Verizon
Complaint
Vanessa
Country: United States
Verizon says that I owe them money from 2009. They submitted to credit two days ago and kept me from buying a house. When i told them I didnt ever have Verizon and once upon a time had Alltel, They told me it was my responsibility to know I still owed a cell phone bill from Alltel. I asked why i haven't recieved anything at my house for oweing alltel. They said because it was going to a "bogus" address. Agian, this brought my credit score down 89 points. After paying it they still would not remove it from my credit.
Comments
Their response to your reasonable questions about the legitimacy of the alleged debt were deceptive designed to coerce a payment before you knew about your FDCPA dispute rights, and to portray this as "too much trouble" to fight. That's pretty much AFNI's game.
MANY consumers have reported that they have attempted to collect on unowed "debt" or from the wrong people, then used half-truths or lies of ommission to evade validation. So how is it they "know" this "bill" went to a "bogus address", when you got your other bills? Typical deceptive talk-off, just throw BS at you, pretending you "know" all about the "account".
Since this killed your house purchase, if they violated FDCPA or FCRA, they may have damaged you substantially, and you may want to sue them to recover damages.
You can find a consumer attorney in your state through www.naca.net, and many review such cases for free and take those with a good chance of winning on contingency, since both FDCPA and FCRA allow courts to award their attorney fees in addition to your damages, if you win.