AFNI trouble

Don't call, write...

Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested...

Demand that they provide validation (and if you don't want them calling you; tell them that it is inconvenient for them to call you).

 

I know that Charter Communications in my area is a cable tv provider and in some cities provides internet cable.

I had a problem with AFNI too, but it was a paid account. It's still on my reports but is marked paid.

They are a pita to deal with. I wish you good luck.

Tegleg

 

See this thread, as it has links to other reports of what they appear to be up to:
http://consumers.creditnet.com/Discussions/credit-talk/t-dealing-with-afni-inc-65267.html

Most of the recent batch of dunning letters have been on old accounts, from the mid-1990s, largely GTE/Verizon, but also ATT, and Charter are mentioned. Most of the complaints (several hundred since the first of the year) have been from people who claim they never had any such account.

They appear to be sending collection letters to anyone with a similar name, but evading properly responding to validation requests when people send them. In addition, even though they have made little attempt to accurately send their letters to the correct person, they have none the less demanded that the contacted consumers either have to pay them, or must file police reports claiming fraud and send a bunch of id documentation and proof of past addresses, when they have not even provided any written validation from the original creditor, on accounts long past SOL, probably misidentified, and not reportable.

I have been tracking their BBB report complaint rates, and it appears that since the beginning of the year their BBB complaints have soared to levels that with other CAs have attracting regulatory action. Illinois BBB is practically becoming part of their compliance department, on average closing several complaints against them every day. They have been reported to back off and "close" account in response to BBB or Illinois AG complaints, while admitting no error on their part, and there are a number of Federal FDCPA suits that have been filed against them.


Send a dispute and validation request letter, CRRR, timely (in less than 30 days of receiving their letter), to preserve your FDCPA rights. Do NOT call, as you will get nowhere on the phone, or they might even try to convince you that you have an obligation to pay debts you don't owe.

Let us know what response you get.

 

Since their level of visible consumer complaints (BBB, complaintsboard.com, and ripoffreport.com) has gone from a couple a month, to several per day, I can only assume that at least IL AG, and probably FTC are receiving similar levels of complaints.

Maybe they just like feeling needed?

 

James,

My husband (also James) received a letter from Afni around the same time you did, for the same company. It is a cable company and he never had service with them either. Unfortunately, this is not my first run in with Afni. I too have had to work hard to clean up my credit and when pulling my credit report last year to apply for our mortgage, these little buggers showed up. They are reporting on a cable bill also from Charter Communications that was paid almost 3 years ago now and have refused to accept my proof that it has been paid (I sent a canceled check copy for $129 but they say I still owe $40 - it was a final bill!). They responded to my request to validate the debt with a verification so I figured they knew they didn't have anything. With buying the house and going to school all summer/fall, I sort of forgot about it.

Fast forward to last month. Their entry was still on my credit report when I pulled it. So I disputed it with the credit reporting agencies. They verified and updated after receiving notice from both Equifax and Experian. So I called both places to explain the situation. Equifax took down my information and then said that Afni had removed their entry right after they verified it. Experian was still showing the entry but asked me to send copies of all my stuff to them so they could further review it. I'm still waiting to see where that goes.

The week after all that happened my HUSBAND gets a letter from them for a different account. I was absolutely steamed!!! And they said they were "making another attempt" to contact him regarding this debt. There wasn't ever a first attempt! And there wasn't anything about the whole 30 day thing. So I wrote up a letter for validation for his and sent along another letter of my own demanding that they remove their entries for mine since they never validated mine either. They signed for the letter on 3/28/07. I can bet you that I'll end up receiving a letter post marked 4/28/07 requesting more information including a copy of our driver's licenses. That's their standard line. Uh uh. Not gonna happen. I hate to say this but you're going to have to fight long and hard to get rid of these guys. Keep your eyes peeled though. I've heard grumblings of class action lawsuits.