In January of this year I was contacted by a company Ace Recovery out of Oakland, California on a Bank One card I had 16 years ago that was charged off 14 years ago and never paid. They wanted to make a settlement with me for $2K on a 21K debt. Long past the SOL. A few months later an account with Asset Recovery appeared on my credit (now spotless credit) on the same Bank One account. Could not find any information on the Asset Recovery people. No telephone numbers. Anything. Even their address was a mail drop box. In the interim I was contacted again by Ace Recovery and again offered a $2k settlement on the Bank One account. I told them about the Asset Recovery letter and they told me they were not the same companies. I told them I have a problem paying on a debt where I have two companies collecting the same item. They assured me they were the right collection agency. I called Bank One. They did some research and I found out that Asset Recovery was the correct collector. Bank One told me the account had been sold many times to different agencies but Asset Recovery was the last agency sold to. They said Ace Recovery never bought the account. I soon found out that Ace Recovery somehow came across accounts from other collection agencies and was collecting on them fraudulently. The guy who owns Ace Recovery did a civil settlement with the County of Alameda in 2000 for almost 2 million dollars. (Never paid). I have been in touch with the DA in Alameda County. The FTC and several attorneys. This Bank One account has never been paid. Can never be reported to my credit ever again and even if they took me to court the judge would dismiss the suit because of the SOL.
THAT IS AMAZING...SOME BOTTOM FEEDERS ARE SCUMMIER THAN OTHERS??? LIKE BAD CA'S...AND THEN THERE IS REALLY, REALLY BAD CA'S???
ok - in the defense of the good debt collectors out there, i have to say not all are scum. i have to work with quite a few in my line of work and most are good people. it only takes one to spoil the bunch. how most people feel about debt collectors is how i feel about customer service reps.... i have only had one bad one in regards to my personal life and once they realized i wasn't some stupid consumer they backed off.
WHO is a good debt collector, that's an oxymoron!!!!!! Kevin, Don't pay on a 16 year old debt unless you're feeling a personal need to. You aren't legally obligated to pay it and it can't be reported without incurring violations. That is their game, guilt/shame and ignorance and a good example of why validation is valuable as a right, not a strategy. Sassy
Re: Re: Collection Agency Scam! ok - devils advocate here - but wouldn't there be no debt collectors if people paid all their bills on time every month. maybe thats whats we should do - everyone pay all their bills on time every month and then we'll put them out of business! LOL (you know im teasing right?) a good debt collector is one who works with you. ive worked with quite a few in both my personal and work life. these are people doing a job that no one else would want to do. they deal with hundreds of people who cant or dont want to pay every day. i sat in the collections dept of my company for a day once and NEVER AGAIN! omg, the sob stories - my wife left me, my dog left me, and now my truck is repo'd. i can't work because its hunting season (i'm being facetious now) you couldn't pay me enough to do that job.
Re: Re: Collection Agency Scam! Is there indication that ACE Recovery made use of the credit reporting agencies in ANY manner in their fraudulent collection practices, even if only to find where you are? Did they also make fraudulent certifications to the CRAs as part of their activities? The CRAs have been taking the position that they only have to follow the minimal letter of the law and not look any deeper even if their customers are systematically engaged in illegal activities against consumers. A blatant case like this would be a good one to force the CRAs to lock a CA out of their system, or at least take some responsibility when they receive reports of illegal activity.
If you're not litigious: Try writing each that you paid the other and they have to remove the TLs. If you are litigious: You know what to do next.
