Called me today from Global services- Said they are collecting a debt- threatened to serve me at my job or home-left all of this on voicemail (i saved it) they used to call me from a Florida number, Now they are calling from a local number to my state. The old company would say I owed a pay day loan. referencing my address from 12 years ago. I never have had a pay day loan and if I did twelve years would be beyond the collection limits in NJ...
Sorry to be blunt, but you are now on their easy marks list and they will try again and again, and they will also sell your information to other criminals. This is why it is so very, very important to make them follow the letter of the law.
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
If and when that happens this is what must be done:
You need to send them a certified, return receipt debt validation, cease and desist calling, or "not me" letter. You also need to report them to the proper agencies to which I have provided links to. Then you need to go out and get a consumer lawyer to sue them on a contingency basis (no money out of your pocket) and let them pay you for the harassment. If everyone did these three things, these crooks would be bankrupt and we would all be the richer for it.
Read up on your rights here, get template letters to send and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://consumerfraudreporting.org/stateattorneygenerallist.php
You are so right!!! This is happening to me but I am getting more wise and I am getting less calls. Matter of fact, I used to get threatening voice messages but now when they call; they don't even leave me a message. I call the number back and I get firm with them in a nice way and it has backed them off of me. However, they sell my info to someone else hoping I will eventually give in. I have caught on to their game and when I read your post, you hit it on the nail.
Company refuses to send something in writing. I advised them that per FDCPA, they must send something and their response was, "we legally, don't have to." and that they have legal reasons not to. Not once did they recite the mini-Miranda that all collection companies have to say. They informed me in order for them to send one I would have to pay them first. Talked to 3 reps and not one recited the collection Miranda. All 3 reps refused to send something in writing.
Company states I owe on a past debt. I asked for an address to send a check or money order, rep, states they only accept credit cards. Hmmm, if you're collecting on a debt wouldn't any form of payment be suffice? Rep states they would advise their client, that it would be best to take me to court where I would pay triple of what I owe. Sounds like a scam!
If you talk to the fools again, tell them that you've visited this site. Inform them that they've been cordially invited to visit with Gunnar here. Or, for that matter, any of the regulars here. We dearly love to entertain fools. For some inexplicable reason our invitations are rarely accepted. When they are, our guests never come back to visit again. Perhaps we have bad breath? Maybe we come across as rude. I just don't understand it...
There are many of us here that would be more than happy to bring this crew up to date on the current state & federal regulations regarding the lawful collection of debt. Shoot, some of us can recite most of those regulations in a semi-comatose state. I should know! (Yuk-Yuk!) We'll be willing to help this outfit with their compliance problems free of charge. Somehow...I don't think they'll be accepting the offer.
Live Well.
Gunnar