I bought my house two years ago. The people who lived here before us were renting (and left the place a mess- oh, well). Now I’m getting mail and phone calls for the female who used to live here. She’s been bouncing checks at the Drs office, nail place, local department store, etc. The man has had his license suspended. Collectors are starting to call. Why are they still using this address- it’s been two years (and 1 week).
What’s making me nervous is that we share the same last name, although I do not know the people. I don’t think the bill collectors believe me entirely, but I’m doing my best. I’m sure they look up the phone number to this address and see the same last name and “Aha!”
I’ve had alot of trouble with the post office mixing my mail up with hers, too. I’ve asked them to deliver mail here for XYZ, but not AYX. The are doing alright getting my stuff to me (now), but still sent the other lady’s stuff.
I’m worried that the police will come here looking for her as her hot checks stack up. I hope they believe I am not her. Any suggestions on how to separate myself from her? This is not earth-shattering, but sure is annoying.
The guy who rented my current place before us is apparantly an incredible scumbag- there was a summons taped on the door when we moved in, and we get notes every once in a while from the public defenders’ office. Once when I was asleep he came to the door and asked my SO and our roomate for change to get “to the hospital,” saying he used to live in our house (as if that made us family or something). Once two cops even showed up, one at the front door and one at the back, which cracked my SO up. I got really depressed when we got a forwarded letter from some elementary school in Maryland for him- I didn’t know he had kids!
This is nowhere near as bad as your situation, though. My guy is just funny, in a sad way, he’s not setting me up for credit trouble.
If you don’t get helpful advice here, why don’t you try over in GQ? I’ve seen lots of people get advice on where to turn no this sort of problem…
I had someone serve me a notice once (a bounty hunter type thing), for someone who previously lived where I did. Also, very frequently in the past with some phone numbers, I’d have creditors looking for these sort of miscreants. I think most every phone number and address has been or will be associated with financially incompentent people given enough time. It’s inescapable!
People who call you under the assumption that you are Person X, after you have denied being Person X and requested that they stop, cannot continue calling you. This falls under harrassment. They can mail you any correspondence they like, but if you tell them you don’t want them calling you anymore and they keep doing it, tell them you are recording (or at least logging) each call with the intent to sue for harrassment. (Actually, this is also true even if you ARE Person X.) Ask for names, supervisors, managers, company names, etc., etc., to make sure you know who’s calling and to let them know that you’re keeping track.
You do not have to prove to them who you are, or aren’t; the burden of proof is totally on them. If they ask you for your SS # or anything like that, so they can “verify” that you aren’t Person X, do not give it to them. Don’t cooperate in any way. Bill collectors operate under the assumption that you don’t know the law, and they’ll act accordingly until you prove otherwise.
And the reason I know this is b/c Mr. Levins has an unusual last name and was harrassed for two months or so by various credit agencies who were trying to get ahold of another person with his exact name. They refused to believe that he wasn’t that person, and kept calling and calling at all hours until he researched it and discovered all the laws that protect people from this type of harrassment.
He did what I outlined above and the calls magically stopped.
As for the cops…I’m sure that if they do show up at your house, a simple explanation of the mix-up will suffice. The only thing you have in common with her is a last name and an address; your first name, SS#, bank account, etc., are unique and should suffice.
A friend of mine is going through this right now. The cops showed up at the door looking for the guy. He’s been bouncing checks all over town and there was a suicide attempt (while his wife was running an illegal daycare). There’s nothing they can do to you if it’s not you, but I would keep close tabs on my credit rating if I were you. These things have a way of getting tangled in the red tape.
Get your credit report from Experian, Trans America, and Equifax. Go through it line by line to make sure your information is not merged with this other person’s. I had a merged report at one time, with a guy who had the same given- and surname as mine and who had lived about a block away from me. It’s a fairly simple matter to clear up, and you don’t want a deadbeat’s info merged with yours.