how can I tell if a debt collector is above board

Submitted by goldie on Wed, 11/18/2009 - 18:57
Forums

I did browse the forum. I am in NC. I have received a call from Falzone Law Office in NY. The person I speak to goes through a lot of "legalese" concerning a debt. He gave me a 3 day deadline to pay a debt before "action" would be taken. I would not agree without a debt validation letter. Initally, he would not agree. I sent a certified letter to the address listed on BBB website. It was never accepted and was returned to me unclaimed. In the meantime, I received a letter from the company with some of the info I requested on the phone (amount to settle, name of creditor, account number). However, I am worried because the company does not seem professional. Since I lost my job, I have dealt with other companies whose practices were much better (and I was able pay the debt and they reported it to the credit bureaus). The letter I received was something a 12 yo could have done and I have seen nothing but bad reports about this company on the internet and at the BBB. What should I do next? (sorry for the length).

You need to pull your credit report and see if the debt they say belongs to you is listed. I wouldn't pay them anything unless they sent me a copy of the original contract signed by you. Make sure to send the letter certified with receipt as proof they got it. Incase it does end up going to court. Then you can prove they couldn't validate the debt.

Thu, 11/19/2009 - 01:54 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

do have real debt. But I had some of my personal info compromised about a year ago, so it is possible that it may be a scam. I did have a fraud alert put on my credit. However, my concern is that I will pay and 4 mos later or 6 mos later, the orginal creditor will come back and say that I still owe them the debt. I did send the orginal debt validation request via certified mail--the company nevcer signed for it and it was returned to me. Could I still pay the originl creditor? I am in a postion to settle/pay in full the debt now.

Thu, 11/19/2009 - 13:15 Permalink

Do not do anything until you get debt validation. Dis you send the debt validation by certified mail? It appears you did since you mentioned they denied accepting the letter. What they sent you by mail was in no means debt valdation. Proper debt validation is a copy of the original contract you signed with the original lender. This compnay appears to be on the crooked side to me. Do you know when you last made a payment on this debt? Pull your report and look under account history for the debt. It should give you some idea.

Thu, 11/19/2009 - 16:52 Permalink

Also...you can check the BBB site (VIA the Web) and see if there are complaints, etc. about the CA. You can usually 'Google' the name of the CA and found out info that way. Don't send a dime to them until you find out the answers you're looking for!!

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 01:46 Permalink
WP Themes (not verified)

Genial fill someone in on and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you on your information.

Fri, 01/01/2010 - 01:42 Permalink

One thing you may want to do to find out if the DebtCollector/CA is legit, is to call the original debtor they say you have a debt with (I've done this and it's helped me.) The original creditor should tell you where the debt was 'sold' to. Also..if you can pay the original debtor (if the debt is a legit one..), that would be the best ting. I had a CA call me and mail me 'bills' several times on a debt I had with an old utility company. I DID owe the debt, however, the debt was never 'sold' to tis so-called CA. So..I made arrangements with te original debtor and paid it off. I called the CA and told them the debt was PIF. They told me that I still owed THEM for the debt and they are deciding if they want to serve me papers, etc. OH PLEASE!!!! CA's can get tricky and will use any tactic they see fit.

Tue, 12/27/2011 - 21:27 Permalink
Ahmed (not verified)

So you want to validate the debt or try to setlte? You can't do both in one letter without confusing them..lol. Validate first, then offer to setlte. I would validate with a letter, then when it comes back yours, give them a call and make an offer. Just get it in writing before handing over the money.

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 05:40 Permalink