Being chased by a CA for a debt that's not mine

Sure they can take legal action without backup info. They can even win a default judgment.

I hope you got a tape recording of them saying that to you, because that's false and misleading and could have net you $1000 if you played your cards right and sued them.

 

Send them a certified letter validating the debt. I'm sure it is waaay pased the statute of limitaions (SOL) so most likely they are SOL. I would also send them a cease and desist letter and tell them to only contact you in writing. Do a search for an SOL letter and fire away.

 

"The collection agency is calling me at work frequently. "

Did they send you a letter within 5 days of contacting you by phone, notifying you of your rights to dispute and request validation?

Include in your letter, sent CRRR, that you dispute this debt in its entirety, that you request validation of the debt, that you cannot receive their calls at work, and that it is inconvenient for them to contact you by phone, so they must reply by mail.


"...When I ask for some kind of back up documentation they say that "the burden of proof is mine, not theirs" and when I ask them for other info (original billing address or other identifying info) they say that "since it (the debt) has been bought and sold several times, it isn't required by law that they have any information beyond what I owe, my ssn and my original account number." ..."

They are not required by law to have even that. In fact they are not required by law to have anything. They ARE specifically required by law to comply with FDCPA, regarding notifying you in writing of your dispute and validation rights, and not using deceptive or abusive methods to collect debts.

Their statement does, however, tip you off to what you can expect from them, since they have already tried to deceive you into paying a debt you know you do not owe. They have tried to convince you that you have to prove it is not your debt when they have already admitted they have practically no information on the debt.

You can't even trust that any claim by them that your SSN was actually associated with this debt is true and accurate, as born out by your check with US Bank showing no match under either your SSN or the "card number". They might just be trying to collect from anyone with a similar name in your general area. It might not even have been a US Bank account, and your SSN might not even have come with the debt records they bought.

That is why FDCPA requires that "validation" be obtained directly from the Original Creditor, and then sent to the consumer requesting validation. And that is why FDCPA also requires that they notify you of your right to dispute and request validation, in writing, within 5 days of their initial contact.

Specifically, what "information" did they provide you verbally to try to convince you it was your debt?
And what, if anything, have they sent you in writing?

 

#1) Send them a letter telling them that it is inconvenient for them to contact you in any way, shape or form, other than POSTAL MAIL @ _________.

You'll want to check out http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/07/whitewing.htm

White Wing loved the "YOU are the one who has to prove that you don't owe us the money." party line, unfortunately, most of the $150,000 that they had to 'pay' the FTC was suspended.

#2) Check out the Statutes of Limitations for the state which the account was supposed to have been opened in, at 11 years, chances are it is SOL...

The FTC link has a link to an article regarding the SOL; again something that White Wing loved... "Hey, we don't give a darn if the account was opened in 1492, to pay for the Nina, Pina, and Santa Maria, we have proof that you owe it, and we'll sue you if you don't pay it, NOW!"

After 5 years, the DRP (Document Retention Period) typically expires, and most of the historical documentation is destroyed, some will keep it a lot longer, but 5 years is the minimum that they are required to keep it...

A good DRP case is Johnson v. MBNA; MBNA placed an account belonging to a woman's ex on her credit file, as her account, when her ex declared BK... MBNA claimed that the account was only hers, even though they couldn't think of one legitimate explanation for why they didn't even have her SSN and DOB on their computer systems... When was the last time you were able to open up an account with the self-proclaimed #1 CC issuer, without providing a SSN or DOB...

At 11 years, the only way that the CA could place the entry on your credit report is if they re-age the account to appear as if it went into default within the past 7 years....

 

It is amazing how often CAs that get fined are too broke to pay.


With an account from 1996, they probably already knew it was both past SOL, and the records were likely unobtainable. And if they could be obtained, since you know you did not open such an account, and have already verified thru the OC that no account is in their system under your name, SSN, or the "card number" they gave, they would only show it is not your account.

That is why they are using repeated harassment at your work (implying a threat to embarass you or affect your relationship with your employer), deceptive claims that you have to prove it is not your debt, and other attempts to deflect you from your rights to dispute and demand validation of the debt. They probably figure as long as they keep doing it by phone, they can't be slapped for it, and as long as you don't go beyond being an unsophisticated consumer, there is no risk if they keep it up until they get you to make some token payment or maybe claim you have "acknowledged" the debt.

Perhaps they already knew they had little to prove it was your debt when they first called you, and were probably just calling any similar names to see who they could bully into paying. They will choose who they go after, not based on identification of the debtor (since you know it is not your debt, not even in the OC's records), but based on the response of the target and whether that indicates possible likely payment.

As long as they make sure "don't know" it isn't you (easily maintained by not obtaining any validation, and deflecting your attempts to validate), hey, there is nothing wrong with taking your money if you offered it, now is there?

Problem is this is not a new game, especially when collecting on old cheap OOS (past SOL) debt. It got CAMCO shut down.


Send out your dispute/validation request, CRRR, including no contact by phone or at work, including your request of the name and address of the original creditor, original account number, date account opened, date of last payment, and copies of original contract and statements to prove the debt.

If you have any further contact at work or other harassment, find an attorney to take it on contingency, and sue for the FDCPA violations. You don't need to be your own attorney working for free only to reduce their FDCPA liability, when you can pile on your attorney's fees to the statutory FDCPA penalties. They think they can bluff, but you already know their hand.

 

*cough*

Here's something that I've seen which can be *VERY* profitable...

Don't mail it CMRRR at least right away...

Find their fax number, and fax it to them from an unbiased third party (Staples, OfficeMax, local pharmacy/grocery store, etc.), you have proof that they received it, and when they received it... But 99% of the time they'll ignore it since it wasn't mailed; you still obtain the protections from placing the request in writing... but a guaranteed violation factory just waiting to happen...

The next time they call at work, send another fax from another third party facsimile machine (with each third-party, they have a harder case in arguing that somehow, even though the fax transmittal report says that it was received, that they never received it... How can two, three, four different fax machines from different companies all be acknowledging receipt of a fax which they 'never got'... )

Then you have a nice little civil action which they'll want to sweep under the rug... With any luck, they'll owe you a nice check larger than the alleged debt in no time.

 

They've already had to pay out more than they've taken in in tuition to "Colleges of Creditor and Collector Education"

I had a nice company which had to pay 33.44 TIMES the amount of the alleged debt... The cost of higher education...

 

If you don't pay the price, you won't value the product.