# collection agencies (shudder) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 2, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221 "2003-06-02T21:12:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/1 "2003-06-02T21:12:31Z")
I don’t own a Ford F150. Really. Never have. Probably never will. I can’t possibly owe $600 for overdue insurance payments on that vehicle. I even called my insurance to make sure I’m all payed up on the policy on my boring mom-mobile minivan. I am. SO STOP CALLING ME!!! Stop the snarky comments. The incessant phone calls. Don’t suggest that one of my friends put my is trying to steal from me by putting my name down on overdue bills. I don’t even know anyone with a Ford F150. And most of all, trying being smug and asking me to **prove** that I **don’t** own the vehicle. I can’t prove it. But at least try to understand that there is a _slight_ possibility that I’m not some scummy person trying to get out of paying some legitimate bills. There is an actual chance that the insurance company made a mistake. And **NO** I can’t prove it! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/2 "2003-06-02T21:16:50Z")
You could demand a copy of both the credit report and the documents they purport to show you as the debtor. That goes a very long way to proving it’s not you. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/3 "2003-06-02T22:11:01Z")
They say it’s just their job to collect the money, not to show proof I owe the money. Who else has a tell of terror from a (shudder) collection agency? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/4 "2003-06-02T22:27:21Z")
That’s illegal, autz. You have a right to see the basis of their claim against you. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/5 "2003-06-02T22:35:56Z")
Oh yeah. The previous owners of my cell phone number were a couple of dead beats and I got calls from collection agencies for the first year and a half that I had the number. I was also treated to calls from their drunken friends at all hours. Not fun. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/6 "2003-06-02T22:50:09Z")
> [@](#): > > [http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm](http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm) > > [sub][sup]Itallics and underlining mine[/sup][/sub] > > **Can you stop a debt collector from contacting you?** > You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop. Once the collector receives your letter, _they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact_ or to notify you that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. Please note, however, that sending such a letter to a collector does not make the debt go away _if_ you actually owe it. > > \ > > \*\*What must the debt collector tell you about the debt? \*\* > Within five days after you are first contacted, _the collector must send you a written notice_ telling you the amount of money you owe; the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money; _and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money_. > > **May a debt collector continue to contact you if you believe you do not owe money?** > _A collector may not contact you if, within 30 days after you receive the written notice, you send the collection agency a letter stating you do not owe money_. However, a collector can renew collection activities if you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of a bill for the amount owed. So next time they call, get the company name and address. Advise them that BY LAW they are required to send you written notice regarding the debt and that further contact in lieu of that will be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Act. Then, if they’re uncooperative, tell them what you’ll do if they don’t comply… > [@](#): > > \*\*What can you do if you believe a debt collector violated the law? \*\* > You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, you may recover money for the damages you suffered plus an additional amount up to $1,000. Court costs and attorney’s fees also can be recovered. A group of people also may sue a debt collector and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector’s net worth, whichever is less. When it comes to these people, knowing your rights is extremely important! Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/7 "2003-06-03T13:33:56Z")
Are they saying _you_ by name have the vehicle, or just someone at your phone number? If it is your name, do as **Monty** suggested. It is possible your info was merged with somebody elses or you **may** even be a victim of identidy theft. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/8 "2003-06-03T18:01:06Z")
Play hardball with them. Demand to speak with a supervisor. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t know you’re rights. And make sure that they know you know your rights. ---
**Author:** ![Purple\_Scottie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Purple\_Scottie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purple_Scottie)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/9 "2003-06-03T18:19:52Z")
My first name begans with a C and my last with a P. My old apartment number was 616. Apparently, one of the former occupanst of 1616 at that complex had a name with these initials. Well, a letter from the collection agency was placed in my mailbox and as that resident was no longer there it eventually was thrown out. Now, despite the fact that my name in no way resembles the person who owes them money (other than having the same initials, in fact the person in question has an ethnic name that is very different from my name), the collection agency is after me. They have sent letters to my new apartment and to my parents house and have called my apartment repeatedly. Unfortunately, I miss most of these calls as I’m rarely at home during the day. Whenver I try to call the number left on my machine or the number in the letters, I end up with a menu with all options in Spanish and no options to have it given in English. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/10 "2003-06-03T21:45:50Z")
And what have you done, within the law, to bring all of this to their attention? Folks aren’t mind readers. Send them a polite letter informing them that you do not know the individual they’re pursuing and that you’ld like to have whatever it is they think shows you’re the debtor concerned. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/11 "2003-06-03T23:51:17Z")
Ah yes, does this bring back memories of “Deadbeat Donna.” About 6 months after getting my phone number, I started receiving about 10 blank/hangup messages on my answering machine per day while I was away at the office. I’d also receive nearly as many calls in the evening asking for “Donna.” Discover called Donna. AmEx called Donna. Various banks and other financial institutions called Donna. Unknown people who were obviously in a call center called Donna. For the most part, individual collectors would stop calling after I convinced them (not an easy task) that I was not Donna, had never been named Donna, didn’t know Donna, would never be named Donna, and didn’t want to continue receiving their calls. However, there were so many groups after Darling Donna that it kept on for months! I’d get rid of one and another groups seeking Donna would start calling. I guess I could have just changed my number. But it had taken me the full 6 months to teach my 90-year-old grandfather and absent-minded parents my new number, and I didn’t want to go through that again. The worst was a call went something like this: Collection Agency: “Is ‘Donna Deadbeat’ there?” Me: “No, I’m sorry but you have the wrong number. No one by that name lives here.” Collection Agency: “Well who is this?” Me: “I dont need to tell you who I am. Only that there is no Donna here.” Collection Agency: “Why are you afraid to tell me who you are?” Me: “I don’t want to answer that or talk to you. There is no Donna here. Please stop calling this number.” Collection Agency: “I can’t stop calling you till you tell me who you are.” Me: “Well, who are you?” Collection Agency: "I can’t tell me that unless you tell me who you are first. Me: “Look, I know you’re a collection agent. You obviously have my number. I doubt you need my name to take it off your calling list. I am not Donna and she doesn’t live here. Continuing to call this number will not get you any further towards collecting on Donna’s debts.” Collection Agency: “What makes you think I’m a collection agent.” Me: "I don’t have to tell you that or anything. There is no Donna here. Stop calling this number. " Then I hung up. The phone rang repeatedly after that with an unknown number on my caller ID. I got so many calls over the course of 2 months that I really started to worry about the old gal! I imagined all kinds of tragedies: Donna had lost her job and was penniless and homeless somewhere out there on the streets of Baltimore; Donna had been kidnapped; Donna was an elderly woman who had died alone with only her cats for company and the only ones noticing her absense were her creditors… ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/12 "2003-06-04T01:44:06Z")
Well, at least they’re not going after your kids. [http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=kuchikomi&id=248](http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=kuchikomi&id=248) Btw, although the article uses the term “loan shark”, these are actual, legal corporations, similar to The Money Store in America. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/13 "2003-06-04T03:36:09Z")
FTR, a debt collector CANNOT tell a third party that he/she is a debt collector, and therefore MUST simply play word games with a person on the phone that tend to annoy most sane people. We (as in my former colleagues and myself) know that you know we are collectors. We also can’t tell you on the phone that we can’t tell you who we are. :rolleyes: This is also part of the Fair Debt Collection Act. Most states require that collectors take a class and learn the laws applicable to their states. Trust me, though the collector may not want to believe you aren’t the person they are looking for, they would much rather find and talk to that person than yourself. Debt collectors work on a commission of sorts, and spending time and money talking to someone that doesn’t owe them any money is not only stupid, it’s counterproductive. THAT being said…this business does attrach some real assholes. OR, assholes are made from being forced to hear 99 excuses an hour about why you bounced a check to the local supermarket. If you did something to piss off a collector, some are not above calling you for pure harrassment. Ill advised, but it happens. Write a letter, not email and have it **certified**. Send it to the agency, explaining that Collector X contacted you on X, X, and X days and you explained to Mr. X that you are not the person they are seeking. (Provide some MINOR evidence to this fact). Also state in the letter that the agency is NOT to contact you regarding this matter further. (Calling does NOT have the proper effect, as people can just claim they never actually got that call. A certified letter, signed for, is great proof for a judge.) They WILL stop, and if they don’t (assuming, as you’ve said, you don’t owe them anything), then you can sue the collector who contacts you, as well as the agency for $10,000 per law broken. (Aside from my overall honesty and sympathy for my fellow human being, the $10,000 personal fine kept people who owed me money VERY safe.) I’m beginning to think I should start a “Ask the Bill collector” thread. 😉 ~J ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/14 "2003-06-04T03:58:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by autz \* > \*\*They say it’s just their job to collect the money, not to show proof I owe the money. > > Who else has a tell of terror from a (shudder) collection agency? \*\* Something very similar happened to me. I have a rather common name. I believe it was a towing and storage bill to a car I’d never owned. The owner of the car will have had to have filled out a title at the DMV and his/her SS# will be on the application etc. And the person trying to collect the debt has to get that paperwork. The collection agency hounding me tried to get me to do their legwork for them too (AND pay for the DMV paperwork). The “burden of proof” as it were, is on them, NOT you. It took me several phone calls, but once they understood that I was NOT going to do their legwork they got the information themselves, all I had to do was fax a statement regarding the vehicle having never been mine. Don’t let them bully you. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/15 "2003-06-04T18:40:46Z")
Ah yes…sounds familiar. A few months ago I got a call AT WORK from one. They just asked for “seal” (not mr\_clubber or seal\_clubber) and berated me about a long-overdue credit card balance. A mystery to me (although I’d had and paid off a card from this company yeas ago). Turns out they had in mind someone with the same first name who used to work here. Were repeatedly told they guy they wanted was long gone, so assumed they were being lied to, so called and asked for “seal.” And got me. Soon, a flurry of letters to and from the FTC. Then, silence. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/16 "2003-06-04T20:26:22Z")
I get calls from collection agencies about every month or so at work. They ask for Steven somethingorother. I’ve told them _many_ times that they’re calling a place of business and there is no one by that name and to stop calling but sure enough, the next month the calls start again. I’ve been at this number for over a year, you’d think they’d have given up by now. :rolleyes: There’s a special place in hell for bill collectors… ---
**Author:** ![Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@Mayfield\_St.Cloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayfield_St.Cloud)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/17 "2003-06-05T10:20:56Z")
> [@](#): > > lezlers > > There’s a special place in hell for bill collectors… …right down the hall from the deadbeats who skip out on their debts. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/18 "2003-06-05T12:58:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mayfield St. Cloud \* > \*\*…right down the hall from the deadbeats who skip out on their debts. \*\* :Sigh: Do we really want to get into [this debate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=147981) again? **Mayfield** , if you would bother to glance at the OP, you would see that **autz** does not owe, and never has owed the money being sought by the collection agency. The same was the case in **sauron** ’s thread, linked to above. I don’t recall anyone saying that debts shouldn’t be repaid. All i saw was people criticizing the way that collection agencies go about their job, which often seems to include harrassing innocent people. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/19 "2003-06-05T13:00:18Z")
By the way, **autz** , i second those who have suggested that you write a Cease and Desist letter to the agency. Also, check out the thread that i linked to in the above post–it has some excellent advice about dealing with debt collectors. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221/20 "2003-06-05T13:34:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Mayfield, if you would bother to glance at the OP, you would see that autz does not owe, and never has owed the money being sought by the collection agency. The same was the case in sauron’s thread, linked to above. I am not assuming that **Mayfield** is talking about **autz**. I’m taking his statement for exactly what it says, there is a place in hell for deadbeats that don’t pay their bills. I kind of hope there is too. If it wasn’t for deadbeats like that, there wouldn’t even **be** collection agents (or, at the very least, not in the numbers there are now) in the first place! People that run up incredible debt and skip out on it cost society a lot of money. I’ve lost thousands of dollars to these dough-heads because they either can’t budget or don’t care. **Autz** is not a deadbeat though. So, he/she will surely have 40 virgins waiting when they die! Yay! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collection-agencies-shudder/179221.md?page=2)