Want to take collections companies to court

Go to naca.net and click on referral link for your state.

Great advice from Cajun and I'm also wondering if you could get them for violating the fdcpa? You have all records of you asking to validate the debt, right?

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I have all copies of correspondents, but Cingular will not provide or furnish me ANY information. Only a letter saying the account has been sold to a collections company and to contact them.

My other question is, if i take them to small claims court, do i do it in CA or do i need to go to them?

Some of these places are located in AZ which is not too bad i guess.

Yes, there are MULTIPLE instances of this happening to me, one is with Ballys Fitness, and some other ones are medical stuff.

I hate this. Its really starting to lower the quality of life for me.

i also should not, i filed identity theft in AZ as soon as I saw the first items starting to report on my credit. I have copies of those forms as well.

This being a case of id theft I would say more than enough proof for facta provisions of fcra and fdcpa violations. My best move in your position is to draft a federal district complaint and send a intent to sue letter to all three credit bureaus,orginal creditors,and collectors for violating fdcpa and fcra.Credit bureaus and original creditors don't fall under fdcpa,but they are liable uder fcra.

Well, I am going to step in here and say--geeeeez this is really a tough situation to be in and I can certainly feel for you. Debt is stressful enough, but then to have to deal with all of these companies about stuff debt you never even incurred must be torturous.

Just a question for the board (and not in anyway a SUGGESTION) but if the poster filed bankruptcy for all of these debts, would it eliminate the problem or help it in anyway?

I think that credit checks run by employers is bogus and should be illegal. People run into financial problem for many reasons other than just being a deadbeat. Illness, LAYOFF!!, and other issues. To me it is totally unfair for someone to be judged as a deadbeat by a potential employer based on bad credit. Credit Reports were originally designed to determine a persons eligibility for credit and to get loans, not to get a job. I think legislation should be put into place which bars employers from checking credit reports for the sole purpose of hiring someone. After all why do they have laws in place which prevent employers from firing someone because they have had to file for bankruptcy protection? Obviously this law recognizes the fact that honest and good people can get into financial trouble and have bad credit and they shouldn't be penalized by losing their job. The same SHOULD apply for someone who is just trying to get a job so that way they CAN pay their bills.

I will not file bankruptcy because that would be me assuming these debts and saying I cannot pay them. In all reality I make very good money and CAN pay them, but refuse to pay for something that I did not incur myself.

I feel that I should not have to degrade myself or morals just to deal with these retarded companies trying to siphon dollars from my pockets with their scare tactics and destruction of my life.

And I agree with you 100%...but I think you misunderstood Lorri. She was posing a hypothetical situation to the board at large, not making a suggestion to you.

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Lorri,
In my opinion it would be like shooting yourself in the head. Sure it wuld stop all efforts to collect and discharge the debt. The problem I have is the tradeoff.Ten years with that on your record for debts that are not even yours to start with. I would do the id theft stuff I mentioned and if they are willing to play hardball,sue anyone in near vicinity of that debt in federal court for violations of Fcra.

I think that employers originally started running credit checks on prospective employees in case they were applying for jobs where they were handling money. If the applicant was having financial problems, which were proven due to bad credit, they potentially might be tempted into doing something illegal at the workplace.
I know that people applying for jobs in and around law enforcement also have to have credit checks run as well, for obvious reasons, as part of their background checks.
If an applicant would not be handling money and is not in law enforcement, then I also see no reason why an employer should be doing this. To me, this is like an employer doing a drug screen pre-employment. I hear of no employers doing blood-alchohol level screenings before employment, and if I'm not mistaken, being drunk on the job is also not a good thing--so see where I'm getting at with this?

I see what you are saying kscornell and I agree with you completely. Alcohol is a hugh problem in the work place. Do you think it has something to do with the fact that it is legal and pot and other drugs are not? I do know that I worked for a huge telcomm company with a very powerful union and the joke was you could not be hired unless you drank alcohol. And if you get caught, the union will back you up. I am not kidding. Crazy huh?

cajunbulldog---I understand and I agree with what you said. And gerasimatos---I agree also that you should not have to pay for someone elses debts.

At the same time, I don't think anyone should have to go through years and years of torture for something they had nothing to do with in the first place. See with me---I would want the situation dealt with immediately and at whatever cost. It would nag and haunt me day and night. I would feel like I was not in control and filing bankruptcy (HYPOTHETICALLY) would give me back that control. But, that is me and my personality.

Lorri,
You are most certainly correct.It can be very stressful.The reason I would hold feet to fire is until these companies are made to follow law,they will harass anyone they want. The Ftc really needs a enforcement division with more teeth so consumers can quit getting robbed by these vultures.

LOL, Guest!!
Talk about networking at Happy Hour, right? And the only way you could prove that someone was drunk on the job was if they did a breathalizer or a blood test!! Otherwise, the union would fight!!

Oh, I seen the comment on blood alcohol or breath test. I am in a industry that is regulated by DOT so I have to take a DOT ten panel drug test & breath test fairly regular.

And that makes total sense, Cajun. It's obvious why you would have to do that, being in the line of work you are.
But on the other hand, I am clerical support in a hospital. I don't see patients and have nothing to do with patient care.
Not that I have ever come to work under the influence or plan to, but if my manager came to me and said that I had to be tested as a condition of my employment, I would be very upset and would question the legality of it. Just my two cents...

You are quite correct kscornell.Testing varies by industry and sometimes I think employers are too darn nosy! My current employer has left me alone since my hire test. I am on prescibed meds that will show up on a dot drug screen and they are too cheap to wanna pay for a repeat and medical review officer. That is how they would repeat my test under dot regs. Gotta love cheapskates sometimes! :mrgreen:

my other issue is that these companies will not remove the negative reporting from my credit even if i do pay for someones else's debt and fraud.

imho that doesn't look good on my credit either.