Afni Inc. Afni collections - June 2008
Complaint
K Spencer
Country: United States
Hi All,
Afni is back at it! I received a settlement notice for a verizon account I had 12 years ago. I called verizon first, who said if there was a balance it didn't show and even if there was, the SOL had long run out. I asked her what I should do. She said "Do nothing, you don't owe verizon anything." With that I double checked my credit report from last fall, nothing listed for Verizon New Jersey. I called Afni who said they'd do me a favor and accept half of what they said I owed. I explained that according to verizon, I owed nothing and I would NOT be making any payments to them. Additionally, I said that if ANYTHING related this or them showed up on my credit report (which I run yearly), I would report them to the Attorney General. Afni tried to say the burden of proof was on me and that they had bought the debt from Verizon, so I owe Afni the money.
These people are ridiculous. This is a fishing game to see who will bite. I am a verizon wireless and dsl customer, but am willing to jump ship if Afni pursues this.
Afni is back at it! I received a settlement notice for a verizon account I had 12 years ago. I called verizon first, who said if there was a balance it didn't show and even if there was, the SOL had long run out. I asked her what I should do. She said "Do nothing, you don't owe verizon anything." With that I double checked my credit report from last fall, nothing listed for Verizon New Jersey. I called Afni who said they'd do me a favor and accept half of what they said I owed. I explained that according to verizon, I owed nothing and I would NOT be making any payments to them. Additionally, I said that if ANYTHING related this or them showed up on my credit report (which I run yearly), I would report them to the Attorney General. Afni tried to say the burden of proof was on me and that they had bought the debt from Verizon, so I owe Afni the money.
These people are ridiculous. This is a fishing game to see who will bite. I am a verizon wireless and dsl customer, but am willing to jump ship if Afni pursues this.
Comments
They didn't just "try" to say it. They either said it or they didn't. If you heard them say it, it is because they intended that you hear it, to get you to pay them. Whether you believed it or not is not even relevant to whether their statement was lawful.
You have the right to dispute alleged debts with debt collectors, and request that they send validation (proof) of the debt. Even if they had sued you (unlikely, and probably illegal on a 12 year old debt) they would have had the burden of proof in court.
The burden of proof is on them, they know it, but they attempted to convince you otherwise to try to get your money. That was deceptive collection, whether you believed them or not, and violated both FDCPA and Illinois law.
File a complaint with both FTC and the Illinois Attorney General. Include in your complaint that you had checked with Verizon, who said nothing was owed and advised you to not pay a debt you don't owe, and that AFNI had told you that you either had to prove it wasn't owed or pay it.