Credit Help!!!?

Question

I recently received a letter from a collection agency which states that I owe a department store $700 which is not true. I have never opened an account at this store.. I called the collection agency and I told one of the reps what happened. He just asked me how am I paying for this even though i told him I never opened an account there!! What should I do??? Where can I report this???

Answer 1

Follow the advice in the link I provided. I deal with this a lot from people.
Email me if you need more help. I love ripping into collection agencies.

Answer 2

Aren't collections fun to deal with?

If you follow my advice I can guarantee this problem will go away. But you need to follow everything I tell you.

When you start getting calls from collection agents about debts you know nothing about, you have trouble! It's very likely that your identity has been stolen, and someone is running around getting credit in your name.

In 2003 congress enhanced some existing laws and created some new ones that help protect people who are the victim of identity theft. But you MUST follow these procedures exactly.

What you need to do is dispute this charge with the collection agency. If they do not follow specific procedures, and the continue to ruin your credit history or harass you over this debt, you have grounds to sue them in small claims court for $1000.

It's VERY important that you start NOW in investigating this. Identity theft is like a cockroach problem! Once you start seeing signs of it, you can bet the problem is a lot worse! You need to start working of fixing it.

1) Start educating yourself on the law. Go to http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ and read up on identity theft.

2) Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com and get a copy of your free credit report. Examine it very carefully and look for anything incorrect.

3) Call the Credit Bureau and notify them that you are the victim of identity theft. Dispute the report from this collection agency (if it is listed on your reports already).

4) Send a letter to the collection agency telling them that this is not your debt. Demand that they "validate" this debt by supplying you with copies of all contracts, bills, receipts, and everything used to calculate what they claim you owe.

5) Follow the information in the Identity Theft link above. If you think your ID was stolen you need to contact the police and file a report. Then you need to get some notarized affidavits prepared. Each of your creditors is going to want a copy of one to prove your claim.

Keep all records! Send all letters by certified mail/return receipt!

Keep my Email address. I love to harrass collection agents, especially when we are real sure they messed up! As you have discovered, CA's are very narrow minded...all they want is their money and they sure don't want to hear your lame excuses. They will gladly trash your credit history.

It is NOT your responsibility to prove this is NOT your debt! They must prove it is!

As long as you have followed all of my advice, you will get this fixed. But sometimes you run into collection agents that won't follow the program. That happened to me once...I won $1200 in a court settlement from them.

Below are some more great sites. Load up on the information. When you fight collection agents, you are at war! Knowledge of the law is your only weapon! So arm yourself!

Answer 3

First off, you need to do everything in writing when dealing with a collection agency. You need to write them a letter disputing the debt and by law, the collection agency either has to prove that the debt is yours, or they need to remove it from your credit.

Answer 4

contact the department store and find out if someone else opened an account in your name and had fun at your expense.

Answer 5

You need to go to the store and make a big fit about it and if they insist that it was you then go to the police because somebody probably stole your identity.