Measures Collection Agencies Will Go To- Part II

 My response to Yesterday's Situation

To Whom It May Concern:

To date, I have made several phone calls to both, [Company Name didacted] and [Collector Name didacted] in an attempt to resolve the issue of an uncollected debt that does not belong to me.  Please make note of the following:

• I have never resided at the address indicated on the [Company Name didacted] account
• I have never been a client of [Company Name didacted] or any of its affiliates
• [Company Name didacted] does not have in their systems, any definitive information that identifies me as their client (i.e. date of birth, social security number, previous addresses, credit card information, etc.)
• The name on the account forward to you by [Company Name didacted] is not mine, nor is it an alias of mine.
  

After exhaustive efforts to resolve this through contacting [Company Name didacted], I was informed by a representative at [Company Name didacted] Executive Resolutions Department (phone:###-###-####) that when this account was established, [Company Name didacted] did not collect social security numbers and, as a result, they would not have this information available to forward to you.  This would make your claim that Dish Network provided you with this information, false.

In your efforts to collect on this debt, somehow you have managed to obtain my social security number.  You will find that through my social security number, you can verify that I have never resided at the address indicated on the account ####### nor is there any history of my social security number being associated with the name 'Dave Smith'. 

Lastly, you will find that [paragraph didacted personal, factual, irrefutable information readily available to credit reporting agencies and collection agents].

It is my hope that this issue is resolve with the same diligence you employ to collect on your outstanding accounts.  If the issue of this debt being attributed to me is not resolved based on the facts stated above, I will be seeking to file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory agencies and may consider legal action should this issue have a negative financial impact on me or should it continue to consume my time / resources.


Sincerely,

David E. Smith

 

Lessons learned:

• you will be amazed at who you can access when you don't settle for an outcome that doesn't resolve your concerns
• creditors will employ unscrupulous methods to collect a debt, even lie or request that you pay someone else's debt to get the issue resolved
• you always have the power of the pen as everyone has to report to someone and all companies have regulatory bodies with a complaint mechanism..the trick is finding out who that regulator is an threatening a written complaint.  Companies, despite their charter, generally do not like unwarrented publicity and will pay extra attention if they feel an unresolved issue can lead to this.
• written and recorded communications can increase the level of concern for companies when litigation is threatened (for the recouping of damages perceived or proven)
• always, always...did I say always remember to get names, numbers and titles of the people you speak with when trying to resolve an issue

The item never appeared on any credit report of mine and the collections calls stopped immediately.  Whether for your personal use or for a client/customer, I hope the above will help demonstrate how someone can be their best advocate when it comes to repairing or protecting their credit report.