Hey, My mom got a letter from a collection company on behalf of a school she took some classes at. The amount was for about $3000 and then another $1000 for a collection fee. She had already sent the original amount to the school, before she asked me what she could do about things. That being done... can this agency still come after her for the $1000? I told her it probably depends on how the school dealt with it... whether it was an internal collections or sold to collections. If it was sold to collections and she paid the school their money... what could go on?
Are they asking for both the 3000 and the 1000? If you have already paid the original debt to the original creditor, why should you expect to pay a "collection fee", for a debt the CA did not collect? Send the CA a request for validation, and include that the amount owed has already been paid to the original creditor, and that therefore the debt is disputed in its entirety. Also send a dispute to the original creditor, asking them why a CA is trying to collect a debt you already paid directly to them. Your payment and the CA letter may have crossed in the mail, but if they are trying to collect twice, that would be a FDCPA violation.
You are speculating on what may, or may not, create some liability to you to pay fees in excess of the original debt. That is not your responsibility. If the original creditor told you what was owed, (and that was consistant with what you agree you owed), and you paid it to them, the debt is paid. If the debt is paid, the original creditor no longer has a right to collect it a second time, to send it to another CA, or to sell it to a CA. If you paid this CA nothing (as in fact you did), and the account was sent to a different CA, this CA would be due nothing for its trouble. Its compensation is based on its agreement with the original creditor, (and you are not a party to that agreement), or if it has bought the account, on the original terms of the agreement, since the original creditor can't sell it rights that they did not have. Your liability to pay a debt, and any party's right to collect it, are rooted in whatever contract or agreement you made, also subject to appropriate state or federal statutes. Third parties don't just have an automatic right to make up additional fees to charge you, except as spelled out in your original agreement. If they do, that is a violation of FDCPA, for which there are penalties.
How would you end up with a $3000 liability to a school? Don't they generally require payment in advance before taking courses?
Speaking of fees and finance charges in general, a CA is attempting to collect on a purported debt of around $2,000. I've done some digging through boxes (we're pretty anal about old credit card statements) and found the last few statement received from the OC. Last payment = Aug '02 Balance at closing = $650 Now how on earth can they be trying to collect $2K in "debt?" That's over 3-times the amount of any potential debt we could have owed. They would have to charge like 75% interest yearly to reach that figure. Is this the norm? Is it legal? Is there any possible way they can validate a $2,000 debt base on an original purported debt of $650?
