I received a letter today from RJM Acquisition Funding that is an attempt to settle an account which they state has a DOL of 9/5/97. The letter provides the OC name, acct. # and alleged amount due. I have never received an w/respect to this acct. before, it has never reported to any of the 3 major CRAs and since it is at least 10 years old I honestly can't recall if it is mine or not. (It wouldnâ??t be outside the realm of possibility since I was an irresponsible young twenty-something 10 years ago. . .) Since RJM is offering 3 different settlement/payment plans, Iâ??m assuming this is just a last ditch effort to get some $$. Iâ??m not sure how to respond b/c I donâ??t want this to start reporting, even though it is outside the SOL in my state and past the reporting age limit. I am aware of RJM's sleazy tactics in the past. How should I handle?
You should send RJM a "Debt Validation Request Letter" (see "stickies for form letters) to "validate this debt". If you have just received the letter, you have 30 days to request this from date letter was received. Before you send this letter, determine the date (if you can) of when this account became "Charged Off" or went to collections. It sounds like you are past the "statute of limitations" for legal action collections. You will need to state this is your letter. You MUST raise the "defense" that debt is past legal statute of limitations. Due to this, you also need to state that any reporting to the credit reporting agencies of this account, and this includes pulling "inquiries" on your credit reports, is a violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act (FDCPA), and state that you will pursue legal rememdy for any violations by RJM. Request all collection activity "Cease & Desist" until your "legal" obligation is validated, and demand written response as to closure on this account. It is better to take the time now, and deal with this through the complete process than ignore it. Your aim should be to protect your credit reports at this time.
Definitely dispute it... I wouldn't trust RJM farther than I could throw them with one tenth of a finger... Be on the look out for a letter which says. "We received your dispute, and are investigating it. Enclosed please find an envelope for your convenience." They've been sued, and lost for Continued Collection Activity; as the court pointed out there is only one thing for the envelope to be convenient for; mailing a payment.
