Ok- Need some Credit experts help on a bill not ours

[michellelovesthemous]

Equifax, Experian and Transunion dont share info you may want to confirm it is not on all three.

 

[My3kiddos]

If the bottom of the letter says they will not sue or report to the credit bureau then they are pretty much admitting it's a zombie debt or they are just sending letters to anyone with the same name hoping one will pay it. I really don't think it's anything you should worry about. These companies pay pennies for old debts just hoping to get something and sometimes they get lucky and someone pays them.

If I were you I would wait and see if you receive anything else from them. If you do I would send a cease letter to them.

 

[Mommee]

I had an issue where a long distance telephone company sent me to collections for unpaid bills a year after I had canceled my home phone. It was my old phone number, but the calls were made a year after service was canceled. I was promised three times that it was settled, they realized they had the wrong person, and there would be no further contact.

Two years later it showed up on my credit report I disputed it with all three agencies and they removed it when the collection company was unable to prove it was mine. It's been about ten years now so hopefully I'm actually done with this!

 

[marmalade]

I don't care about suing them, I just don't want something on my credit report. I've been reading over at the credit board and this sounds like a nightmare. Will prepare a validation letter. The only thing that gives me hope that this will go away quietly is the part on the the letter that says " we will not sue you for it and will not report it to any credit reporting agency" This makes me think that whatever this debt is- it must be really old.

I letter has my husband's name with out the Jr on it but it does have our address of course.

It has your address on it because your DH has the same name as the debtor they are trying to collect on. If the debt is old enough that the statue is up on it, I am sure the 37th collection agency to buy this debt does not have the current up to date info on the debtor.

My DH is a Jr. and we are constantly getting calls/letters for his deadbeat DH, so much that judgements that belong to my FIL have shown up on my DH's credit report. It is a hassle but I have called numerous collection agencies letting them know they have the wrong person. 9 times out of 10 they are very nice and have no problem removing our address/phn #'s.

 

[manning]

I don't care about suing them, I just don't want something on my credit report. I've been reading over at the credit board and this sounds like a nightmare. Will prepare a validation letter. The only thing that gives me hope that this will go away quietly is the part on the the letter that says " we will not sue you for it and will not report it to any credit reporting agency" This makes me think that whatever this debt is- it must be really old.

I letter has my husband's name with out the Jr on it but it does have our address of course.

They don't know you won't sue, but you want them to think so. You need some
Poker playing skills.

 

[Anthony1971]

It is simple in the end...
No you do not need to hire a lawyer...
Personal Debit is very complicated for the collector..

First dispute it in writing asking for proof. If they can not provide proof it is over...
If they call ask for proof and end the call.
If they do not provide proof and call again ask them to not call you again-- what happens here is they can turn it over to a different agency at that point you again ask for proof and end the call... if they call again with no proof ask to not call again. By law they can not call you once you tell them to no longer call so let them know you are recording these conversations and DO SO..... That way you can file a complaint and will receive an award no lawyer needed....They have come down hard on personal collections in recent years.
They can NEVER report this to a credit agency without it being in writing and sent to you first and as others said if they do dispute it and it will be remo


ved and again file a compliant...
Yes this can be tiresome.. handle it correctly and they will leave you alone handle it in a bad manner or ignore it and it could get ugly...
I work with credit agencies for collections not personal but I do know the rules of it as I have been dealing with the same person for a LOT of years... they hate personal and if they take it they will tell you it is very unlikely you will get anything... unless you want to sue which is up front fees and even if you win there is a lot more to getting the money.
Again handle right do not argue say you are recording the call please supply proof of the debit (END THE CALL) thank you have a nice day ... They already have all your information etc etc etc no need to supply anything else not the weather not the time of day not you name NOTHING-- END THE CALL
if they call again same as above except....... Do not call again........

ALSO no threats words etc of any sort on your part exact wording as above.
You start something with a collector and trust me they will have the last words...the thrive of arguments and threats.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

my thought would be that this company has pulled up as many people with your dh's name as they can find and sent that same letter to them all in hopes the right person would contact them.

we had this happen to us but through phone calls. we just kept getting phone calls about debts that had nothing to do with us. I never gave any information, what ever you do keep your mouth tight. I just kept telling them it wasn't for us, we were not the party they were looking for. finally I had someone call who was nice and I asked why they thought it was dh who had this debt. the woman told me they didn't know if it was him or not, that they picked all the people listed in our area with his name and just called them all, put the pressure on that way. after hearing that I changed our name in the phone book to read both of our initials and only initials. have never had a call since.

you can call them and tell them they have the wrong person and then I would ignore anything else they send.

good luck, hope it works out.

This!!

I had a similar thing happen to me. I got a letter in the mail with my first and last name but wrong middle initial. (I don't have a middle name and don't use first initial of my maiden name for a middle initial.) My married name is fairly common. I knew it wasn't for me; nothing is delinquent and I have excellent credit. The bill was for some clunker rental car company for around $1500. Silly me could only think of trips to MCO/WDW and wondered what idiot would pay $1500 for a rental car? Of course it was a long-term rental.

I ignored the letter, knowing it wasn't mine, but then they called my house. I kept telling them it wasn't me, they have the wrong person. The guy was so nasty saying I should stop lying and I how I know it really is my bill, etc. I was so angry I was shaking and screaming at the guy. It was awful and all this on ds's 7th or 8th birthday.
Then he suddenly sounded so pathetic and asked for the last 4 digits of my DL.


REALLY!!!?? Wouldn't one think if I actually rented a car from this company, they would have my DL and all of my info on it? That's when I hung up on him.
I was a little freaked out, like OP, and I'm very protective of anything bad tarnishing my credit. I talked to my FBI neighbor (investigates white-collar crimes) who told me to immediately pull all 3 credit reports. Then send a letter demanding they no longer contact me, then keep an eye on my credit reports and see if anything changes. Nothing bad ever appeared on my credit reports and they did stop contacting me after I sent the letter. It's probably been around 6 years and no problems at all from it.
I also switched our land line to being unlisted.

Now all the bills that come in the mail are all ours! Yay!

Hang in there OP! The burden of proof is all on them. Just having your dh's name and address is not proof at all.

 

[Swimalie]

Best advice http://www.clarkhoward.com/videos/c...ow-to-handle-wrongful-debt-collection/vCcYwq/

 

[SharonZ]

You are right that they don't respond to debt validation letters. This happened to me, I eventually had to hire a consumer attorney to sue them for falsely trying to collect a debt that wasn't mine. Suing them was the only way that I got the harassing calls to stop. They called my home, my office, my neighbors . . . The attorney that I used took my case on a contingency basis, his fee was taken from the money I received from the lawsuit.