Collection Agency has wrong person! HELP!

[ducklite]

As I've been reading this thread, I've become increasingly pissed off. Pissed off that innocent people have to prove themselves innocent--wasting their time and money to do so. I find it absurd that collection agencies are allowed to simply put a debt on someone's credit report without absolutely matching the SS #'s.

If someone came to my door to serve a summons to someone that didn't live here--and never did as we built this home, and got abusive and wouldn't leave when I requested them to, I'd call the police and have them arrested for trespass. Period.

If someone put a derrogatory item on my credit report that didn't belong there, I'd call them, give them one opportunity to remove it (and no, I'm not spending the money on a freaking stamp to fix their mistake) and if it wasn't removed, I'd hire an attorney and sue them.

It's time that consumers began to fight back against unfair and illegal collection practices when they are harrassed for someone else's debt. If someone calls me, and is polite and when I tell them that unfortunately they seem to have the wrong number, they apologize and I don't hear from them again, that's perfectly acceptable. But when the calls continue, it becomes unacceptable, harrassing, and both a civil and criminal act that I'd be happy to take to court. It's about time that other consumers do the same. Until it begins to hurt their wallet, collection agencies will continue to harrass innocent people.

Frankly with the process server at the door, if he insisted that I was the person, I would have taken the summons, called the police and had the person arrested for harrassment. You'd have positive proof right in your hands.

Anne

 

[MyGoofy26]

It's time that consumers began to fight back against unfair and illegal collection practices when they are harrassed for someone else's debt. If someone calls me, and is polite and when I tell them that unfortunately they seem to have the wrong number, they apologize and I don't hear from them again, that's perfectly acceptable. But when the calls continue, it becomes unacceptable, harrassing, and both a civil and criminal act that I'd be happy to take to court. It's about time that other consumers do the same. Until it begins to hurt their wallet, collection agencies will continue to harrass innocent people.

Unfortunately, most people don't realize what their rights are when it comes to this. People being harrassed for debts that aren't theirs often don't realize there are laws protecting them, they think there's nothing more they can do but keep insisting they aren't the person the agency is looking for. Even people with valid debts don't realize they have rights as well. Just because you made financial mistakes doesn't give someone the right to threaten or harrass you. And I'm shocked that people will pay anyone that comes calling without making sure that person has a right to collect that debt. Anyone could say they're collecting a bill - how do you know they really bought or had that debt placed with them? Validate! Make sure you're paying the right person before you part with the money! Don't let them shame you into making payment before you know who you're paying! (npt you you, the general you)

Many of the more ruthless junk debt buyers have been sued for millions of dollars. . . but there are still so many people that are completely clueless to their rights that it's just the cost of doing business to them. They're still making more off of unsuspecting victims than they're paying out on the relative few who know their rights granted by the FDCPA and FCRA. (See article below) As it stands right now, so few people hold these people accountable that there's no hesitation to bother someone with a similar name, almost identicaly SSN, or similar address.

I've noticed the media covering this a bit more, but it seems like the occasional article in financial magazines, finance related websites, or newspapers. They're not really hitting the masses. I guess it'll take a Dateline series of investigations to get people to pay attention.


(and no offense meant towards the person above who collects debts - there are legit companies out there that follow the rules. . . it's just there are some pretty slimy companies doing a LOT of business this way that gives the whole industry a bad name and makes peoples' lives miserable)


Ok, for the article I mentioned above:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/05/ncogroup.shtm
That's where the FTC sued NCO for $1.5 million dollars, largest single civil penalty at that point. THat was in 2004. But do a search for NCO on creditboards, or the Internet in general, and you'll see that they haven't changed a thing in the 3 years since that lawsuit. Like I said, it's just a cost of doing business for them.

 

[BabyMo]

Wow, this also happened to us this week. We got a call about a Target charge. After talking to them, we determined that the middle name was not the same, the DOB was off (but the same month!) and the last four digits of the SNN did not match.

I was worried about attempted identify theft, especially since they had an address on their records that was very similar to ours and since our last name is not very common.

The pseudonym we use on our podcast is Loopipe and the street we live on is Apple Lane (not really). But there is also an Arpple Drive in the same town, and the Arpple Drive address is what the collection agency had for us.

Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I was very concerned. The collector put me on with the supervisor who YELLED at me and insisted that it was not identify theft, attempted or otherwise.

But then I smarted up and looked up my DH's name on Myspace. And wouldn't you know that there is someone with my DH's name living in the next town over. I was SHOCKED- my husband's last name is very uncommon. It is unbelievable that there is a guy with the same name in the next town. And his age matches the DOB they had for the other guy. So I found their man quicker than the dummies down at the collection agency.

And yes, we also have inherited the phone number of a deadbeat. We still get calls about her two years into having the #.

Good call on checking the credit report.

 

[seashoreCM]

I’m. We have been married 2 ½ years. Last week we started getting calls from a collection agency on a debt his cousin owes. me?

It is not unusual for bill collectors to try to contact relatives of the person they are after.

If a process server or bill collector etc. becomes abusive or belligerent or rude, it becomes a case of common harassment and./or assault and/or trespass regardless of what job he is performing.

All a process server has to say to you is something like "You are served" as he hands you the summons and turns and walks away. But many cases are dismissed because the person's name (or company's name) on the summons was incorrect even if the person or company was the correct defendant and ignored the summons.

Also, there are lots of times when the real defendant has had a case re-opened and postponed because the summons was served to the wrong person at the wrong address. Time and legal fees and court costs wasted by the plaintiff never to be recovered.

Just because you say your middle initial is different does not mean the end of the matter. They could change the middle initial on the collection letter and deliver it again. (You should not actually tell them your middle initial, let them at ask you no more than one yes-no question). After they get your initial right then you tell them to show proof of the debt.

If/when you write to them, do not put your autograph on any letter or document until after you have received some other document from them that exhibits that same autograph thus proving they already had that information (pictorial or graphic pattern) in their possession.

Let's start a fad! If someone yells at you over the phone, hang up immediately.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Melody D]

It is not unusual for bill collectors to try to contact relatives of the person they are after.

This is correct, we often look for parents and even call neighbors. This is all normal procedure and it only used as a last resort. Personally, I try to only call a neighbor when the person is deliberatately trying to dodge our calls.

If a process server or bill collector etc. becomes abusive or belligerent or rude, it becomes a case of common harassment and./or assault and/or trespass regardless of what job he is performing.

Something to keep in mind the process server is not a representative of the collection agency. Just as there are mean and nasty collectors I guess the same can go for process servers. Still does not give them a reason to be nasty. I have not found a need to be mean and nasty unless people become nasty and rude with me first.

When dealing with a bill collector situation, it is perfectly legal for us to pull your credit report. So don't try to lie to them. If you are open and honest I am more apt to try to help you out. I have had people that have a credit card available and just don't want to use it. If that is the case and you are willing to pay it out of pocket in two or three payments, I am willing to help you out. For the most part we are able to make our own decision and if you are going to take 40 days to pay the debt and it is set to list in 30 on your credit report, I am willing to help you out and keep it off your credit for those 10 days or so.

On the other side of that, if you lie to me and flat out refuse to resolve the debt reasonably I can be your worst enemy. Those are the people I refer to the attorney for judgement for wage garnishment.

Also, there are lots of times when the real defendant has had a case re-opened and postponed because the summons was served to the wrong person at the wrong address. Time and legal fees and court costs wasted by the plaintiff never to be recovered.

This is where you are partially wrong. The attorney office only fronts the money for the judgement. It is actually the consumer that pays the court costs. When you have to be taken to court to pay a bill, you pay the court costs, the attorney fees, and the debt can begin to accrue interest.

Just because you say your middle initial is different does not mean the end of the matter. They could change the middle initial on the collection letter and deliver it again. (You should not actually tell them your middle initial, let them at ask you no more than one yes-no question). After they get your initial right then you tell them to show proof of the debt.

Perhaps I am lucky to work for a reputable collection agency, but for the life of me I can't see any one in our profession doing this. It just doesn't make sense. This could result in alot of lost time and wasted money if it ends up in court.

Let's start a fad! If someone yells at you over the phone, hang up immediately.

It would make a long day if I hung up on everyone that yells at me! The people that get under my skin the most are the ones that call in screaming because we left a message on their machine for someone else. The problem is that in most cases the person it giving the wrong phone number. We can't control that and until someone lets us know we can't remove a number we do not know is bad.

I too had a "deadbeats" number. I would get calls for her and I think it went on for the 4 years or so I had the number. The problem is these career deadbeats will stick with the same number time and time again. That is not the collection agency's fault. If I remove a number today and antoher account comes in next week with the same number we will start calling all over again, there is no way to stop the number from showing up in the system again.

I am not trying to be argumentative and I don't think that this has come off that way, just trying to give you some insight from the other side of this.

Another thing to realize, the COLLECTION AGENCY does not physically put something on the wrong credit report so in that case there is nothing they can do to help. If you end up with someone elses debt and the agency reported it as Jane Smith and you are Jane A Smith it is up to the credit reporting agency (ie TransUnion, Experion) to verify it and fix it. The agency can not do anything about it.

 

[klineyqueen]

I feel for you. We built a brand new home and we got our "new" phone number. That was 7 years ago. We still get calls for the woman who did not pay her bills and had our number before us. It was horrible at first. It has died down considerably but we still get the occasional call.

We had a few people that did not believe us. They must be accustomed to people "hiding" from the collection agencys.

Keep telling them you are not her and that you will report them if they continue to harass you.

 

[Melody D]

As I've been reading this thread, I've become increasingly pissed off. Pissed off that innocent people have to prove themselves innocent--wasting their time and money to do so. I find it absurd that collection agencies are allowed to simply put a debt on someone's credit report without absolutely matching the SS #'s.

The collection agency only REPORTS the debt, the credit bureau is the one that actually puts it on the credit report, correct person or incorrect person. Sometimes the account doesn't have a SS # linked with it. Normally we can find it and get it updated prior to credit listing but sometimes that does not even help. You would be very surprised at how easy social security numbers are to obtain.

If someone came to my door to serve a summons to someone that didn't live here--and never did as we built this home, and got abusive and wouldn't leave when I requested them to, I'd call the police and have them arrested for trespass. Period.

This seems fair enough, there is no reason for them to be nasty like that and I think that only happens in rare occasions. Every profession has "renegade" representatives. It doesn't make the whole profession the bad quy.

If someone put a derrogatory item on my credit report that didn't belong there, I'd call them, give them one opportunity to remove it (and no, I'm not spending the money on a freaking stamp to fix their mistake) and if it wasn't removed, I'd hire an attorney and sue them.

This is a commen misconception, I get calls all the time on this and it happens a lot more than it should. An attorney would just have to follow the same steps you would in contacting the credit reporting agency. It often takes more than one time to resolve with them.

If someone calls me, and is polite and when I tell them that unfortunately they seem to have the wrong number, they apologize and I don't hear from them again, that's perfectly acceptable. But when the calls continue, it becomes unacceptable, harrassing, and both a civil and criminal act that I'd be happy to take to court.

On the other side of that you need to be sure that the person they are calling for is not providing your phone number. This is normally the case and you would be wasting your time by sueing the wrong party. In many cases if would be a waste of court time and your court fees.