these people call so much asking for me and want me to tell them my social to verify its me i have no clue who they are so i get snappy and hang up lol
Comments
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tj
They are a debt collector (collection agency). As such, they are required to comply with federal and state laws covering debt collection and credit reporting, in particular FDCPA and FCRA.
They are probably attempting to collect on some alleged debt, are searching using only the alleged name on the account, and are not sure whether you are even the correct person.
You have no obligation to provide your SSN to strangers calling you on the phone. It is not safe to do so.
If they thought you owed the alleged debt, they were required by FDCPA to have sent you a letter within 5 days of their first contact notifying you of the debt and of your rights to dispute it and to request that they send you proof you owe it.
Failing to send you that required letter is a violation of FDCPA. That is probably why they are asking for your SSN, so they can claim they didn't "know" they had contacted you. It still is not safe to provide SSNs to unknown callers.
Watch out for debt collectors collecting on old debts through sloppy skip-tracing, as they often attempt to con the people they "find" in error, particularly when they know they don't have access to verification.
Even if you believe you have no outstanding delinquent debts, you might check your credit reports to see if they have posted some collection account to them in error. If you find an error, dispute it through the credit reporting agency (CRA or credit bureau).
The CRA is required to forward the dispute to the data furnisher (debt collector or original creditor), who must check it and either remove or correct it in order to comply with FCRA. If instead they erroneously "verify" it, you can sue them.
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This sucks
Portfolio recovery associates keeps calling me from different phone numbers and trying to collect a debt from 1990. Can they do this?
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tj
According to FCRA, debts can only be reported on consumer credit reports for at most 7.5 years.
Each state has a statute of limitations that determines how long after a debt goes unpaid the creditor can sue. These times may vary from 3 years to 6 years or in some states more, depending on the state and the type of debt, but it is unlikely that ANY state has an SOL of 20 years. Some debts, such as telecom debt, may have even shorter SOLs, based on federal law.
About the only exceptions might be government guaranteed student loans, or possibly debts reduced to judgements, but even judgements would probably have to have been renewed.
There are debt collectors that buy old, out of statute debt, at heavily discounted prices (literally pennies on the dollar) and attempt to con consumers into paying them, even though they cannot sue or put them on credit reports. They may even not be able to obtain records on the alleged debt from the original creditor, and sometimes that is even in the sale contract.
In such cases, they may be making deceptive statements in an attempt to con consumer, including contacting the wrong persons and falsely claiming they owe them. Consumer complaints involving collection of very old debt are often consistent with intentional fraudulent debt collection.
ANY DEBT CLAIM FROM 20 YEARS AGO IS HIGHLY SUSPECT. Reliable records on such old claims are seldom obtainable, and the debt collectors who try to collect on them often use abusive, harassing, or deceptive tactics in violation of federal and state debt collection laws, particularly FDCPA, in order to coerce payment on alleged "debt" they have no intention of proving, or can't prove.
If they have contacted you, then they had 5 days to send you a letter notifying you of your right to dispute the alleged debt, or to request that they obtain and send you proof you owe it. Failure to send that letter is a violation of FDCPA.
On old alleged debt such as this, where they typically try to collect by repeated harassment via phone, they are often trying to use illegal deception, harassment or threats to get you to agree to payments, in effect restarting the statute of limitations period.
Send them a letter, mailed certified so you have proof of their receiving it, notifying them that they have been calling you repeatedly at nnn-nnn-nnnn despite your requests that they cease, regarding an alleged debt that you dispute, supposedly from 1990, that they have sent you no written communications on this alleged debt, and that you are demanding that they cease all further communications on this alleged debt.
If you have further problems with harassing calls, file complaints with FTC and your state Attorney General for their violation of your FDCPA cease communications request, and find an attorney with experience in FDCPA litigation.
Since FDCPA allows courts to award statutory damages and attorney fees, you should be able to find one to take such cases on contingency. Let your attorney do what they do best, and let the debt collector pay for it.
Comments
They are probably attempting to collect on some alleged debt, are searching using only the alleged name on the account, and are not sure whether you are even the correct person.
You have no obligation to provide your SSN to strangers calling you on the phone. It is not safe to do so.
If they thought you owed the alleged debt, they were required by FDCPA to have sent you a letter within 5 days of their first contact notifying you of the debt and of your rights to dispute it and to request that they send you proof you owe it.
Failing to send you that required letter is a violation of FDCPA. That is probably why they are asking for your SSN, so they can claim they didn't "know" they had contacted you. It still is not safe to provide SSNs to unknown callers.
Watch out for debt collectors collecting on old debts through sloppy skip-tracing, as they often attempt to con the people they "find" in error, particularly when they know they don't have access to verification.
Even if you believe you have no outstanding delinquent debts, you might check your credit reports to see if they have posted some collection account to them in error. If you find an error, dispute it through the credit reporting agency (CRA or credit bureau).
The CRA is required to forward the dispute to the data furnisher (debt collector or original creditor), who must check it and either remove or correct it in order to comply with FCRA. If instead they erroneously "verify" it, you can sue them.
Each state has a statute of limitations that determines how long after a debt goes unpaid the creditor can sue. These times may vary from 3 years to 6 years or in some states more, depending on the state and the type of debt, but it is unlikely that ANY state has an SOL of 20 years. Some debts, such as telecom debt, may have even shorter SOLs, based on federal law.
About the only exceptions might be government guaranteed student loans, or possibly debts reduced to judgements, but even judgements would probably have to have been renewed.
There are debt collectors that buy old, out of statute debt, at heavily discounted prices (literally pennies on the dollar) and attempt to con consumers into paying them, even though they cannot sue or put them on credit reports. They may even not be able to obtain records on the alleged debt from the original creditor, and sometimes that is even in the sale contract.
In such cases, they may be making deceptive statements in an attempt to con consumer, including contacting the wrong persons and falsely claiming they owe them. Consumer complaints involving collection of very old debt are often consistent with intentional fraudulent debt collection.
ANY DEBT CLAIM FROM 20 YEARS AGO IS HIGHLY SUSPECT. Reliable records on such old claims are seldom obtainable, and the debt collectors who try to collect on them often use abusive, harassing, or deceptive tactics in violation of federal and state debt collection laws, particularly FDCPA, in order to coerce payment on alleged "debt" they have no intention of proving, or can't prove.
If they have contacted you, then they had 5 days to send you a letter notifying you of your right to dispute the alleged debt, or to request that they obtain and send you proof you owe it. Failure to send that letter is a violation of FDCPA.
On old alleged debt such as this, where they typically try to collect by repeated harassment via phone, they are often trying to use illegal deception, harassment or threats to get you to agree to payments, in effect restarting the statute of limitations period.
Send them a letter, mailed certified so you have proof of their receiving it, notifying them that they have been calling you repeatedly at nnn-nnn-nnnn despite your requests that they cease, regarding an alleged debt that you dispute, supposedly from 1990, that they have sent you no written communications on this alleged debt, and that you are demanding that they cease all further communications on this alleged debt.
If you have further problems with harassing calls, file complaints with FTC and your state Attorney General for their violation of your FDCPA cease communications request, and find an attorney with experience in FDCPA litigation.
Since FDCPA allows courts to award statutory damages and attorney fees, you should be able to find one to take such cases on contingency. Let your attorney do what they do best, and let the debt collector pay for it.
You might try www.naca.net