Hi Guys and Gals! I do not have any credit cards at all (actually I did just get my first one a JCPenny's card I have not used) I have been getting calls from a number, I do not answer numbers i do not know..after a few to many of these I googled the number and it led to NCO financial... I researched and read nothing but nightmare stories of this group. I do not know what it is they are trying to collect on, as I feel after reading I do not want to open communication with them on the phone...I have not recieved any letters...I just moved into a new home I bought 2 weeks ago.... I am VERY scarred of this and how to move forward... there is a chance this is something that just slipped through somehow (I had this happen with an AOL account a few years ago where my debit card was changed and not updated in the AOL account file, I was never contacted by AOL but a debt collector, I paid it in full and all was good) So maybe it is something like that....How to I find out what this is they want without getting caught up in this mess I see others are... My main fear here is that they are trying to collect some crazy debt from someone who is not me...or that they will go into my bank account for something I do not owe... How do I deal with this situation the right and correct way? any help is so appreciated! Jackson
You just moved into a new home. If you also just got a new phone number it is possible that NCO is calling looking for the previous owner of that phone number. If that is the case then you have nothing to fear - just tell them that the person they are looking for no longer has that phone number and if they call you again you will be happy to drag their butts into Court.
Yeah, but they are calling my cell phone I have had for 3 years... If I answer then what do I do? Should I answer?
also, Everything I read about NCO is that even if the debt is not yours they go after it...I have heard nightmare stories, they threaten and do all illegal stuff...taking money out of peoples bank accounts for debts in other peoples names they did not even know...
I found this: "NCO is a collection agency and under the FDCPA(Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) they must follow specific rules. You don't need others to do what you can do yourself. The thing you need to do is send them a certified letter with return receipt requesting validation of the debt. This will prove when you sent it and that they did in fact get the letter. In the letter state that this is not your debt and you require proof that they are authorized to collect the debt. Also, you need the original agreement that proves you in fact did sign up for it, as well as a complete payment history. Also state that they are not to contact you by phone again. They have 30 days to respond to you. If they do not respond in 30 days you can write the Credit Reporting Agencies and have this item removed. Now here is where the fun comes in. If they contact you again by phone after they receive it you can sue them for $1000/violation per the FDCPA. If they do not validate after the 30 days and continue to attempt collections you can again sue them for $1000 every time they do this. All you need to do is file a small claims case to avoid having to hire a lawyer." Is this what i should do? Can someone please post an outline of letter I should send? TIA
Yes! Absolutely. If you don't know why they are calling you then how do you think you are going to be able to fight if they end up filing a lawsuit against you? As it is now, you are imagining them as a modern type of headless horseman holloween ghost rider who swiftly rides by in the night taking swipes at you. They appear out of nowhere and ride off into nowhere. It is far better that you answer that phone and find out what they want from you and who it is that has sent them after you. You will want to get all the information about them that you can. One of the things that is helpful to know is what office the call is coming from. NCO has hundreds of offices around the world and the call could be coming from any one of them and maybe from a call center in India, Honduras, the Philippines or other far away place. There is also the possibility that the debt is way out of stat even if you do owe it. I know of one recent situation where a person just started getting calls from NCO about a debt that was declared out of stat more than 5 years ago by a court. That person was sued, filed motion to dismiss on a statute of limitations defense and won easily then he took the lawyer to federal court and won a judgment against the lawyer for two counts of FDCPA violation. The lawyer didn't stand a chance because he had misrepresented the legal status of the debt and had sued the defendant using a fictitious plaintiff. Now , several years after the case was dismissed by a court of law NCO just started calling the person again demanding payment. The idea of telling them that the person they are looking for no longer has that phone number and if they call you again you will be happy to drag their butts into Court is just plain silly. They haven't violated any law by calling you unless you can prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that they knew they were calling a cell phone and even then you might have a hard time convincing the court that you suffered any appreciable damages. When you answer your phone and it turns out to be a debt collector you must get all the information about them that you can and you must be certain to establish the fact that you dispute the debt and demand that they validate it. Once you have done that they are then under the gun to stop calling you until they have provided you with the validation you demanded. Be sure that you don't give them any information they don't already have. One of the things they will want to do is to verify your home address. Since you just moved into a new home I presume that you have informed the post office about your new address through a change of address form. They won't have your new address so will read off the old address and ask if that is correct. Don't directly tell them that it is or isn't. You can simply say that yes, they can reach you at that address. That won't be telling them a lie because their mail will reach you at your new address. There is, of course, a whole range of steps you should take after you first answer their call and some of them are to be found here on this forum. One of those is to keep an accurate record of their calls, the time and date they called, the number they used to call you if available and the record of what was said during the call. The first time you answer their call and dispute the debt establishes the date for the start of the 30 day period during which you should dispute the debt again in writing although there is no legal requirement that you demand validation in writing. Doing so simply cements the demand by reducing it to writing. Once you demanded validation and stated that you dispute the debt any further communication demanding money is a violation so each call after you answer the phone and dispute the debt is another violation if you also answer that call so you should be glad to answer the phone instead of cringing in fear.
What Cap says. In addition, if it does appear on your credit report, it is very easy to remove. I can explain that if the need arises. In all honesty, NCO is a ***** cat since the FTC dropped the hammer on them a while back.
Have you received anything in writing from NCO? They must send you a written notice of the debt, amount owed and the original creditor. If it has been two weeks since they started calling, then you should have received some notice by now. Don't be afraid, answer the phone and take the offensive. Demand to know what they want, and what this is all about.
Thanks Guys and Gals! Great advice I love the internet, without it I would have been lost for months with this! I do not run debt, at all, I hate owing...and research shows NCO is a nightmare, so I am scarred Jackson
If you know you have no debt, nor have had any, then there is no reason to have any fear whatsoever. If anything, NCO should be scared! To make you feel better perhaps, go to www.ftc.gov and read the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, you will see all the rights you have, and exactly how a debt collector must process and proceed. Don't be afraid, remember "action cures fear".
