Suing collections company or "original creditor"
02-03-2009, 06:50 AM
#1
Suzuka Master
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Suing collections company or "original creditor"
Ok, any consumer advocacy lawyers or anyone who knows anything about this around here?
My story is this...back in Oct. '08, there were 2 charges which I did not authorize on my account. One was for financial services in Los Angeles for $39.99, the other was for a U.K. dating service for $154.95. I called the bank and they charges were reversed, card number canceled, and new card issued. Come a month later and I receive a letter making the temporary credits permanent after they investigated.
Fast forward to yesterday. I receive a letter from a collections company in Ohio looking to collect the $154.95 for the dating service. I called them and told the lady that this was a fraudulent charge that was made. She said she would send me an affidavit and paperwork to sign and I would have to get a police report to prove it was fraudulent. This seems like a lot of freakin footwork for somethign that has ALREADY BEEN determined to be fraudulent by the bank, and I even question whether my local PD would even bother with letting me file a police report.
I talked to the bank and was informed this in fact is illegal...the original creditor already had their chance to dispute the fraud claim and they did not dispute it, so they do not have the right to go after me through collections.
My question is this...if I go through the foot work to get collections off my back, do I have recourse to recover time and expenses for going through the footwork from the collections agency or the original creditor given that what they are doing is illegal?
My story is this...back in Oct. '08, there were 2 charges which I did not authorize on my account. One was for financial services in Los Angeles for $39.99, the other was for a U.K. dating service for $154.95. I called the bank and they charges were reversed, card number canceled, and new card issued. Come a month later and I receive a letter making the temporary credits permanent after they investigated.
Fast forward to yesterday. I receive a letter from a collections company in Ohio looking to collect the $154.95 for the dating service. I called them and told the lady that this was a fraudulent charge that was made. She said she would send me an affidavit and paperwork to sign and I would have to get a police report to prove it was fraudulent. This seems like a lot of freakin footwork for somethign that has ALREADY BEEN determined to be fraudulent by the bank, and I even question whether my local PD would even bother with letting me file a police report.
I talked to the bank and was informed this in fact is illegal...the original creditor already had their chance to dispute the fraud claim and they did not dispute it, so they do not have the right to go after me through collections.
My question is this...if I go through the foot work to get collections off my back, do I have recourse to recover time and expenses for going through the footwork from the collections agency or the original creditor given that what they are doing is illegal?
02-03-2009, 08:09 AM
#2
Ok, any consumer advocacy lawyers or anyone who knows anything about this around here?
My story is this...back in Oct. '08, there were 2 charges which I did not authorize on my account. One was for financial services in Los Angeles for $39.99, the other was for a U.K. dating service for $154.95. I called the bank and they charges were reversed, card number canceled, and new card issued. Come a month later and I receive a letter making the temporary credits permanent after they investigated.
Fast forward to yesterday. I receive a letter from a collections company in Ohio looking to collect the $154.95 for the dating service. I called them and told the lady that this was a fraudulent charge that was made. She said she would send me an affidavit and paperwork to sign and I would have to get a police report to prove it was fraudulent. This seems like a lot of freakin footwork for somethign that has ALREADY BEEN determined to be fraudulent by the bank, and I even question whether my local PD would even bother with letting me file a police report.
I talked to the bank and was informed this in fact is illegal...the original creditor already had their chance to dispute the fraud claim and they did not dispute it, so they do not have the right to go after me through collections.
My question is this...if I go through the foot work to get collections off my back, do I have recourse to recover time and expenses for going through the footwork from the collections agency or the original creditor given that what they are doing is illegal?
My story is this...back in Oct. '08, there were 2 charges which I did not authorize on my account. One was for financial services in Los Angeles for $39.99, the other was for a U.K. dating service for $154.95. I called the bank and they charges were reversed, card number canceled, and new card issued. Come a month later and I receive a letter making the temporary credits permanent after they investigated.
Fast forward to yesterday. I receive a letter from a collections company in Ohio looking to collect the $154.95 for the dating service. I called them and told the lady that this was a fraudulent charge that was made. She said she would send me an affidavit and paperwork to sign and I would have to get a police report to prove it was fraudulent. This seems like a lot of freakin footwork for somethign that has ALREADY BEEN determined to be fraudulent by the bank, and I even question whether my local PD would even bother with letting me file a police report.
I talked to the bank and was informed this in fact is illegal...the original creditor already had their chance to dispute the fraud claim and they did not dispute it, so they do not have the right to go after me through collections.
My question is this...if I go through the foot work to get collections off my back, do I have recourse to recover time and expenses for going through the footwork from the collections agency or the original creditor given that what they are doing is illegal?
Unfortunately, I don't think you can get any more back for recourse. Sucks.
Good luck man.
Maybe us Acuraziners can call the collections and flood e-mail inbox with spam?
02-03-2009, 08:47 AM
#3
Suzuka Master
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My biggest issue is that the charge is $154.95 and my credit score is upper 700's which is worth well more than that amount...worse comes to worse I would pay it just to save my credit score, but on principle I'll fight it for now. If the amount was much much more (like in the thousands), I would have no qualms about immediately hiring a lawyer to handle it and turning around and suing the collections agency and original creditor for trying to collect on a fraudulent charge, but in my case I think it would be overkill. Maybe I should bill the collections agency for my time needed to handle this and then send them to collections when they don't pay me...i can probably take them to small claims court...they're in Ohio and it woudl probably cost them a lot more just to make a trip out here for court than to pay me.
02-03-2009, 10:26 AM
#5
Suzuka Master
This is what is frequently known as zombie debt. It's things you didnt do that someone tries to collect on anyway. It's illegal, but police usually won't take it seriously. This is one of the things that congress is addressing in revamping the credit system but it hasn't happened yet. believe it or not, you may asctually be better off paying it, even though it is extortion, because you have very little recourse with the credit agencies. I would do some research, and call the district attourney in the state the collection agency is located. IF the DA is willing to do their job, they will send a letter to the collection agency. But like most government offices, you are probably out of luck trying to find someone to do their job.
This stuff is f'ing crazy and it really pisses me off, I knew a woman who had collections calling because of someone who had a similar name. IE womans name was Nancy jones, they were after mary jones. She blew them off and they actually managed to get it to show up on her credit score. there is very little regulation in this stuff and credit agencies can be worse than nigerian scammers.
This stuff is f'ing crazy and it really pisses me off, I knew a woman who had collections calling because of someone who had a similar name. IE womans name was Nancy jones, they were after mary jones. She blew them off and they actually managed to get it to show up on her credit score. there is very little regulation in this stuff and credit agencies can be worse than nigerian scammers.
02-03-2009, 10:44 AM
#6
Administrator Alumnus
Total bullshit. Unfortunately, I had to battle something similar many years ago. Mine was related to a hospital bill. The doctor was trying to bill me for fees that were above reasonable and customary. I worked with my health plan and they provided the info get things resolved.
Work, yes? But you're likely going to spend a lot more time pursuing this legally versus getting your credit card company involved, filling out the paper work and letting the process run.
It's totally illegal, but unless you have time to deal with this, I wouldn't bother with the legal route. You'd have to prove damages, etc. Not worth it.
Work, yes? But you're likely going to spend a lot more time pursuing this legally versus getting your credit card company involved, filling out the paper work and letting the process run.
It's totally illegal, but unless you have time to deal with this, I wouldn't bother with the legal route. You'd have to prove damages, etc. Not worth it.
02-03-2009, 11:11 AM
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Technically it's not a "zombie" debt 'cuz it only occured late last year. The question is that the debt was fraudulent in the first place, so they should have no recourse to send it collections. I did my research on this and there's a lot of info out there so I'm pretty clear on what my rights are, although it doesn't seem the collections company is violating anything or hard core about it, they're just doing their job since the original creditor sent this to them to collect.
Like some have said, it's not worth it to have an all out fight considering it's only $154.95, but I'll put some effort into resolving it and if not, then I'll just pay it. if it was much more, I'd definitely declare war on both the original creditor and the collection agency.
Like some have said, it's not worth it to have an all out fight considering it's only $154.95, but I'll put some effort into resolving it and if not, then I'll just pay it. if it was much more, I'd definitely declare war on both the original creditor and the collection agency.
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02-03-2009, 11:30 AM
#8
Like some have said, it's not worth it to have an all out fight considering it's only $154.95, but I'll put some effort into resolving it and if not, then I'll just pay it. if it was much more, I'd definitely declare war on both the original creditor and the collection agency.
Did the original creditor send it out for collection or did the collection agency buy a bundle of "bad debt" from them? In either case I'd go after the original creditor for making your account avalible to the agency, start with a letter to them with a copy to the AG and police department where they are.
02-03-2009, 11:45 AM
#9
Senior Moderator
Get your credit card company/bank to issue a letter stating that the $154.95 was a fraudulent charge. Then fax the letter to the collections company.
02-03-2009, 11:51 AM
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Suzuka Master
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But the colleciton agency wants a freakin' police report on top of this.
02-03-2009, 11:56 AM
#11
Senior Moderator
That seems very illegal.
02-03-2009, 12:29 PM
#12
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs27-debtcoll.htm#8
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6a-facta.htm
Now, if a debt collector learns that you may be the victim of identity theft, the collector must:
* Notify the original creditor about the fraud or identity theft.
* Give you information about the debt, such as account applications and statements.
* Notify the original creditor about the fraud or identity theft.
* Give you information about the debt, such as account applications and statements.
In addition, FACTA says that a creditor, once notified that the debt is the work of an identity thief, cannot sell the debt or place it for collection.
02-03-2009, 12:33 PM
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Had a similar problem. In my presence, my lawyer called the collector's lawyer and went berserk with legitimate threats that he was going to follow through on. Two minutes, problem solved, cost to me $0.
Complaints against collection agencies are the largest source of consumer complaints in my state. The state Consumer Counsel or Atty General would likewise take care of this problem for free
Complaints against collection agencies are the largest source of consumer complaints in my state. The state Consumer Counsel or Atty General would likewise take care of this problem for free
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