I received a collection notice for a bill that was not my doing. The company only has my address and no social security number… I have tried to dispute with no success… Please help?
yes they can report it.
A prior cable provider has a collections claim on my credit report for $35. When moving away from the area (2 years ago) they do not show that I returned the cable modem (which I did). I was not aware of this until I went to refinance my auto loan. I called the company two weeks ago today and they were looking into the issue. Since then I have spoke to 5 different people and no one is calling me back - and I have called 30+ times where the call is unable to connect because the lines are all full.
I want this off of my credit report because it is hurting my ability to refinance at the low rate. I tried disputing it with Experian and it came back as a confirmed current claim.
Normally, you should never just pay a bill if you have valid reasons to think you don’t owe it. Do you have no proof you returned the modem. If you don’t then the simplest and quickest way would be to pay the item. Proof that you returned it would be something like a receipt or Proof of Mailing. Just your verbal "I returned it" will probably not hold up in any court.
First stop calling them. Any communication with them should be through certified mail with a return receipt. This way you have proof that they got your letters.
If you do have proof send a copy of this proof to the collection agency stating that it was returned and you want this item removed. They have 30 days to respond and if they do not respond in 30 days you can contact the Credit Reporting Agency(Experian) and state that they did not respond and have it removed.
If you have no proof, send a letter to them offering to pay the amount in full IF they remove the collection account. In most cases they will agree to this. However, do not send any money to them until you have a letter from them that they will agree to do that.
I had a financial crisis a couple years ago when I lost my job, but am working now. I had a couple debts go into collections and they are calling me 10 times a day.
You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector called a "Collection Agency Cease and Desist Letter". Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact or to notify you that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. The debt will likely be sent back to the original creditor and/or re-sold to another collection agency, at which point you send a new Cease and Desist letter to the new collector.
If anyone ever says they will sue you is full of it. They know that you are in the poor house to begin with, why would they ever bother to spend a ton of legal fees to sue someone who is on the verge of bankruptcy?
There is also a statute of limitations on debt collections, which varies from state to state. There is a listing of all state statutes and a sample Cease and Desist letter on the following website:
http://stopcollections.blogspot.com
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Does anyone have a listing for collection agencies? Basically, like if you won a settlement in court, and the person still refuses to pay you…?
Look in the yellow pages in the area that you live in.
Here is the deal. I owe 44,000 for a auto finance. the collection agency gave me a settlement of 28,000. They said if I don’t make a payment by tommarow it will go into a lawsuit. Can they actually sue me? and what is the wort damage that can happen?
What ever you DO NOT send a "Good Faith" payment to the collection agency. This will cause you more harm than good. Not only does it not "lock" them into an agreement, but it will with all probability reset the Statute of Limitations which extends the time they can successfully file a suit against you.
If you want to attempt to settle with them send them a CERTIFIED Letter with Return Receipt stating the offer. When you send this do not sign the letter just type your name. Only when you get an agreement in writing from them do you send them any money. As to if they will sue you, it is actually a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act(FDCPA) to state something that they can not do. So if this collection agency has no power to file a lawsuit they have an FDCPA Violation, and you could turn the tables on them and file a suit for the violation. The problem is that since it was verbal it is hard to prove. And the main reason why you should never talk to them by phone, only through the mail.
Not knowing exactly what the debt is from, an actual vehicle loan or the deficiency balance from a Repo you also need to look at the Statute of Limitations. If they are beyond the SOL even if they did file suit you can use this as an "affirmative defense" in court and have the suit dismissed.
Now, if the do sue you and prevail depending on your state they can Garnish your wages, attach your bank accounts or any real property you may own.
I have to find out how many debt collection letters are sent out to consumers or businesses every year by collection agencies or attorneys. I suspect this number has risen dramatically because of the economy.
I have tried doing Google searches but was unable to come up with anything. Perhaps someone knows how I would be able to find this statistic?
The debt collection trade association "might" be able to help you.
http://www.acainternational.org/
Recently I notice a hard pull on my credit by a collection agency that I have never heard of and have not received any communication from what so ever. I don’t know what the debt is nor do I believe I have anything that would now be in collections. Can they legally pull my report?
They got your information from somewhere, so yes, they pulled it. You should contact the credit bureau and dispute it.
But whatever you do, DONT call the collection agency yourself!!!! They record everything you say and use it against you. Get an Attorney to call for you.
I was sent to collections by a company that I dont owe money to. Their website stated to cancel you needed to send an email & copy of invoice to their email at least 15 days prior to the billing date. I sent 6 emails requesting cancellation including my phone # in each mails. I never received any more product, I stopped being billed, but I also never received a confirmation of my cancellation. Now they are sending me to collections for their product. I paid for two products, and I only received two products. I really dont feel that it is fair to me, especially because I am so broke and making crappy wages, to have to pay a LOT of money for a product I didn’t purchase, or agree by any means to purchase, a year ago. What leg do I have to stand on? What can I do to protect myself in this situation?
The first thing you’ll want to do is take a step back from everything, take a deep breath, and relax. Often times, if the error is on the part of the complaining company, the collection’s agency can take care of it (assuming that it’s nothing major). They are provided by all the info from the complaining party (or at least should be). Just go over the information you have with them in a calm manner. Most collections agents can come across as bitter/angry/etc…, but as long as you’re civil with them, they should return the favor.
This second part is going off of the assumption that you’re in the US (sorry if it sounds funny, but there are a lot of international users on here). First, you can go to the following site (http://lookup.bbb.org/ ) and find the Better Business Bureau site for the state this company’s in. There, you can see if there’s any history of this kind of behavior by this company (assuming that they are a member of the BBB). Secondly, if things escalate to a desperate point, you can contact the State’s Attorney General of the state this company’s in. For this, you’d want to make sure that all of your documentation is in order. That info can be looked up here (http://www.naag.org/ ).
I have been paying a medical bill that I was giving $50.00 a month. I recently paid 25.00 and was called by collections and they said that if I do not pay at least a hundred a month they will take me to court. I thought that I was able to pay a medical bill as long as I send them something. What can I tell this person. The debt was a medical one that I CHOSE to do. What are my rights.
They can demand full payment of the bill. Just because you are paying some money each month does not stop them from filing suit for the balance. To stop a suit, you would need a payment plan that you both agree to, and that means they can set the amount of money you pay each month. Without any agreement, they can sue you at any time for the balance.
I have a disputed bill between me and a former landlord, I thought it was dropped but all of a sudden after 4 years I am getting collection agent who keeps sending me letters to my home AND work, and he has called me at work threatening me and i responded show me some proof that I woe this cash. They are even turning the 750 dollar bill saying it is 2k now! Being harassed at home is one thing but being harassed at work is ticking me off!
When a debt collector first contacts you, your first step should always be to request validation of the debt per your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Even if the debt is valid, request validation anyway.
Send them a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt stating:
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, cease all communications with me a work. I cannot take personal calls nor accept letters of a personal nature.
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I am requesting written validation of this alleged debt, which includes:
- a copy of the original signed contract with my signature
- validation of the original "Date of Delinquency" for this alleged debt
When they call back, tell them: I have sent a certified letter to your office officially requesting written validation of this alleged debt per my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Per this federal law they must provide written validation within 30 days and they must cease collection activity until they send you written validation. Do not let them scare you with bogus threats during this period.
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* Debt collectors have absolutely NO legal power over you. By themselves, they cannot garnish your wages or freeze checking accounts…only a court can authorize this and they’d have to go through the court system to do this.
* Debt collectors have NO power whatsover to have you arrested/sent to jail for not paying them.
* Debt collectors really LOVE to scare people with bogus legal threats. If they make any legal threats against you, immediately state the following:
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I would like the full name of the attorney who will be taking action against me and his/her license # in the state bar association. I will be calling the state bar association to verify your attorney’s information.