Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... as a matter of fact, they did. there are two "previous addresses" listed--neither of which have ever belonged to him. I think this may be a case of fraud. so, in your opinion, is this PP for pulling his report? (location purposes) they only pulled experian by the way. He just wants them to go away, not sue, and not ruin his credit. I've suggested that he send a SOL letter after they receive the validation request.
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... It may be identity theft, or it may be a mixup by Experian. Experian should be able to both remove the invalid addresses, and tell you what user (creditor) provided them.
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... update: dad got the conversation "memorialized", and is ready to send it with the validation request after I ok it. I don't want to put it in here word for word, but basically the main points of the conversation are covered as follows. the parts in bold/italics are just unbelieveable. Is he forgetting anything? (he called them after receiving a letter.) he said, "my name is ____, and I'm responding to your collection letter." she said, "yes, we've confirmed with our client that this is your debt and you owe $___. When will you be paying us?" he said, "this is all such a shock, i have no recollection, citibank doesnt even have me in their database, how could you confirm it? maybe this is a case of fraud?" she said, "when is the last time you checked your credit?" he said, "longgggggg time ago." she said, "You know a debt is forever, it never goes away, you owe the money. If it is determined that this debt is yours, you have 3 choices: Pay us now, make arrangements, or if you refuse, we are prepared to sue." he said, "I am very concerned about my credit, and I certainly don't want to be sued. The only thing I recall is that I did have some credit issues back when my wife was ill and subsequently died of cancer, but I've repaid all my debts. I just don't have any idea what this could be for." she said, Maybe this was something your wife did before she passed away." he said, "no, she was bedridden and in hospice that year. she was in absolutely no condition to do anything like that." she said, "well, I can tell you pay your bills on time because I'm looking at your credit right now, and its excellent." he said, "is this on my credit reports?" she said, "no. it was written off in '93, so it wouldnt show up on your reports any longer." [side note-- dad has some old CRs and citibank has never been on any of them.] he said, "why am I JUST NOW hearing about this?" she said, "well, we sent letters to all 3 of your addresses on your reports." he said, "what? 3? why? Those arent my addresses. I've lived at the same address for 30 years. I'm in the book. Thats embarrassing for me. I don't know who's opening that mail. that's private information." she said, "we were just covering all our bases." She said, "I'll be willing to knock 30% off the balance if you pay in full by the 26th. but after that, you cannot take advantage of the reduced payoff amount." He said, "I'll have to do some research and get back to you." goodbye. --------------------- anything else he needs to include?
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... Also note, she says the debt is from 1993, and they believe it is this old since they have not themselves posted their TL, yet supposedly they are prepared to sue, emphasizing "a debt lasts forever" to convince your dad to settle to avoid the hassle. It is clearly blatently out of SOL, and likely provably not his debt at all, yet they are threatening an action they probably cannot or do not intend to carry out, to force a settlement quickly. FDCPA violation.
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... its Academy Collection Services, Inc. and yes, I thought about that threat to file suit comment. You know they arent going to sue. In fact, dad's not sure if she actually said the 'if this is determined to be yours' part. He's gonna take that part out. I reallly think he should send the validation alone and wait on the phone conversation affidavit, until he gets a feel for how aggresive they are.
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... Did they say, or imply, that their "client" was Citibank? If so, it might be worth sending a letter to Citibank's legal department asking them why they have engaged Academy to collect a very old debt from your dad, when he has never had an account with Citibank, and Citibank has confirmed they have no record of him. Any number of details in this may be made up, but using Citibank's tradename as one may interest their legal department. If push comes to shove, claiming to have an old but legitimate debt bought from Citibank and accidentally going after the wrong party might be defendible, but falsely claiming that they are currently representing Citibank is both violations of law and missuse of Citibank's trademark. Also, pursue the 2 wrong addresses with the CRAs. They didn't just accidentally end up there, they were put there by someone. They should be removed, but also the CRAs should inform you when they were placed there, and by whom. If they can't, they have no way to verify the accuracy of their sources of information.
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... Wanna borrow my phone conversation recorder? LOL! You plug your phone in to it and it records both conversations. It was my Dads after he had a stroke he used it in his business to record convos as he had a bit of trouble with his memory. You can get them at Radio shack. etc. You can't use the taped conversations in court in many states w/o consent of both parties , but it would sure help nailing down exactly what they say. If your Dad asks for consent to record the call because he needs help in "remembering addresses" or some other excuse, the rep at the CA may eventually forget that she is on tape and blab a violation or two , then you can use the tape as evidence. In some States, you only need one parties consent. Just a thought, might come in handy in court! 3day
Re: Re: I gotta help my dad... oh yea, she came right out and said it. Guess he needs to stick that in there, huh. (duh, lol.) as far as phone recording... I have one, and I've used it. came in reeeaaalll handy. Love it. I told Dad he could use it, but they're calling from Nevada, and this is what I found out about the recording laws in Nevada: "2 Technically, Nevada's law indicates only one-party consent, but the state Supreme Court has interpreted the law as all-party." what-EVER. anyway, I get what youre saying. It would come in handy for memorializing phone conversations, of course not mentioning that the call was recorded. hey, thanks so much for your help, ontrack.
