In 1995 someone used another name to make a transaction and.
Date: Thu, 07/12/2007 - 13:22
I got a letter from Palisades looking for a person that had a different first name and had the same last name that I have. The collection co. told me that this person made a purchase in the amount of $124.55 in March of 1995 with a Mastercard.Somehow they got my address and phone #. Said this person had the same last four digits of my soc. sec. #. I didn't recognize the co. where the original transaction was made, the second collection co., and I also hadn't heard about Palisades the third collection co. I have no idea on any of this and Palisades company's letter was the first I've heard of this person owing an on a bill with my address and phone #. I always pay on my debt. Now I don't know what to do. Do I fill out fraud papers on an old debt on someone? I think I might have had a MasterCard in 1995, but I didn't leave the the credit card unpaid etc. I might have used a Mastercard at the time to make purchases at other companies, but I always paid on time. I have never had anyone file collections on me. Can anyone tell me what my rights are? How do I know that the first co. made a billing error and someone put my soc. # on this person's account, or how do I know the co. didn't show my bill as unpaid. I would appreciate any help or input.
Thanks.
If last payment on this debt was in 1995 then you should surely
If last payment on this debt was in 1995 then you should surely be out of statute for reporting or litigating.It probably isn't even your debt,just a name address mismatch. Don't talk to them on the phone or acknowledge this is your debt or make any payments on it.Send them a debt validation letter certified return receipt.I have one in my signature,third link.
Hi You can pull out one of your credit reports and check. :D
Hi
You can pull out one of your credit reports and check. :D
Go to annualcreditreport.com. It's not like freecreditreport.com
Go to annualcreditreport.com. It's not like freecreditreport.com where you pay a monthly free. You will not be asked for any credit card information.
Get you Experian, Equifax and TransUnion reports for free. Go over each account. If you do not recognize any of them you need to call each credit report agency and place a fraud alert on your account. Then call each creditor and ask for a fraud packet. Then go to the police station and file a report because that is something you are going to need to help get these things removed.
FYI is correct, but not in this specific case. If this debt rea
FYI is correct, but not in this specific case. If this debt really is from 1995, then there is no legal way for it to still appear on any of your credit reports. Reporting time by law is 7 years for an individual debt, so it would have already come off your reports. If, by chance, it still appears on one of your reports, the only thing you will need to do to have it removed is send a letter to that credit bureau, certified mail return receipt, requesting that they remove the entry from your report on the grounds that the debt is way beyond the allowable time for reporting. They should immediately remove it and send you an updated credit report copy within 30 days, since this kind of removal does not need to wait on them getting any response back from the creditor.
If they refuse to remove it, send them a second letter, and tell them that they are in direct violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law, and any further delays in removing this out-dated entry from your report will be met with a lawsuit for their failure to heed the law.
As for Palisades, there are two ways you can proceed here.
First, you can send them what we call a debt validation letter, by certified mail, RRR. This is a letter which requests that they prove to you:
1--that the debt is legitimately yours.
2--that they are legaly authorized to collect on it.
3--that the amount they claim you owe is justified.
If you request this, and they cannot or will not respond, then by federal law(the fdcpa), they are not allowed to continue any collection efforts against you.
The second way you can handle this is by sending them a cease and desist, or C&D, letter. Again, any letter you send them must be sent by certified mail return receipt requested, so you can prove that they received it. A C&D letter for this example would look something like this:
No matter which way you choose to go, do check your credit reports, all three of them. If someone has committed ID theft once, it is likely that it has happened more than once.
