I recieved a letter from a debt collection agency saying that I owed 300 plus dollars to MCI for an unpaid bill nine years ago. I do not remember ever having done business with MCI. Seven years ago we had a house fire that destroyed all of our records. They said send us 40 bucks now and it is settled. I called the collection agency, they could not give me any details, just said the account was turned over to them. I would have to talk to MCI about details. I didn’t pay, and am waiting to see what happens next. Any others have this sort of thing happen?
MCI was very into nefariously signing up new customers back back then:
August 12, 1997: Commissioner Ness Calls for Tougher Action Against Slamming
Ask for documented proof of those bills from MCI. If they cannot provide with it, you can effectively contact the credit bureaus and request that it be removed from your credit report. That won’t completely solve the problem but it will get it off your record.
MCI wrote it off as far as they were concerned, but if there was a debt, it still exists. Someone propbably bought it for 10 cents on the dollar and are taking the chance they can ring something out of you.
If you believe that you never owed the money, you should fight it, and they may give up. For $300, they likely won’t take the time and effort. If it was a few grand on an old credit card account, they might make more effort. In the meantime, they will probably send you some nasty threatening letters and even call you. If you didn’t do any business with MCI, then tell them so.
NO, don’t send them anything. Sending them $40 is most likely just a trick they are using to reopen the debt and put it back on your credit report. I have a friend that works in collections. If she has a debt that’s getting near the seven year mark with no payments, she say something like “Well, how about if just send me one dollar. Can you just send one dollar to me and we’ll stop calling for a while.” Of course the only think the one dollar does is start the timer over and give them another seven years to persue the debt.
The statute of limitation may have tolled on that debt and you have no obligation to pay it. It all depends on which state you live in, state SOL’s range from as short as 3 years all the way up to 15 years in Ohio. The first thing to do is do not acknowledge the debt as yours. Next would be to send the CA a debt validation letter. Copies can be found at the Creditboards.com forums. Free registration is required. If you don’t get positive proof of the debt or do not receive a response in a satisfactory length of time (30 days is normal), send the CA a cease and desist letter and tell them to get lost. I am going to guess that if they are willing to settle for such a small percentage of the original debt, the SOL has most likely tolled and they are just looking for a way to make a few bucks on an uncollectible account.
Yep, I have. I wrote back the company saying that I disputed the debt, that I didn’t want to receive any further phone calls, and that I wanted to see the original debt details. I also noted that I was sending a copy of the letter to the FTC. Never heard back from them.
Some debt collection companies will buy up old, legally unenforceable debts and try to get people to pay them off. In some cases (as it was in my case) the debts have ALREADY been paid off. I Googled “debt collection fraud (name of the debt collection agency)” and found out that this company had a history of trying to collect debts that had already been paid, or which had passed the statute of limitations. Just Googling “debt collection fraud” will turn up many interesting and informative websites, which will help you plan your moves. For instance, you need to write to the collection agency within 30 days of them contacting you, and dispute the debt.
If you write the collection agency, I suggest making a copy for the FTC, and letting the agency know that you’re doing so.
I am not a lawyer, none of this should be taken as legal advice, etc., etc.
Thanks for all the advice. I do not believe I owe these people anything. If I did I would pay it. My first son was born while I was between jobs and I had no insurance, and it was a c-section with problems, it took me almost six years to pay for it, but I talked to the hospital and they worked with me, and it was not a problem. But when I get a letter nine years later saying you owe us 300 but we will settle for 40, I smelled a wampus. Thanks to you all. I suspect I will not be hearing back from them.
That was not worded well, nine years later a phone company came after me…not the hospital, and I would put in a plug here for that hospital, but i do not think that is allowed here.
I got a couple of extremely threatening letters from a collection agency once, and here’s the letter I sent them, in case you want to use it as a guide to composing one of your own.
I never heard from them again.
Good luck!
Nit: you meant to say “The statute of limitation may have run on that debt and you have no obligation to pay it.” When a statute of limitation is tolled, it means that the statute of limitation has stopped running for a period of time. For example, if the statute of limitation is six years, but it is tolled for three months, then the statute will not run until six years, three months after accrual of the cause of action. Sometimes parties will agree to toll the statute of limitation while they try to mediate a matter; that way, there isn’t any time pressure in the mediation to get things done by a certain time just because of statute problems.
Thanks for the advice, right now I will sit tight, but if need be I will use that as a template. I am in Wisconsin so obviously I will have to see if there are similar laws in place. But I love the tone, a calm, informed, but in your face response. I figure your post alone made my membership fee here worthwhile, thanks!
I think I’d also contact your state atty. general’s office and your state banking commision and see if you could file a formal complaint w/ either, or both. You might want to do this before you decide to contact an attorney. See what kind of response you get and then evaluate whether you need your own lawyer.
Wow, what a nice thing to say. I’m actually blushing. :o
Yes, there are similar laws in every state. Wisconsin’s Statute of Limitations on this type of debt is 6 years, so they are way beyond statute on this one. I wouldn’t hestitate, though. I’d compose a letter in response to their original correspondence and get it mailed within the 30-day period. Read up on your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and don’t let them bully you. According to Section 807(5) “A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section: (5) The threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken.” Clearly they have no intention of suing you for this debt, and they dare not threaten to, seeing as how they must know that it’s uncollectible based on the statute of limitation having expired. Tell them to stick a fork in it.
I had an Alltel cell phone in 1999 and as soon as the contract was up I called and cancelled it. I got the person’s name but unfortunately not the confirmation number. They never cancelled my account and I’ve gotten mail from them ever since. I’ll think they’ve finally gotten the hell over it and then another letter from another collection agency will start. The bill is about $200 (three months mobile plus other charges) and, while it might be stupid, I refuse to pay it on principal as to do so would be extortion- I DON’T OWE IT.
I don’t know if there’s a statute of limitations in Alabama on this type of thing, but frankly I’d welcome the chance to go to court with the bastards (especially since I have friends who say that Alltel pulled the same crap with them). Their own records will prove that I never once used the phone after the date I cancelled the service. Bastards.
Six years on written contracts and 3 years on open accounts (usually credit cards fall under that heading). I’m not an attorney, but I believe a cell phone contract would qualify as a written contract, so in that case, yes, a debt from 1999 would be beyond the statute in 2006.
P.S., seenidog, I meant to say welcome to The Dope!
Thanks for the welcome. I am new, and will make mistakes in posting ettiquette I am sure, just let me know when I screw up and I will learn. Thanks to all for the kind response.
No, never pay a bill that old. Legally you don’t have to, your money won’t even go to the company who you did owe it to so you have no moral obligation, AND as Joey P pointed out, sometimes they will use that to post a new Derog on your credit report for another 7 years or so.They aren’t supposed to do that, but it still happens.
I don’t think the main reason is to put something bad on your credit report, it’s that if you pay anything, even one dollar, towards the debt, they can now legally persue it for another 6 or 7 years.
From the Federal Trade Commission: