I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on what I can do...here's the situation: A collection agency has been calling me for about the past month trying to collect on a debt that I paid off about 4 years ago. The problem is, I don't have any records of it. Once it came off my credit report, I thought, GREAT! It's done and over. Well, now I'm telling this CA that I paid for it and they are saying they have no proof that I paid it. My husband is jumping all over me to take care of this and I'm kind of stuck as to what to do next. I've worked so hard for the past 4 years to clean up my credit and now this mean collection agency is threatening to ruin it! ANY help or suggestions is GREATLY appreciated. Corrie
Do NOT TALK to them at all. Send a validation letter, CRRR, with a limited cease & desist (no telephonic contact, all correspondence must be in writing). When you talk to them, they'll trick you into saying things you don't want to say. Make them put everything in writing, that way you can analyze it and think out your response. They are supposed to contact the original creditor, and when they do they should show it is paid. Who is the original creditor? How much was this? Did you pay the entire amount, or settle for a lesser amount? Did you pay several years ago by check? If so, can you get a copy from your bank? If you do, DON'T send it to anyone yet. You just want to have it if you need it. See how many violations they rack up in the meantime. You don't want to give them any information yet about what you have.
Hedwig Thanks for the response! The original creditor is a department store and it was only for about $500. I paid the amount in money order, so there goes that idea. I want to do it all in writing and I was looking at the sample letters here but I wasn't sure which one I should use. Not sure what CRRR means, either. You mentioned that I should do a CRRR letter a validation letter and a limited cease & desist. Do I need to combine all of those into one letter or do them seperately? Thanks for the help! Corrie
CRRR means Certified mail, Return Receipt Requested (capitalized letters get you the abbreviation). I would send a validation letter, and just include a paragraph that states that all further communication must be in writing, you will not accept phone calls. Don't use the validation letter as you see it here. Use that as a sample and do your own. You don't need the one with the form for them to fill out. Just something simple like "this is in response to your calls. I do not recall owing this debt. Please send me validation that this is indeed my debt, and an accounting of how you have obtained the amount." Keep it simple, don't let them know what you know. You could say that you're requesting validation in accordance with the FDCPA. I believe in keeping it simple, especially at first.
I second Hedwig's advice. If the debt is over 5 years old the CA will have lots of trouble finding proper validating evidence (signed contract). Do you have a copy of your credit reports? Check chargedup's thread "newbie seeking advice" for the #'s of the CRA's to get the reports. You can also find the info in the unofficial FAQ. I think you should look into the Statute Of Limitations. If the SOL has run, or is close to running, then you are in a whole different ballgame. Sneaky CA's may attempt to re-age old debts like this but be advised that this is a violation of your rights. gluck, low
I just had another thought. I don't know where you got the money order, but do you have the receipt? Perhaps it can be traced that way, if necessary. We'll hope it doesn't come to that.
Bumping this to get it above the other post with the same name. Let's keep the answers here so they're all in one place.
thanks for the advice...I will begin work on that letter tomorrow. I really appreciate the help...if it weren't for this board, I would never have gotten this far. THANKS!!! I will let you know how it turns out. Corrie
