I just received a phone call at work from a jerk named Danny at Online Information Services trying to collect on a debt that was to my knowledge with another collection agency. He was rude, offensive and downright nasty to me. He refuses to send me any sort of letter or documentation about my so-called account with them. He said that I already know about the account from it being with the other collection agency. He said they are not a billing company and they do not have to send me anything. He did offer to send me a receipt after I pay the account off (gee, thanks) What should I do next? He said they got the account on 7/13 and that it was going on my credit report today if I did not pay. They claim to have sent a letter to my old address (from 9 years ago). I did get an account number out of him. Should I DV them? What do you guys suggest? It seems that all of a sudden once I started disputing and DV'ing things on my credit report that they have all been turned over to different CA's. Frustrating!!!!
It sounds to me like no one has the necessary documentation to validate this debt. That's why it keeps getting sold off to the next CA that hopes they have what it takes to collect on it. If this is another new CA, send them a DV letter too. How old is this alleged debt now?
Since 1/2008. I'm going to DV them tomorrow. I'm still mad at how that jerk talked to me on the phone. He's lucky I was at work!
Sorry to hear the guy was such a jerk...unfortunately that's often the case. Keep us updated on what happens with the DV.
Update: CA validated the debt. It is not on my credit report yet (I knew he was lying!) and we are gearing up to buy our house next month so I need to handle this. Is it best for me to just pay the debt off to the new CA? I did call the previous CA and verified that they no longer own the debt. I'm disputing their entry on my credit report since they no longer own the debt. I'm thinking I should just pay the dang thing (it's under $250) and be done with these aholes. What do you guys suggest?
Paying off the collection won't improve your FICO scores in the short run, but if your major goal is to close on a home loan, then you may just need to pay it off to appease the underwriter and provide them with the documentation to show that it's been taken care of.
Ok, remember, I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. The best way to handle when a "collection agency" refuses to put anything in writing, including the things that they are LEGALLY REQUIRED TO PUT INTO WRITING. Have them write you out a $1,000.00 check. If they refuse to write the automated letter that gives you your mini-miranda and validation rights, you have an instant FDCPA case. IF they did in fact send a letter to your previous address, it takes 2 seconds for them to re-print and mail that letter to your new address. It should be SOP any time that someone argues that they were not provided with their mini-miranda and validation rights. It's the perfect way to CYA! Dear DSDA Collections;
I just received a call at work from these jerks. My DV letter of 8/2012 stated that they were to only contact me in writing. Can someone point me to a sample letter that I could send to collect this $1,000 plus the $1,000 for them not providing me with a letter, etc. in the first place. I don't want to send a letter saying that I intend to file a lawsuit if I don't intend to do so. I just want them off my back and my credit report. Thank you for any advice.
The only rub, is there is no incentive for them to write you out a check, UNLESS you intend to file. You also can't do $1,000 for the call, and $1,000 for the letter, under the FDCPA, it's a 1-time thing covering the entirety of the suit, now having more cases helps to prove that it's not just an oopsie, but it doesn't start banking one on top of another... (Now, the second you file the first suit, you can start collecting towards filing a second suit, etc... ) FCRA now, that's an entirely new enchilada... if you have one company reporting 5 accounts, you dispute the tradelines 5 times, each time its a specific dispute, and each time it's verified incorrectly, it's $1,000 x 5, x 5... or $25,000.
