Collections: They say they've sent mail, but it never arrives

Recently, I began receiving calls from a collections agency seeking to make contact with my girlfriend regarding a credit card debt. She does not have a phone, and we’ve agreed that I will take on the burden of dealing with the agency over the phone.

A week ago, I spoke with a woman at the agency who stated that because prior mail sent to our address was ignored, she needed an email address where she could send a settlement letter, or speak with my girlfriend over the phone. Since we want everything in writing, the phone is a no-go. I’m also not entirely convinced about email; mail just seems more secure and official for this sort of correspondence. Because of this, I asked that another letter be sent, and said that I would ensure that it received some sort of response.

But there’s an issue. The letter they supposedly sent out a week ago never arrived. Same with letters the agency claims were sent last month, and the month before. Our address is in a major American city. Every day, we receive various items in the mail from both near and far. But never mail from the collections agency. The woman I spoke to says the problem must be on our end, since their mailing service successfully sends thousands of letters a day.

But not to us!

The address she read back to me is correct, ZIP code and all. Yet we still don’t have their mail.

My questions:

  • Is it my responsibility (or my girlfriend’s) to provide them with an email address?
  • If we are not obligated to, should we?
  • Do we have a legal right to receive information regarding the collections process, such as the settlement letter they claim to have sent, by POSTAL MAIL?
  • Can/should we refuse to provide further information to the agency, including an email address, and including discussing settlement options by telephone, until we receive their settlement letter by POSTAL MAIL?

I would strongly prefer to have a hard copy of the settlement letter arrive in our mailbox, rather than receiving a copy by e-mail. However, I don’t want to further imperil my girlfriend’s finances. Answering their calls made to a phone number with no connection whatsoever to the alleged debtor was a mistake to begin with, but here we are.

Advice?

Never deal with a collection agency over the phone
Do not give them an E-mail address.
You can and should refuse to provide any info to the collection agency over the phone.

Do you have any proof this is a legitimate debt?
Her credit is already imperiled by have the collection account if it exists.
Having a Paid Collection account is not going to help her credit.

I suggest going to http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2 reading and asking your questions there.

So the collection agency trusts an email will be received by the recipient, but a US Postal Service letter, certified, return receipt will not? (Assuming they are doing this but I think not likely.)

IANAL but how would proof of alleged email delivery hold up in court, compared to a proper hard-copy letter?

Scam smell in the air.

Tell them to send it registered, return receipt requested.

DON’T give them a phone number or email address. I would lay good money on the notion that this is a scam, or that they’ve bought an old debt that’s already been paid off or discharged. Ask for the agency’s snailmail address, and send THEM a registered letter, RRR, saying that GF does not want to deal with this by phone, and all further contact must be made by US Post Office mail. It’s also helpful to say that you (or rather, she) dispute the debt, and to cough up evidence that it’s a real debt, and that it’s HER debt, and that it’s legally collectible.

I am not a lawyer, but I did have problems with a debt collection agency who had bought information on an old debt that my husband and I had paid off years ago. I guess that they thought we wouldn’t keep records that old. They were wrong. :smiley:

I agree that it sounds like bullshit. The postal service is incredibly reliable. If you’re not getting it, they’re not sending it. If they’re not sending it, it’s because they don’t want to have written evidence of mail fraud out there.

Absolutely. Any reputable collection agency will be happy to do this. Which you’ll know, if you’re familiar with your classical logic, means that if they’re not happy to do this, they’re not reputable.

Informing an agency, or a charity, that you will only deal with them via the USPS usually gets them to put up or shut up. Some will try to get you to accept their communications by a courier service, but I always refuse to accept this, except as a way to get their address.

I also found it helpful to Google the headquarters of the company, and send a letter to the headquarters, RRR, and letting them know that I’ve found various lawsuits against the company for illegal practices. And I copy the FTC on those letters. I usually never hear another word from the company, I guess that they take me off their sucker list.

People SHOULD pay their legal debts. But they should also be careful not to pay a debt that is not really owed. Make the company jump through the legal hoops, if it’s a legitimate debt they will be able to prove that it’s legit.

I’d agree. A single letter might go missing - as rare as it is, things do happen. Multiple letters going missing from the same sender? That’s hard to believe. They are trying to avoid any risk of being nailed for mail fraud. It’s the same logic some scammers use by sending documents via UPS or other courier service.

If they send the letter certified / return receipt, then at the very least they KNOW it was delivered, or that a delivery attempt was at least made. That protects both sides of the transaction.

Another possibility is that under FDCPA, you can demand validation of a debt within 30 days of the initial communication from a debt collector, and once you legally demand debt validation within that time window, the debt collector must stop all collection activity until it provides actual debt validation to you.

If they say they sent you a dun letter more than 30 days ago, then what they are saying is your time to demand debt validation has already expired and they can continue their collection efforts without providing you squat.

I agree scammers don’t want to deal with mail, simply because it then becomes mail fraud. This is a HUGE thing, 'cause not only can they get you on the fraud itself but abuse of the mails. Mail fraud is a federal offense and there’s no parole in the federal system, so while the jails are nicer, your time is at lest 85% of your sentence time.