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by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on March 6th, 2009
File a complaint with your state Attorney General, ASAP. You can find the contact info online. There will be specific forms they'll want you to download, fill out, and send in.
by The Scrub on April 3rd, 2009
In addition to informing your state's Atty General, you can go speak to a private attorney about your options. You might be able to sue them for the violations in small claims court, but that depends on how Indiana federal district courts have interpreted something called the "private right of action" provision in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If there is a private right of action for willful violations of the FCRA, then you can file a suit in small claims court for $1,000 per violation.
In the alternative, you can notify the credit bureaus of the fact that the debt collector is refusing to validate as required by law and get it removed from your credit reports. Forward copies of everything you have to the credit bureaus along with a dispute and that should get rid of it...especially if you have something from them in writing where they state they are not going to answer your dispute.
Does telus have accounts with the credit bureau?
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You're reading What to do about a collection agency that refuses to send me info about a bill they say I owe. I have sent them certified mail requesting info and they ignore it. How do I handle this? I am told to sue, but for what. I checked, they did violate law.
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Comments
Already in the process. Should I also contact a lawyer? I was advised to do this.
by Will on March 6th, 2009
If the "bill" you've received looks fake you probably won't need a lawyer. A couple of things to check:
* Does it have a street name + city + state + zip in the return address?
* Does it have a phone no. where you can talk to a person?
* Does it have a web address?
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A genuine collection agency would have at least the first two items,
above. If it has none of those identifying items it's almost certainly fake. I.e., if they give only a P.O. box no. and no street address, you know it's fake. In this case, call the Postmaster in that town and give him the P.O. Box no. If the bill is fake, the PM probably know about the company already, and he may have called in the Postal Inspectors. Those guys will prosecute the culprits and possibly send them to federal prison.
by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on March 6th, 2009
I checked this out. The bill is real, or I should say the company is real. They are listed with the BBB, have phone and address, and have a corporate representative in Indiana (means they are listed with the Sec. of State). They just refuse to give me information and I am sick of it. Have not even responded to certified mail although they signed the card. Clark Howard show says probably time to sue. But I don't know what you sue for or why.
by Will on March 7th, 2009
What company does the agency represent? (the company that originally billed you?) That's where your billing records will be. The collection agency doesn't care about your complaint with the original company that billed you. Their only job is to collect.
by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on March 7th, 2009
>> I don't know what you sue for or why.
If the original bill is legitimate, you need to take care of it. Talking to the collection agency won't help resolve the original problem with the original company that says you owe them $$.
by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on March 7th, 2009
Thats the point. I owe NO MONEY to anyone. No cars, credit cards, loans et al. On the form they say this is a hospital bill, but checking with the hospital reveals I owe nothing. This company will not reveal who or what account numbers for me to reference.
by Will on March 8th, 2009
In Indiana a out of state corporation must have what is called a corporate representative in Indiana. I don't think they do much but comply with that odd law. The representative corporation plays no active role in these matters.
by Will on March 8th, 2009
>> I owe NO MONEY to anyone.
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Somebody thinks you DO owe money. Looks like you have no way to prove that you do NOT owe money. What does your state attorney general advise? (See my original answer, above.) You need more advice than you can expect to get here in a public forum.
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One more option: Order a free annual credit report here:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
You can order a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. You can space them out and get a free report every 4 months.
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I had an "identity theft" a couple of years ago. I was contacted by a dozen different companies and a bill collector-repo man who believed I owed $23,000 for an SUV. In each case, it was up to me to prove myself innocent. That's how ID theft works. You need to do some research. Start by getting a credit report to see if someone is using your ID fraudulently.
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BTW, I never did get a lawyer. I don't know if one could have helped or not. I was able to handle it all myself. There are a lot of details, including police reports, notarized affidavits (free from your bank), and lots of faxing paperwork to the companies who think you owe them $$.
by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on March 8th, 2009