My question comes from a phone call that I received from a collection agency last evening. It all stems back to a child custody case in Florida that my niece was involved in. She was the client in the case and signed the contract with the attorney's office. Two payments were made to the attorney for services rendered by my mother (niece's grandmother) which were via personal check which I signed for her (I have power of attorney for her accounts).
To make a long story short, my niece has reneged on the final payment due to the attorney and now they have contracted with a collection agency to collect the outstanding amount. In doing so, they have added my name along with hers in an attempt to collect. I have an old copy of the final bill from the attorney which clearly states that the bill is for her. Her name is listed right after the bill to: area on the invoice.
I told the collector this information and faxed him a copy of that bill showing that she is the one who owes the amount due and not I. He called the attorney in question who admitted that my niece was his client. The attorney then stated that he felt that his office had an oral contract with me. This is totally false since I have never given any indication to their office that I would in any way be responsible for the debt, especially since I was not the client.
What actions can I take to get removed from this collection action before it has a negative impact on my credit rating. I think this attorney is just trying to attach my name to the collection because I have resources ($) that my niece doesn't have.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!!
To make a long story short, my niece has reneged on the final payment due to the attorney and now they have contracted with a collection agency to collect the outstanding amount. In doing so, they have added my name along with hers in an attempt to collect. I have an old copy of the final bill from the attorney which clearly states that the bill is for her. Her name is listed right after the bill to: area on the invoice.
I told the collector this information and faxed him a copy of that bill showing that she is the one who owes the amount due and not I. He called the attorney in question who admitted that my niece was his client. The attorney then stated that he felt that his office had an oral contract with me. This is totally false since I have never given any indication to their office that I would in any way be responsible for the debt, especially since I was not the client.
What actions can I take to get removed from this collection action before it has a negative impact on my credit rating. I think this attorney is just trying to attach my name to the collection because I have resources ($) that my niece doesn't have.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!!
