Counter offer?

You can always offer them a lowball. What's the worst they can say?

Ok that's what I was going to do but in all honesty I really don't wanna get sued by these guys. Which I don't know if it's common since I think this is the second or third company to have this account...they have just been the most aggressive out of all of them.

Seems to me if you have a debt management plan already in effect, those people should be the ones working with ARS, not you but even more so, it should still be with Dell, not some junk debt buyer... you are paying this debt management place to help you, make them earn their money.

Even though it's been through 2 or 3 different companies you think Dell has rights to it still???

I rather doubt it. How long since the last time you made a charge or payment on the account? Have you requested validation of the debt? One of the major purposes of validation is to ensure that you're paying the right people. They're required to prove that they're authorized to collect, and tell you who owns the account.

It's been almost 2 years since I made a charge on the account and it's quite a while since I have made payment on the account. I validated it and I think the last activity on the account was around the end of 07'. So what's the best action to take? Are you saying that you doubt that they would bring on a lawsuit? Thanks again for all the advice... this is pretty much the last account I am worrying about all the others are in my DMP....

I'm saying that I doubt Dell still retains an interest in the account. It was likely sold to a debt buyer shortly after Dell charged it off. That would've been around six months after you first missed a payment.

You said it had been validated. By whom? ARS, or a previous CA?

Ahhh I see.... It's been validated by ARS ..just recently ...about 3 weeks ago. They sent me back a bunch of pages with account info such as payments etc.

Wonderful. Did they include anything about who the current account owner is? How about anything showing that they have the right to collect on this account?

i'll grab the paperwork from my fathers house tomorrow but I don't think they included anything that says they have the right to collect the debt? I think it was just balances and payments made on the account ...as far as anything what should it include?

i'll get that info today and if the information stating they have the right to collect the debt isnt there should i send another letter?

I would, yes. Just fire off another DV letter, adding some text to the effect that they have not validated this debt.

There are threee basic things they have to prove in validation:

Proof of the relationship between you and the original creditor. A copy of your signed original contrat would do this nicely. If they've got a bunch of statements or something else with your signature on it, that would likely do, as well.

Proof that the CA in question either owns the debt, or that it has been assigned to them. This is basic contract law, and they'll play merry hell trying to pursue legal action if they can't provide it.

Proof of the amount of the debt, including an explanation of how they calculated any fees, interest, or penalty. Be advised that (in most states) they can only charge you a state-approved interest rate, typically about 6%, unless they can prove your contract allows them to tack on all that other crap. See Fields v. Wilbur Law Firm for more info on this.

This information must come from the original creditor. It's not something they can cook up in-house. If they can't validate properly, then they can't continue to collect. The rationale is that these are the things they'll need to prove in court. If they can't prove it to you, then they probably can't convince a judge, either.

I received a collection letter asking for a debt amount of $3102.00. There were charges of over $200 that were never mind. I told them this several times in the letters I mailed them. This debt was from a attorney fee - this attorney did not represent me to the fullest extent - in fact there were several issues he did not bring up at the trial. I also told the collection agency I was filing a grievance against this attorney. Shortly, a letter came back sying if I made $2000 in one lump sum it would be considered paid. I counter offered an amount of $1500 saying any more would be a financial hardship for me. They wrote back asking for $1750.00. Can I send another counteroffer again of the $1500 saying I cannot afford any more?