To all the so call stupid debtors being harrassed by collections that are not yours, or reported erronously use the tools our government has given us to fight these rats.
1) Fair Debt Collection act
2) Fair Credit reporting act
also there is FACTA I forget at the moment the correct acronym. This is a example of big business and the business is extortion plain and simple.
Collector just said it all above we will hound you until you pay.
your debt past the statuete of limitations so we cant report it legally to blemish your credit report we will hound you till you arrange to pay , until you admit it is yours or you actually cough up any money at all then we will reage the statute of limitations for another 7 years. That means never never talk to a collector on the phone. It is your right to have them stop harrassing you! dont look for their phone number look for their address. Then mail them disputing the debt and asking for validation of what you owe when they bought it from who they bought it and where by the way IS MY SINGNATURE ON THE CONTRACT that outlines the terms at which I would pay the ORIGINAL CREDITOR the intrest rate etc.
That means absolutely that an electronic statement from a company twice removed from the orignal creditor is not sufficient to validate you are the person who owes and for how much you owe. a statement of the balance owed is ENTIRELY INSUFFICIENT AND UNCOLLECTABLE IN COURT!
By all means NEVER EVER ignore a summons if they are dumb enough to sue you. They are counting on you not replying an answer and just calling them directly. You must file with the court an answer or they will garnish your wages etc. which sucks. This is plain and simple extortion.
They are always bluffing! Even if they bring to court months worth of statements from the original creditor the likelyhood of them producing a signed contract from the original creditor is next to nothing. So they will be unable to validate the debt in court. Now its true some judges are not as well versed in credit law as others and may side with the collection agency despite them being scum and illegal practices etc. But by standing up to them you make it costly to harrass people because lawyers are not paid pennies on the dollar like the debt sellers so they will back down most of the time before actually going in front of the judge.
However they are masters at manipulating people with FEAR tatics. They will often threaten ( a violation) whether they threaten garnishment or getting husbands introuble with CO's etc it is ILLEGAL to issues those threats also its illegal to swear at you over the phone but obviously from collectors rant above they do it all the time. For each violation these scum are then liable for automatic $1000 fine paid to you for such violations ( need proof of course! so a paper trail is of utmost importance and that is why the phone is the debt colectors best ally. They can hide behind it and claim an honest mistake but a letter from them harrasing you is another thing.
So the steps are 1) dont ever call them 2) place a freeze on your Credit reports and dispute addresses with credit agencies that are not your current address 3)send a letter to the collection agency disputing the debt and also include a phrase asking them to not contact you by phone at home or work ever! to only contact you through US mail (called a cease and desist letter ) All letters to the collection agency should be sent not normal US mail but Certified return recepit requested so that you can verify with post office if it was recieved and when and have the receipts in case you need to prove that you sent them and diligently try to verify the debt. This is start of paper trail always keep a copy of these letters for yourelf.
3) next you wait and in 30 days when no validation arrives you send a second letter. Or if they send validation that doesnt meet requirments of FDCA and FACTA then your rerequest the proper amount of information to be able to validate the debt.
This letter writing does two things 1st it should stop the harrasing phone calls and even if it doesnt it makes them in violation each time they call you after reciept of the letter asking to not be contacted with documentation ( a call log write down numbers from caller id and times they called maybe a n answering machine tape or voicemail recording ) you can then use the evidence of violations as pressure them to comply or to even delete the bad information on the credit report and cease collection activity.
3) Never admit it is your debt until they provide the correct amount of inormation according to FDCA and FACTA. ie in negotiating a settlement dont say it is yours but say you are willing to pay for this matter to be settled meaning deleted from your credit reports and retired ie not to be resold ever to anyone else. the way the settlement is important. look it up in a search do your homework and of course never pay a penny to them until they send you the settlement in writing.
Your credit rating is your proerty defend it like you would your house from these burglarers or like you would you children from these credit molestering bottom feeders.
NEVER GIVE IN NEVER SURRENDER
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