Collection Company Nightmare

[shill]

Any help would be greatly appreciated with this situation. About 2 -3 years ago we started receiving calls from Calvery informing my husband of a back debt from a bank. He does not recall any loans through the bank they are trying to collect the debt on. He even went as far as to contact the bank and have them check through their archives for any loan he may have had with them and they could not find anything. My husband has asked them repeatedly for a copy of the documentation with his signature on it so he has proof that this loan is his, becuase he truely can not remember any dealings with this bank. At one point the collection agency actually said that the only thing they had was his social security number, the name of the bank and the amount that is due. They could not tell us what kind of loan it was or any other information regarding it. They have also made mention of things that do not even relate to my husbands background such as places he has lived or places he has worked. Over the past years we think we get through to them because we finally talk to someone that agrees with us and tells us they will take care of the situation and that we will not be contacted again regarding this and about every 8 months we have someone new contacting us and we go through the whole thing again from start to finish. This debt does not appear on any of his credit reports and supposedly is from 1989. Do we need to write a letter to the company asking for this documentation and if they do not have it to cease and assist any further contact with us? This company's employess are very rude and harrassing every time we speak with them. Thanks for any help

 

[aschro]

Good place to start...

FTC site:
http://ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/coninfo_loans.htm

This might be relevant:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm

I've read about these types of debts - they're basically purchased by last-resort collection agencies for almost nothing, and they're rarely collected. You may be able to shake them by sending them a letter telling them to knock it off (see links above). They may keep it up, and then you can threaten to sue. They might sue you in small claims (or reg court if larger amount) but without any documentation, they'd have a heck of a case and would in that instance be hoping that you don't show up to court so they could collect a default judgment.

Hope the links help,
Alex