HOLY COW!! My public library is putting me in collections!

Yes. DV the library.

 

Hi,
I know this is not the correct thread to post this particular question but I'm new so I don't know how to start a new thread myself....sorry!

Anyway my question is regarding contract law and novation. I have read that even though a credit card company sells your account you technically do not have a contract with the collection company unless you make a payment to them or you agree to a payment . My problem is that I made sesveral payments to chase not knowing that they had already charged off the account. I am not sure if they forwarded payment to the CA or not. The last balance showing on my credit report does not take into consideration the payments made. If chase forwards my payments to the CA does this constitute payment to them and in essence by default agree to a contract with the CA? I would not have made any payment to the CA without knowing the particulars of the account, validation of the account etc etc.
Any advise?

 

This is why you need to have all your statements from the last 12 or 6 months until CHASE stopped billing you. If you don't have the statements, get them from CHASE. Then gather all your payments (checks or money order receipts) and this will tell you how much you paid Chase and when they applied it to your account. You can telephone Chase to ask them when particular payments were applied to your account and their record.

Again, this is why you don't just call the CA and take their word for the total amount of the current debt. First have your paper trail of statements and payment receipts and reconcile the numbers. Then, if the CA contacts you, you'll know if their numbers are accurate or not or if their fees or interest are illegal.

You didn't pay the CA, you paid Chase and Chase would use your continuing payment to reduce the total amount you owe Chase.

I'm getting the impression from your writing, that your real concern is that you think you may have "thrown away" money by continuing to pay Chase or in some way agreed to anything from a CA. Rest easy on that score, your money isn't lost.

 

Regarding the library collections, you said you hadn't been in a library in that state. Did you have an account at that library, or even reside in that area?

There are CAs who specialize in collecting debt owed to libraries. If you have been misidentified as the debtor on someone else's account, the 2 most likely possibilities are that the library passed the debt off to a CA, who erroneously "located" you, or someone may have opened an account in your name (i.e.: id theft). Who does the letter say it is from?

DV them, dispute the debt and indicate you have not had an account with them if that is the case, and request validation, CRRR as always.


In my experience, libraries will open accounts with id consisting of either a driver's license or a utility bill addressed to the opener at an address in their region. Some might be even more trusting.

With only name and address from the original application, if a user moves without providing a forwarding address, the CA is essentially just attempting to trace addresses thru databases, unless they do even less and just send a letter to similar names in the area. It would be easy to misidentify the correct debtor. They may not have SSN information from the original application, but the CA might still have YOUR SSN if they pulled it thru your credit report, so that would prove nothing.


Even if you did have an account, and this is, say, over a book they say you didn't return, remember libraries make mistakes. I have returned several books, all at the same time, straight into their chute, and 3 were correctly checked in while one was not. After calling them, they found it on their shelves. Clearly it had been received and shelved, but somehow missed being checked in. I, of course, could not have proved anything. Their response was "This happens. If a customer calls, we just check the shelves."