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Advice on Credit/Collections Mystery
The Crowing One
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey PA, been awhile but I wanted to poke the hivemind here to see if anyone could shed some light on this for me.
First, I have very little debt. No student loans. No auto loan. No mortgage. I have two credit cards both which are up-to-date and paid every month, and have had a few medical bits done that were paid for in full/by insurance.
About 3-4 months ago I got a standard collections call looking for me to confirm my identity. I did not, and the woman almost sounded approving when we got off the phone. I immediately pulled my credit and saw nothing wrong only my pristine usual. I decided to wait it out and see if they could get me via mail which is where I'd do all communication anyway. Nada. Nothing. Months went by without a peep. No calls I could see. No voicemails. Until today. I got a call from a different number (same company) with a far less professional, hear-the-call-center-loudly-in-the-backroom individual who did this same dance minus the niceness from before.
The only thing I can think of is that long ago I was stupid and unknowingly left a small balance on an old credit card (that is still active) that went unpaid. I was called and being a stupid kid I agreed to make the small payment there and then. Of course I never received the receipt I was promised, and it's probable that this is the same debt that was never actually cleared.
My other guess would be that my name (or someone else with my name) and little else is on some list somewhere that they bought. The non-harassing, infrequent volume says that they don't have anything solid. If they had something on me, they'd be calling every day (based on the writing about them on the web).
Anyone work in collections and might be able to shed some light? should I keep ignoring and looking for certified mail? (yes?)
First, I have very little debt. No student loans. No auto loan. No mortgage. I have two credit cards both which are up-to-date and paid every month, and have had a few medical bits done that were paid for in full/by insurance.
About 3-4 months ago I got a standard collections call looking for me to confirm my identity. I did not, and the woman almost sounded approving when we got off the phone. I immediately pulled my credit and saw nothing wrong only my pristine usual. I decided to wait it out and see if they could get me via mail which is where I'd do all communication anyway. Nada. Nothing. Months went by without a peep. No calls I could see. No voicemails. Until today. I got a call from a different number (same company) with a far less professional, hear-the-call-center-loudly-in-the-backroom individual who did this same dance minus the niceness from before.
The only thing I can think of is that long ago I was stupid and unknowingly left a small balance on an old credit card (that is still active) that went unpaid. I was called and being a stupid kid I agreed to make the small payment there and then. Of course I never received the receipt I was promised, and it's probable that this is the same debt that was never actually cleared.
My other guess would be that my name (or someone else with my name) and little else is on some list somewhere that they bought. The non-harassing, infrequent volume says that they don't have anything solid. If they had something on me, they'd be calling every day (based on the writing about them on the web).
Anyone work in collections and might be able to shed some light? should I keep ignoring and looking for certified mail? (yes?)
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Inform them that if they call you again they are in violation of the FDCPA and you will be contacting a lawyer to proceed.
Find out how long your state gives people to sue you for unpaid debts. If it's past that time, after they've proved it to you, talk to a lawyer and see what your next step is (if you can sue them for continued harassment or whatever).
If you pay it, and it's past that period, it can hit your credit report and drop it.
I was hoping someone could confirm about the behavior. If they had a solid lead on me I assume they'd be calling far, far more frequently or I would have seen mail. Is that correct, or am I off-base? I have been keeping an eye out for more contact, however this was the first since the single phone call back at the beginning of the year.
If they have your name and an old address, feel free to give them the new one.
It's probably a list that's been passed over a dozen times where someone agreed it wasn't valid debt to be collected, then sold to another company or transferred to a different collection department, which then determined maybe it was valid. Or they didn't give a shit and are trying to get a few hundred bucks out of you. It happens all the time. Even on debts you've paid in full that shouldn't have ever gone to collections. Even on debts that aren't yours.
That's why you get them to send proof of the debt to you, and only via certified mail. Then you can do what you need to do to verify if it's valid and still collectible. If you just keep saying "no" they're probably just going to keep calling you for the next 10 years on and off. You may find out once they send you the proof that it was for "The Crowing One" from three states over. The debt wasn't resolved, and thus, your name will keep popping up when they go to search for it.
You yourself admitted it might be a debt you may have had, better to resolve it. Even if that means telling them how the law works, they "conveniently" forget because they can extort money out of people who don't know better.
tl;dr - yes they can absolutely bug you over and over for no reason, they call you, you tell them no, they mark it, move on until it gets sold again
What they're likely trying is to get me to confirm my info so they can link some dubious debt to me and hound me forever. Professionally speaking, I think giving out info over the phone to a CA is a bad idea. If they have you, they'll send it via mail. This is no more than analogue phishing.
They've got nothing. I'm just hoping to confirm from the other side of the isle.
Proof of debt isn't really doing anything other than wasting some of their dollars anyways.
Name and address isn't enough to do anything with, but it certainly gives you a better picture as to what this is. If it's an old debt that has passed statute of limitations, you win.
If it's not your debt, and they continue to harass you via mail and phone calls, you can sue them.
Why wouldn't you want it?
It looks like you're looking for something specifically from someone who works in collections, which you might not get here. All I can tell you is what I was told when I was going through the motions of bankruptcy and dealt with 38 collection calls a day.
Only if you make a payment and/or give them information that points you to you (social security number).
Regardless, I'm now watching the mailbox like a hawk.
Not true. Collections is very much a "shoot first ask questions later" industry. If they can leverage negative credit reporting to hasten a payment, they will. It's standard procedure. If they can prove the debt is valid and belongs to them they hit that credit report every month. It's their primary means of persuading you to pay up. Sometimes it isn't the case, but an account would somewhere have to usually show delinquent at some point prior before being sold. Reporting doesn't always-always happen, but if they buy a debt they have every right and ability to report negatively. Keeping accounts alive by messing with transfers to avoid the statute also is a tactic. Opening a new account at 5 years old for the delinquent amount which suddenly also goes delinquent. Swap.
Essentially, if you confirm you are you by speaking to them they can legally tie you (the speaking person) to the debt (no matter how flimsy, often) and start ripping things up until you pay. The laws lay this out differently, but the reality is less regulated.
Something like this happened to me a few year back. The guy at the collection agency was willing to tell me it was from an apartment complex. I contacted my previous apartment and they talked to their owners. Turned out that my last electric bill was sent to the apartment complex instead of me, and after they paid it they sent it up to their home office to file a bill for me. Unfortunately, the bill from their home office never made it to my new home and eventually they filed it with a collection agency. I got a contact at the collection agency from them, contacting them, and paid it off, no harm no foul.
My first thought was that there was maybe some unpaid utility bill or cable bill that followed you. In any event, if it's not currently on any bureau's credit report no percentage in engaging them.
It's good to hear this from someone else. Thanks. I come from a long time in consumer-protection (I had a mortgage help thread stickied here years ago) but collections is something that I've always been a little involved in but never actually seeing things from the inside (I worked in many cases in loss mitigation which is technically collections action but not really).
The bit about buying the debt and the fact that I know I messed up another collections call/payment years ago really kicks me toward the path I'm on. Since there's no credit activity (not even inquiries) I bet they don't have my SSN (or, based on convo #1 they have the last 4 digits). They probably don't have my address either. I know they can argue pretty much any conversation as a reaffirmation of the debt, and generally will win one way or another.
And the other bit is that there's nothing this could be, as far as I am aware. All my utilities have been same company for years (even with different accounts that overlapped and I know are paid and closed because they show that every time I look). No cable/internet... that's directly withdrawn and no issues there. Former lease is clean. All credit cards show paid-closed/paid-current. No auto. No mortgage. No student loans. Some medical work that I can prove was paid for, etc..
But yeah, back to the "bought a list", it has to be that. If they had more, they'd be putting on the pressure. As it stands I can't imagine they have anything if they're calling once quarterly and haven't touched my credit.
Thanks.
It never gets past the gate. They call, we do the "who is this?" dance and we're both unwilling to say anything more. As soon as you confirm your identity over the phone to a debt collector, they have you by the throat. If I let it get past the gate, I'd be getting daily calls most likely.