Debt Collection agency - need expert advice?
112221
The first thing I would do, is if you owe the debt, contact the original creditor in writing expressing that you are intrested in resolving the issue and are being harassed by a collection agency...be sure to provide them with who the collection agency is.  If you still owe it, they will work with you.\n\nAs far as stopping the calls, simply ask the agency for their mailing address and send them a certified letter demanding the harassment and phone calls stop and that all communiction should be in writing.  Be sure to log the calls and the times and any threats or harassing they commit.  After they recieve the letter, it is illegal to call you....if they do, file a complaint with a copy of your letter and the certified receipt showing they received it along with your log to the authorities.  Whatever you do, do NOT discuss the debt with them at all!  Simply cut them off politely and say that you need a mailing address and tell them that any future communication should be in writing.  Follow up with the certified letter, and it should stop.  Also, if the collection agency has reported the debt on your credit report, you can remove it by sending a letter to each of the creit reporting agencies denying the accuracy and demanding that the debt be "validated".  This will give the collection agency 30 days to send a copy of the original signed credit agreement as well as a complete payment history.  If they donot do this completely within the 30 days, it must be deleted by law.\n\nGood luck....I hope this helps you.
839724
Document each and every phone call.  Get their address and send them something in writing, certified mail with return receipt.\n\nIf it is not yours, and they continue to harass you, you can file compaints with the FTC at www.ftc.gov, or with your state's commerce department.  All collectors are required to be regulated and licensed in any state they do business with, and must adhere to the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act.  You can find lots of stuff on your rights at the FTC website.\n\nAnd did I mention, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!  Time, date, who you spoke with (GET NAMES).  They will give fake names, which is actually illegal.  That can be used against them in your complaint when their records don't show any employee by the name you were given.
736654
This sounds like a load of cr*p.  Don't deal with collection agents at all.  If you WANT to pay the bill, deal directly with the credit card company (and make SURE it is the credit card company you are dealing with, not a collections agent pretending to be them).\n\nIf the company won't deal with you and the debt has already hit your credit report, just don't bother with it at all--it can't get any worse.\n\nIf they threaten to take you to court wait until you have at least two letters from a REAL attorney (investigate whether the law firm that sends you the letters is legit or not) and then offer to settle with them for 50% of the funds due.\n\nCollection agents will lie, cheat, and steal just to get you to talk to them, don't deal with them at all!  No honest person becomes a collection agent... or if one does, they soon lose all aspects of humanity they once had.\n\nGood luck!
195335
By law, the collection agency must "validate" your debt.  That means that, upon written request, they have 30 days to supply you with copies of contracts, bills, receipts, and anything that was used to calculate the amount that you owe.  If they fail to supply this, they must remove your information from the credit bureau, and must stop bothering you.\n\nYou are about to go to war!  Do NOT fight these guys unarmed!  Knowledge of the law is your only weapon, go read the links below and GET ARMED!  \n\nYou got an easy slam dunk case here.\n\nFrom this point on, keep a log of every call you make/receive regarding your debt, and copies of all letters.  You will need this if you wish to prosecute.\n\nUse the sample letter I supplied below on how to write a request to validate letter.  Send it by certified mail to the collection agent.  \n\nAfter 30 days, if they do not respond, send letters to the credit reporting agencies, along with a copy of your validation letter, and demand that they remove any negative report that is in your file.\n\nIf the collection agency does respond back, and the information is not given or incomplete, send them another letter and demand it again, but this time threaten legal action if they place anything on your history.\n\nJust keep the credit bureau's informed of the problem, and if they don't remove the history hire a lawyer and sue under the \nFair Debt Reporting Act.\n\nI'm going to bet that you don't owe a lot on this, right?  Less then $200?  They won't even bother to sue you.  They will send it back to the original creditor.  It's not worth the time of the Collection Agent to sue you for that small an amount.  The only weapon they have is your credit history, and if you follow my instructions will stop that.\n\nGet armed!  Read the links below!
1080088
Before doing any credit repair, opt out first.\n \nYou should send a debt validation letter to the collection agency. \nTheir response shoud totally validate the debt. If you feel that their respones is correct and you want to pay it - send a pay for delete letter. Request that they remove the account from your reports upon payment, that they will not continue to collect the debt, that they will not sell the debt or the remainder of the debt if you have an agreement with them to only pay them a percentage of the amount.\n\nIn that letter you should request to pay a percentage of the debt. Collection agency's pay roughly around .50 cents on the dollar for those accounts. Junk debt buyers pay only pennies on the dollar or even less.\n\nYou should also do some research and find out your statute of limitations for the debt in your state. If it is past the statute of limitations, you are not legally required to pay the debt. Paying it at that stage would be your decision.\n\nIf it is past SOL and you do not pay it, they can only legally report the account for the original 7 years. They cannot re-age the account.\n\nLearn your rights.\n\nI would suggest popping in to the site that I am linking and do some reading.
983913
It is very easy to get a collection agency to stop calling, you simply send them a letter telling them to do so. Send them a C&D (cease and desist letter). Simply write: "In line with my rights under the FCRA, please do not contact me again in any way, shape, or form regarding this debt". If they contact you again - by phone or mail - they are breaking the law.
918640
Get in contact with the debt management charity the 'Consumer Credit Counselling Service.'  \n\nExplain your situation.  Thry maybe able to assist you with your creditors.  \n\nDON'T go to a debt management company which charges.  \n\nGood luck.
766636
Be very careful with credit counseling agencies.\n\nThere are good ones out there - and there are bad ones out there.\n\nAny that charges YOU the customer - is not a good deal.  Then too there are those that have you send them your money and then you never know what happened to it.  No one gets paid and you never get it back.\n\nThe only one I can tell you for sure is legit is "Consumer Credit Counseling".  It appears to be the most respected one in the credit industry.  \n\nKnow too that lenders do not have to abide with whatever a credit counseling agency tells you the creditor will do.\n\nPLUS - talk to the creditor first is a good idea.  Explain to them that you are considering this option.  You may find that your creditors will work with you to resolve the problem you are experiencing.  My company does that.  At no cost to anyone.\n\nGood luck.
1150550
First of all, how old are the tradelines (reported items) on your credit report? If they are old enough, say 5-6 years old or more, you may be able to dispute them. However, you must be aware that you do not want to initially dispute with the credit reporting agencies, but with the creditors themselves. It is called a "Request for Validation." Persuant to the Fair Debt Collections Act, 15 USC 1692g Sect. 809 (b), the debt collector must provide you with evidence that the debt belongs to you. If they CANNOT provide you with sufficent written proof, then persuant to Fair Debt Collections Act, they must stop all collection activity, and delete the tradeline from your credit report. BE AWARE: not all collectors are willing to cooperate. They may report a current delinquincy on your credit report while you fight the debt, and may begin the collection attempts all over again. Also keep in mind that it is very feasible that the creditors may validate the debt(s), re-report to the credit bureaus, and your score may go down. \n     Please note that there is no such thing as a quick fix. Fixing your credit takes time, energy, and a whole lot of patience. Don't fall prey to any company that claims to fix your credit overnight, especially when they are charging a ridiculous amount of money.  Even if it is possible, the next scoring cycle may put you right back to where you started. Credit repair can be done on your own for free. If you are interested, I have completed a massive amount of research, and I have a collection of interactive PDF forms that you can complete and mail off to the collectors as well as the credit reporting agencies. \n     If a creditor validates a debt, then you need to work with them on a settlement. DO NOT send them a payment without a written agreement of the terms. Collectors are tricky, and want to collect as much from you as they can. In other words, get everything in writing. Again, I have settlement forms in PDF format should you be interested.\n     All of these techniques have worked for me, as I have increase my score over 120 points in the past 14 months. At a 518 FICO score, you really don't have much to lose...
626868
Contact your state's Attorney General. Their office should be able to give you all of the rules for debt collection in your state.
291654
OK, I'm assuming that you have a entry on your credit reports for this debt...what is it listed as?  American General?  \n\nCan I also assume that you have already attempted to contact them by phone and mail?  No response?\n\nOkey-dokey!  Easy problem.\n\nSend a letter to the credit agencies demanding that they verify the debt and/or remove it from your records.\n\nThe agency will have 30 days to locate who owns the debt, and to verify that it is a legitimate debt.  If they find them, they will supply you with that information and you can pursue payment options with that company.\n\nIf they do not get a reply from them, then obviously they can't verify the debt.  By law it must be removed from the credit history.\n\nBe sure to check all three agencies to see if this debt is listed.  Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get copies of them.\n\nGood luck
627116
go the www.fool.com, its the motley fools web site (not a joke) and its just amazing.  you will find all you need there.  Thats  where I found out how to solve collection agency issues and raise my score.
675819
collection agency will say almost anything to harrass you! unless it's a lawyer telling you this, don't buy it. and why hasn't he paid it anyway?
211125
First off this sounds like a threat.\n\nIf you owe a business or professional (Accountant, Lawyer, Doctor, etc.) they typically don't have the ability to report directly to a Credit bureau.\n\nThe only 2 ways they can do this:\n\n1) Send your debt to a collection agency who will try and collect from you. Each state has specific laws regarding how long they have to try before they can report to bureaus.\n\n2) The "Professional" can take you to court. If he wins he will get a Civil Judgment. That will most likely be reported to the bureaus.\n\nIt is always best to negotiate a settlement/payment plan with the original lender.\n\nIf you know the charge/debt is incorrect than I would let him either take you to court where you can present to the Judge your information and depending on your jurisdiction you can recieve a judgment for your costs if you win.\n\nIf he takes you to collection you can ask the Collection Agency to validate the debt and they have 30 days to provide you with the pertinent info (date of debt, how much, copy of invoice, etc.) to prove their debt. That will at least buy you 30 days.\n\nIf you are just being threatened and you know that the debt is invalid then send them a certified letter requesting validation(proof) of the debt.\n\nGood Luck
794789
Actually debt collectors do not come under the jurisdiction of the FSA as another poster has indicated. Deb collectors are licensed by the Office Of Fair Trading. The OFT has published a set of minimum guidelines for debt collecting agencies and it would be worthwhile you looking up the relevant areas of this guidance to assist you with your complaint. \n\nI have enclosed a ink to the guidance below. The Myvesta site has lots of assistance in this area too.\n\nhttp://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/50F06527-9FC5-4610-B385-999D6E2A8950/0/oft664.pdf\n\nhttp://myvesta.org.uk\n\nHope this helps!\n\nRegards\n\nSean
339101
Just my educated opinion.....\n\nCredit card company will generally come after you for debts over $1000 if they have contacts in your state.  That makes it easier for them to appear and court and sue you. Otherwise, the cost is too high.  So your $5000 debt makes you a prime target.\n\nI'm fairly certain that if they don't come after you, you can expect a collection agency to do it.  Either way, I'd say a lawsuit is a very real possiblilty.\n\nI don't think the SOL will help you.  The CA will certainly know when it expires and will step up collection efforts before that happens.\n\nSo my suggestion is to first look at your budget.  I'm sure that if you take a serious look at it, and cut out unnecessary expenses, you can find $100 a month.  You need to negotiate a payment plan with them, so don't insult them by offering $50 a month.  They are not going to wait several years to get paid, and if you don't offer something reasonable they will sue you.  Even $100 a month is will not go over well with them, but it's a start.\n\nIn the link below are a few sample letters you can use to form a negotiation letter.  Try that out and see what happens.  \n\nOne last piece of advice....it's a certainty that they have placed a negative item on your credit report.  Get them to remove this item IN WRITING before you pay them a dime.  It's my opinion that a judgement is just as bad as a default, and both will hurt your credit score.  But If they want their money, make them fix your credit.  Otherwise, you will have bad credit, plus you will be broke!  This is very important if you plan to get credit within the next few years for a car or home.  If that's not going to be an issue, the bad credit won't matter, as it will gradually improve after a few years.
571470
<sigh>\n\nOK, William, I thought you would be a differant form of creditor....but you are at least honest.  Just need some more education.\n\nWinelover, you are obviously a collector, peddeling the same like of BS as all the rest!\n\nLets clear up the lies.  Debts can NOT be reported on your credit report for more then 7 years, beginning on the date of the delinquency.  Please refer to the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 804.\n\nCreditors can continue to collect on a debt that is older then the statute of limitations.  They just have no legal way of collecting.  Depending on the state, that runs from 4-10 years.  Once that day is passed, they can NOT sue you in court or legally try to collect.  If the debt is real old, you can simply contact the credit bureau and demand that it be removed due to the SOL running out.  It will probably require a letter to the creditor also.  Either way, debts older then 10 years can easily be ignored!\n\nSo when you folks tell people that depts never go away, you are simply uneducated or lying?  Which is it?\n\nThe only time they can continue to come after you is if they have taken you to court, and won a judgement.  \n\nThat said, lets answer your question.  William is correct.  Older debts do not hurt your score as bad as recent debts.  Don't get me wrong...negative reports still hurt!  \n\nIf you have any bills collection interest, pay them first (high interest rates first).  Then just try and work your way through.\n\nBefore you pay, first contact the creditors and try to negotiate a lower balance if possible.  Just explain what happened and they may work with you.  \n\nMost importing...you are trying to cean up your credit report.  It does you absolutely no good to pay these bills if the creditor does not remove any negative information from your report.  And you will find that once they have your money, they will not be very cooperative in helping you.  Once paid, you no longer have any leverage to work with.\n\nGet IN WRITING an agreement that once the bill is paid, they will remove all negative information from your records.\n\nUse the sample letters below to help you.\n\nWhen you negotiate, DO NOT offer to pay anything.  One slick trick collectors are using is to ask for a "good faith" payment.  If you do that, you start the statute of limitations clock, and your debt added several years to it's age.  The way the game is played...you are NOT denying you owe the debt, but you are NOT offering to pay it either, until an agreement is reached.