Question:
Dear Steve,
Back in December of 2014 I received an email from a company stating that I owed them $990.68 for a debt that I know I don’t owe. They state in their email that they put my social security # into their National Database checking system and said that I was never charged with fraud.
I emailed them and asked for specific information as I was a victim of identity theft 20 years ago. they never responded and today I get another email and they are stating that they will report this to my employer and I would need to pay $5874.95 if this goes to court.
I have been trying to clean up my credit and build up it up and now these people are threatening to destroy what I have been trying to fix for the past 20 years.
how can I find out if this is a bogus company or if again my identity was stolen and used for fraudulent activity.
Thank you.
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Answer:
Well I think we need to pursue this issue based on the assumption the debt is not yours. You don’t want to just stick your head in the sand. Instead, you want to force their hand and prove the debt is valid and legally collectable.
The two big issues is if the debt is outside the statute of limitations where you live and thus they can never sue you even if it was an old debt and secondly, do they have the documentation to validate the debt.
Debt validation, or proving the debt is really yours, is an easy process. Here are a few of articles to read on the subject.
- Debt Validation Finally Defined. What You Should Ask a Collector or Creditor for to Validate a Debt.
- The Power of Debt Validation in Stopping the Robo-Signing Debt Collector
- How to Dispute and Ask a Debt Collector to Validate a Debt
- Debt Collection Form Letters to Stop Debt Collectors in 5 Different Situations
The most important steps to take as you move forward with your investigation are to not admit anything about the debt and to send your written requests to the collector by some sort of traceable means that provides you with proof they received your correspondence.
If you want to check out the company, read How to Check Out a Business or Company to Avoid Getting Scammed or Ripped Off.
