[LCW]

you would have to do some research, but did Worldcom sell their wireless unit to AT&T? IF so your contract is simply transferred and still in effect.

It was the same when AT&T wireless was sold to Cingular, the AT&T contract are still in effect and enforceable.
You would need to ask your self:
Was your service discontinued with out you requesting so ?
Did the Bankruptcy Court (or other court of competent jurisdiction) order those contracts null and void?

Or did you just figure they were bankrupt, and so you went out and got a new phone without further thought on the matter. If your answer is the later, then most likely the debt is still valid.

Don't meant to take sides, but there are deeper issues in this one.

When a company you have a business relationship goes bankrupt, never assume your are released from your obligations as a result unless you are notified by either that company or a court of competent jurisdiction. Often they will sell accounts , contract, etc in order to generate cash to pay their own creditors Sometimes these sales are even done by order of the Court as a means to pay off other debts.

[LCW]

MattMan; here is the information you are probably looking for. Looks like you should have had a chance to get out of the deal, but maybe missed it.due to forum rules I cant make an active link, but cut and past this address into your browser.

forums.wirelessadvisor.com/wireless-news/36350-worldcom-transfers-wireless-customers.html

I also was contacted by this firm. And when i told them i had all my previous bill's and that thiers was wrong i was told owell pay it. Even when i challenged them to take me to court i even said please

These people (palisades) have been calling me for years about money that is said I owe for an At&t bill in 2000. I spoke with someone from Cellular one in 2000 (bought out by At&t) and agreed to pay what was owed and he said he had removed the fees from my account. I thought that was done. But Palisades is saying that I owe them $178. I asked for a validation, and they sent me parts of the bill from cellular one, but it has no mention of any payments I made or fees that were removed. It only shows July '99 bill, Dec '99 and then Feb '00. Again, no record of payments that were made. What can I do?