Different names on an old lease now in collections - is this legal, or is something fishy going on?

Question

I recently received a collections letter from an old lease I broke almost 5 years ago - I assume it's from a company who bought the debt from another. My friend & I had rented a place together from a private landlord (not a company), and our names were both on the lease. The collections letter in my possession lists my name and someone else's who I've never heard of before. I can only assume it was the roommate my friend brought in after I left, or a total stranger. Either way, this is not the person who I originally signed the lease with. Another concern is that my SSN is listed in plain text along with the unknown person's number. I can only assume the other person has received the same letter and has enough information at her disposal to commit identity theft. (name, SSN, and current address).

The lease amount was on my credit for the longest time, and has now disappeared. Will the new recovery efforts place it back on my report?

Any suggestions on what I should do?Thanks

Answer 1

use the following letter..fill in the blanks and send back to creditor by registerd mail..they then have 30 days in which to prove to you without a doubt the debt is yours..if they cannot they have to have it removed from your report...keep a good account record of all correnspondance sent....do not speak to them by phone or admit or deny the debt in any way or they can update it on your report and lower your score again drastically....get familiar with the fair credit reporting laws..!


Dear Collection Agency,

This letter is being sent to you in response to your attached letter.

This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed.

You are now on notice that this debt is disputed. If you report it to a CRA and fail to include a dispute notation, per 15 U.S.C. § 1681 (a)(1)(B) and subsequent sections, you are in violation and I intend to pursue my rights to the fullest extent of the law. If you intend to correspond without validation, I will vigorously enforce all my rights under both FDCPA and FCRA, as well as Civil Law, Common Law and the Uniform Commercial Code.

This is a request for validation made pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Please be advised that this is not a request for "validation" that you have my mailing address. I am requesting a "validation" of the original debt; that is, competent evidence that I have some contractual obligation to pay you, and this is not an attempt of fraud, or defamation of my character, or theft of my identity.

Please also be aware that if any negative mark is found on my credit reports from your company or any company that you represent, this will result in my filing an immediate lawsuit against you and your client for 1) Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 2) Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 3) Defamation of Character, and 4) Negligent Enablement of Identity Fraud.

Answer 2

NO!!! Do nothing and wait to see if it shows back up on your credit report. If you contact them it will surely renew the date of the debt and can possibly be placed back on your credit for another 7 years.

Don't contact anyone until you see it on your credit report. I know you don't want your SSN displayed but it's not worth disputing it and getting that debt back on your credit. Besides the other person already has the info now so complaining about it does nothing.

~ You have to be careful who you listen to on Yahoo Answers. I doubt that the people above have any credit or have ever had to repair their credit. I HAVE and I brought it up nearly 60 points in 6 months! So listen, Just leave it and wait.

I also get a copy of my credit report every month and have an alert sent to me if there is even an inquiry and love the service. I get it through truecredit.com and highly recommend it.

Answer 3

First, contact the collection firm and complain about your SSN being clearly displayed. There are laws covering the privacy of such issues, but I am not sufficiently familiar with them to determine whether or not this constitutes a violation of that privacy.

As for the collection effort, you are correct in assuming that this debt has been sold and it will start the process of being in your credit file all over again.

Answer 4

i've got under no circumstances considered a dl #, ssn #, or start date on a hire. If there's a niche for them, and that they do no longer seem to be modern-day, that is not any longer appropriate -- putting your call to the settlement makes it binding, era. Omissions or blunders [ie: incorrect 12 months interior the hire term, incorrect signing date, landlord no longer signing YOUR replica of the hire, SSN or DL # no longer crammed in] bear no weight, and don't invalidate a settlement, in case you crammed out an application, your SSN and/or DL # and DOB are probable on that (and your landlord's probable have been given it saved away particularly good, mutually along with his replica of the hire). If lowering on spending someplace else's no longer an selection, or won't make adequate enormous difference to allow you to pay your hire long-term, you ought to return sparkling with the owner and spot in case you may negotiate an early termination. he isn't obligated to allow it because of the fact your hire IS binding, yet who's actually-known with. A decide will in many cases award a million-2 months hire + forfeit of your protection deposit, + courtroom expenses + expenses incurred interior the quest for a clean tenant yet you're on the hook for hire until the unit's taken, assuming the owner's made a competent faith attempt to discover a clean tenant [no longer actual in Florida, the place a landlord has NO legal accountability to mitigate _your_ loss]. in case you reside in a niche with intense renter call for, a million month's hire + paying to sell the emptiness could be adequate to get you off, assuming you're keen to stay until until a clean tenant has been got here across.