I received a call about a month ago AT WORK from a collection agency (not sure how they got my work number.) I spoke to a very strange and rude man who told me that I owed the university I attended (and graduated from in 1993) $1400 and asked me what my intentions were. I was quite taken aback by this...as far as I know, I don't owe the school any money. I never got any kind of bill from them or anything, and I KNOW that the school would not have released my grades to me my last semester there, let alone let me graduate, if I owed them money! So I told this guy to leave me alone and not call me anymore because he must have me confused with someone else. A couple of weeks later I received a bill (the agency had obtained my address from pulling my credit report! I know this because the address he gave me over the phone was the my old address from 1993) for the $1400. This bill stated I had received services on 3/2/2001 (not true) and said basically that I had better pay up or else. I wrote a letter (sent certified and received by them) stating that I did not owe the school any money and telling them not to contact me at home or at work again. Well, today I received a call at home from the same creepy guy...same thing, I owe $1400 and what are my intentions. I tell him once again that I do not owe this money, that I graduated in 1993, and that I sent them a certified letter telling them not to call me at home or work. The creep states "well my screen tells me not to call you at work. I didn't call you at work, I called you at home." After a few more words, I hung up on the guy (which I did the first time he called as well..he was very strange and creepy, as well as rude and basically told me to go to h*** if I didn't want to pay.) So my question is...what are my rights concerning to this alleged debt (which even if it were valid, is from 1993.) And how do I get them to stop calling me????
I would first contact the school and find out if there is a debt, if I am not mistaken a collection agency can still attempt to collect this indefinitely, however they will not be able to report it, and provided they did not get a judgment against you and if the SOL ran in your state, they can't take you to court. As far as handling him maybe others on the board can suggest what you should do about him. which agency is this anyway? Cyprigirl
The first thing I would do is to file an FTC complaint and an attorney general's complaint and a bbb complaint about the abusive language and then, I would send him a validation letter. That should start the ball rolling. This guy is just begging for a good lawsuit and some attention from the authorities as well.
They are not allowed to call you at work, even if this is your debt. So right there, they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Report them to the FTC, even if they deny it happens. Get a co-worker to back you up. You can also send them a letter to validate the debt, if they can't prove it, then they can't contact you anymore. I'd check your credit report, too. If they put a listing on your credit report and they can't verify you owe the debt, they are now in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Here are some other things they can't do: - call your home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. - address you in an abusive manner - harass you - making false or misleading statements, - add unauthorized charges - call family or friends in an attempt to collect your debt You can also tell them in writing not to contact you. Sounds like your buddy wanted to pick everything on the list and make sure he violated it. The FTC would love to hear about the guy. I might also call your state attorney general and report this guy. They want to hear about it.
Send validatinos letters and/or C&D. Definitely get copies of all your credit reports to see which are being reported on. Go from there.. don't let him push you around.
