False collection
Complaint
Paul DeMott
Country: United States
I am the executor of my father's estate. Within one month of his death in 2007, I received a collection notice from AFNI claiming that my father owed Verizon a bill of over $6000.00 for a telephone line that was operative for several months in 1997 (ten years ago). The line was located in a state where my father has never lived.
I had managed my father's affairs for several years prior to his death and had never received a bill from Verizon. I checked his credit report and found that there were no bills reported as past due.
As I have checked on the internet, I have found numerous other reports of attempts by AFNI to collect bogus bills. I find it very suspicious that within two weeks of my father's death, AFNI receives a bill for collection that is nearly ten years old.
I had managed my father's affairs for several years prior to his death and had never received a bill from Verizon. I checked his credit report and found that there were no bills reported as past due.
As I have checked on the internet, I have found numerous other reports of attempts by AFNI to collect bogus bills. I find it very suspicious that within two weeks of my father's death, AFNI receives a bill for collection that is nearly ten years old.
Comments
1) Most consumers are complaining that they have been sent a collection letter for an account that is not theirs, that they do not owe. Some report they have received a collection letter on accounts that were already paid, or for disputed amounts that the original creditor agreed to reverse, and some have reported that they have even verified with the original creditor that the disputed amount was in fact reversed and that no amount is due.
2) A recent consumer complaint reported that the Afni agent admitted that they had received Verizon "account" information, but without any account notes that would typically show resolved disputes or reversed charges (which might include resolved and closed billing errors, or even confirmed "id theft" accounts), resulting in Afni treating all "write-offs" as "unpaid, but valid, delinquent accounts". Most consumer complaints, however, appear to result from Afni's sloppy or intentional "misidentification", including sending bills to people whose name is not even on the original account if their skip tracing shows they had lived at the address on the account.
3) The rate of complaints against AFNI, as seen on complaint sites, including BBB.ORG, has shot way up since the beginning of 2007. Complaint levels on several different sites have increased by hundreds since the beginning of 2007. Several TV stations have recently done stories on problems with AFNI. Despite the numerous recent complaints, however, AFNI's collection tactics have not changed in response to the many consumer complaints that they are attempting to collect on accounts that are not owed. They have, however, joined BBB, who somehow rates them "satisfactory" despite the large increase in BBB complaints.
4) Most of these alleged accounts are old, many over 10 years old, not legally reportable under FCRA, and most state SOLs have expired. Many are alleged Verizon accounts, or other old telecom accounts. There are still reports that AFNI collection agents have claimed that consumers' credit will be damaged if they do not pay.
5) When they dispute it as "not theirs", demanding validation, AFNI seldom sends any "validation" actually obtained from the original creditor, if it sends anything at all, yet still attempts to collect. Many consumers report receiving a letter claiming they cannot validate, while still demanding identity documentation and police reports substantiating "identity theft" on an alleged account that AFNI has provided no proof or documentation of.
6) AFNI collection agents generally attempt to divert consumer disputes to their website, avoiding provable delivery by certified mail of validation requests in accordance with FDCPA. Some consumers report that their website only provides options to pay, or requires disclosure of private identity information before even allowing disputing the debt. FDCPA places no such requirement on disputing or requesting validation of debts.
7) Many consumer complaints regarding "accounts" they do not owe strangely include that some of the AFNI information is partly "correct". For example, part of the alleged account name may be correct, slightly erroneous (spelling, or first or middle name), or using a name such as a maiden name that they had once used but did not use at the time AFNI claims the alleged account was opened. Others report that the account address matches a past address, or maybe just a city they lived in, but not during the period they lived there, or the alleged phone number is not any phone number they had. Several report "accounts" allegedly opened when they were minors and had had no phone in their name.
8) Many report that AFNI has their correct SSN and DOB, even when other account information does not match, and even when Verizon or other original creditors report no accounts or no delinquent accounts under their name or SSN. In some cases, consumers report that AFNI alleges the account is owed by them but with a mish-mash of their identity, mixed with the identities of another relative. AFNI has claimed in such cases that this is "identity theft", and demanded that the consumer either pay or file a complaint against a relative, even though AFNI still fails to provide validation, yet a number of consumers report that they do not believe this claim is credible.
In short, the overall picture presented is of attempts to collect thru blind matching of names, or even only addresses, in an attempt to collect from anyone who might owe, or be convinced to pay, old "accounts" that may or may not even be owed. This results in many consumers having to deal with bogus collection claims on accounts they have no clue about. In addition, AFNI appears to have access to SSN and DOB information on whoever they send collection letters to, from sources separate from account information received from original creditors (perhaps credit reports or other databases), and they use that information to "substantiate" their collection claims.
You may want to check with your probate attorney on how to handle this.
You might need to provide written notice that all debts, and validation of those debts, must be submitted by a deadline as required by probate law in your state, to be considered for payment. In addition, if they are submitting a fraudulent bill for payment by an estate, that may invoke additional criminal penalties under state law beyond the usual FDCPA violations, since as executor for the estate, you are an "officer of the court".
Alternatively, if their claim appears fraudulent and erroneous on its face, maybe it would be simplest to let the probate deadline expire before they can get their act together.
See what your attorney says. I am NOT an attorney.
There have been a number of complaints of AFNI sending collection letters following recent deaths, moves, or following recent mortgage inquiries as people start to line up financing for a house. Like most complaints, the consumers report having no idea what the bill is for, or believe it is very old and probably paid. In several cases, consumers have reported that erroneous collection accounts appeared just as they were trying to close on a mortgage, when the account was not present earlier when they did their initial credit check in preparation for a home purchase or refinance.
We also know from some consumer reports that AFNI often has pulled credit reports several months (possible as much as 6 to 9 months) prior to sending out their collection letters. We have reports that they often have the consumer's SSN and DOB, where the consumer alleges it is not their debt, and even where they may not have been using that name at the time AFNI alleges they opened the account, also indicating they probably obtained this from credit reports.
AFNI may be pulling credit reports, as well as placing a credit file trigger, so they get notified of reported changes. Credit and mortgage inquiries, as well as notifications that a consumer is deceased, might trigger notification of AFNI, resulting in their sending letters shortly after, possibly sooner than they might otherwise get around to it. This would allow them even to pursue collection of a single alleged debt from several suspected "debtors", focusing their attention on those most likely to pay off, and enhancing their odds compared to the apparent blind mailings that are resulting in the high complaint levels.
Placing negative collection items on credit reports just as a consumer is about to close a mortgage might also result in many payments by consumers even on disputed, un-owed debts, since it is too costly to delay closing to allow for the several months it might take to get the error removed from reports. The consumer is stuck with funds in escrow paying daily interest on the loan until the mortgage closes.
http://www.experian.com/products/collection_triggers.html
Once you used a name similar to some name on an account they bought, with the account originally at some address you probably never lived at for some phone number you never had, so they think it's OK to send you and any other similarly named person a bill you don't owe, damage or threaten your credit, and just walk away with a cheap "apology" if you are one of the few consumers who start shooting back.
If they actually paid for all the damage they do, they wouldn't make any profit on these old "debts".
AFNI has been charged with many fraudulent collection attempts. I guess you must work for AFNI or some collection agency since you people are in a class on your own. (low) Some people would rather clear up messes than continually be bothered by them. That's not me but if you think "noby in their right mind would" you need to get out and meet more people because there are many out there
this has to stop.
The FTC appears to be sleeping on the job with respect to AFNI's deceptive collection activities, even though the highest number of "id theft" complaints received by FTC in 2007 mentioned either Verizon, AFNI, or both.
They probably already have your SSN, even if it wasn't in the original account information, just from pulling your credit report. Nothing they claim verbally can be trusted, and little that they claim in writing, either.
Asking you for your identity information, claiming it might be "identity theft", is just a charade anyway. Instead of helping to resolve some "fraudulently opened account", what they are more likely doing is trying to shift the burden of proof that it is NOT your debt onto YOU, evading your right to demand that THEY provide proof, when they probably have no idea who really owns it, and were only guessing it might be you, anyway.
From many consumer complaints, they appear to be sending out collection letters to anyone with a similar name, with no attempt to correctly identify the original debtor. That results in many people receiving collection letters for "debts" they have no knowledge of, for phone numbers they never used, in cities and states they never lived at, or from times years different from when they lived there.
When the consumers call, they respond that "it might be id theft". With no cost to obtaining any documentation from the original creditor, they can then just sit back as the consumer runs around filing police reports, trying to dig up old rental agreements or checks, etc. They can then question (or just ignore) any id theft documentation you send, leaving their damaging bad debt line on your credit reports until you give up and pay them. Once you pay them for a "debt" you never even owed, there is then no reason to remove the negative mark from your credit reports, since you "admitted" you owed it, but they might update it to a "paid collection". Quite a racket.
According to a recent study, AFNI (and Verizon, responsible for most of the old debts they are collecting on), were the top two companies mentioned in FTC "id theft" complaints filed by consumers in a sample of 3 months from 2007. AFNI has shot up from around 20th in 2006 to number 2, with Verizon number 1, ahead of all banks and all other telecom companies or debt collectors. Having experienced their collection tactics, do you really believe these are actually "id theft" cases?
What they don't want is for you to send written request for validation, particularly within 30 days of receiving their first collection letter. If you had done so, under FDCPA they would have been required to cease collection until they sent you proof of the debt. They may have led you to believe they were "investigating" the "id theft" to divert you from sending that validation request letter within the 30 days, intentionally weakening your ability to use your FDCPA rights to dispute a debt you don't owe.
Send a letter disputing the debt and requesting proof that you owe it. Send it certified, return receipt requested. If they continue attempt to collect, including pressuring you for payment without sending you proof you owe it, and in particular if they claim they don't have to provide validation in response to your request, file complaints with FTC, your state AG, and the Illinois AG. Include in your complaint that this is not your account, that you never had this phone number, and that they told you they were "investigating it as id theft" to deceive you into not sending in a validation request when you first contacted them.
I have been a victim of afni fraud and am very angry. Would you be willing to send me a signed letter with you story? I am putting a case together against them.
Thank you,
Polly Moorman
polly7002@hotmail.com
www.naca.net
You might also try several attorneys who handle such litigation, since they should be able to put you in touch with an attorney in your state.
Here are several:
http://www.pennlawyer.com/
http://www.alabamaconsumer.com/
http://www.myfaircredit.com/
http://www.lawpoint.com/