National Recovery Group (George Dodd)

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ihatect

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If you are having problems with this company, please document them here.

In my case, they are attempting to collect invalid debt (my vehicle was registered in another state during the periods that they are attempting to collect for).

This case is similar to many others. The Town of New Milford, CT never sent a bill (I lived there less than a year) and now they are attempting to collect taxes, fees, interest, etc. from this collection agency 8 years after the bill.

If you share a similar experience, please document it here.
 
I just received 2 letters from this company today also representing New Milford, CT. They claim I owe taxes from 13 years ago on vehicles. I called National Recovery and they are stating this is all legal...they can not only state I owe these taxes but also add fees and interest. I have lived 30 miles outside of New Milford for 13 years. National Recovery states they couldn't find me (for 13 years???). I asked them what I could do to resolve this and they said if I have no proof, I will need a lawyer. Any ideas...I contacted the bank for checks and nothing. Contacted my tax person and they don't keep returns for 13 years (thought it would show I paid the tax). This is making me sick as I have great credit and have never been contacted by a collection agency. How can New Milford, CT do this and get away with it???
 
I have been receiving letters from this company, American National Recovery Group, Inc, since May of this year. I responded with a letter , sent registered mail, informing them that I disputed the debt, and for them to provide proof that it was valid. They ignored the letter, and sent out another one last month, indicating that I never responded. As previous posters have noted, the time frame for this alleged debt occurred after I had left CT. My car was repossessed, because I became to ill to work. I am currently disabled. There is no way that I owe taxes for a time in which I no longer resided in CT, nor for a car that was not in that state on the due date of this bill.
 
Disregard letters from this collection agency

I received a letter from this collection agency, as well. It stated I owed taxes from my time in CT back in the mid 1990s. I did some sleuthing and found meeting minutes from this past summer for the town in question approving the use of this collection agency in an obvious attempt to collect on alleged past due taxes. So, it appears this collection agency is legit. My reaction? Big deal.

Here's my take on the whole thing. It's tough times these days for town governments. Increased costs. Limited tax base. They're probably having a whale of a time managing a budget and raising taxes is, at best, a worst case scenario. So a trend has developed recently. Towns are now contracting with collection agencies to shake people down.

The hope is people will cower and send in money upon receipt of a letter from a collection agency (you'd be surprised how many do this). These towns really don't expect to recoup all the money they're seeking. Heck, even if 25-50% of the recipients of these letters pay all or part of their alleged liability, it's worth it. For every dollar received, this collection agency gets 35 cents while the town gets 65 cents. That's worth the price of a couple of stamps, you dig?

My time in CT was quite abbreviated. The alleged past due amount is ridiculously high. So my reaction was to write this collection agency (I paid with a stamp... not certified... not priority mail) telling them in a very nice way to %$#&! off. I suggest you do the same. These towns don't have the time, the money or the resources to take you to court. As stated above, they're just looking for easy money. The rest they'll just write off.

As an fyi, the statute of limitations on this sort of thing is fifteen years. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't pursue you from that point on. So hang tight, use the letters from this collection agency for toilet paper and hold onto your money which I am quite sure is well earned. These crummy little towns offering rotten services can go pound tar. 'Nuff said.
 
I got the same thing - I wrote them this...


Peter X. XXXX
9999 Preston Avenue
XXXXXX, VA 21900

January 14th 2008

Dear Mr. Dodd,

I was a little surprised to receive your letter referencing account # XXXX-19XXXXXX. I fully dispute the debt of $2,097.93 or any portion thereof. There are a number of reasons for this detailed below:

1. I never owned a 1993 Audi 100 in the Town of Greenwich.
2. The spelling of "Peter XXXXX" is not me. My last name has two "XX's" and one "Y."
3. I never lived in Greenwich in 1996 or 1997.

Has this incorrect collection attempt damaged my credit score in any way? Please consider this letter as proof of a response that I fully dispute your attempt to collect this debt. I would also request of your office the name and address of the original creditor, verification of the debt and a copy of a judgment from 12 years ago. I would like to see that this collection activity is taken care of in a quick efficient matter.

Sincerely,



Peter
 
American National Recovery Group / CT car taxes

I've read most of the postings on this thread and others with much interest.

My wife and I have also recently been contacted by the captioned collection agency claiming 1991-1993 CT taxes on cars we NEVER owned, never mind that we have not resided in Connecticut for over a decade. The whole thing is outrageous, to say the least.

I would strongly recommend that everyone on this thread contact Lou Dobbs at CNN, "20/20" and "60 Minutes". This is a great example of cash strapped municipalities trying to rip-off consumers / former residents, and I'm certain that all of the above news shows would be very interested in this story. What Connecticut is doing is the equivalent of a legalized scam.
 
I moved out of CT in 1995 and I was just contacted by American National Recovery Group about a property tax on a car that I sold in 1994 and owned in Old Greenwich, CT. I am told that the Town of Greenwich has turned all of these supposed taxes due to this agency. I even paid property tax on a car that I owned in CT AFTER that car and they are telling me that I haven't paid the prior tax. I have searched all over for information - I called the DMV and all my insurance agencies and no one has any records that far back and neither do I. This agency is telling me that I must prove that I paid this tax or else it will be reported to all credit agencies. The tax was originally $137.78 and I am told that I now owe over $500.

I was even told by the Town of Greenwich Tax Office to ignore this unless I plan to move back to CT before the 15 year statute of limitations expires.

If anyone wants to contact Lou Dobbs at CNN or "Shame on You", please write and we can all get together. Does a Town or Municipality have the right to turn this over to a collection agency? Do we have any rights? How can we prove we paid this bill? How could we have paid a property tax on a car after the one in question if we owed a prior tax? How could we have registered the car without all prior taxes being paid?

I cannot afford to pay over $500 and I cannot afford to have my credit report compromised. I am furious and plan to contact every state representative in both CT and NY to find out what to do. Any suggestions?
 
You must demand a cetification of debt

I have my papers on a "bad check" that a 3rd pary "bought", it isn't legal. PM me if you need more info. I beat that case as well. These types of debt are BS.
 
Brenda, didn't you even read my post above? I don't know why you are fretting over this. They're trying to scare you into paying them some cash and apparently it's working. I can hear the desperation in your post.

Here's what apparently has happened. Towns have turned debt collection over to this Dodd agency in an effort to recoup some old money to help balance the local budget. Dodd sends out tons of letters. The idea is to scare people into paying something they think they owe. The town gets most of the money and Dodd gets its share. The thing to note is Dodd doesn't see a penny until they recoup cash from people.

Both the state and Dodd are looking for 'easy money', the money they can get from nervous nellies who fold like accordians when someone threatens to hit their credit. Don't become a victim. I think you're worrying way too much over this and I wouldn't pay Dodd one red cent. Write them a letter just for the record stating in a very nice way that they can take a long walk off a short pier.
 
Luckily I found this post, I have also received 2 letters recently from George Dodd telling me im late on payments to the town of Putnam CT. The weird part about this was they are claiming I owe money for the car I had. I never registered the car in CT, I am a NY resident stationed here in CT, but when I bought the car I was stationed in NH...So now i'm going to tell eveyone I know to beware of this scam.
I contacted the BBB and asked them if they have ever heard of this, but no reply yet.
 
When Connecticut sends out a personal property tax bill is it "in arrears" or is it billed in advance? My problem is with the town of Seymour and the bill is for just after I moved and the year after.
It's been so long since I lived there, I've forgotten. I have receipts from the moving van company I hired for my move that proves when my furniture and stuff arrived in my new state, but I can't find tax law info that clarifies what the time period for the bill is.

What I have done, is contact Senators from my State of residence (Oregon) and told his office about this tax scam. They have asked that I gather this information and they are going to help me. They also want to know if any other Oregonians are going through this. I told him about the websites I've found like this one - looks like Ct is the only state out there harassing former residents for local and state taxes.
 
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Count me in, I got the same letter.

From 1996-1997 I went to DMV and they have no records of the car be registered and my insurance company has no records either. I will join whatever you want
 
I received the first of these letters about Oct 1 2007 and I responded to it immediately. I haven't lived in New Milford in 12 years; my ex husband had the car. To make a long story short, Dodd requires an absurd amount of documentation to contest the fees. I spoke with New Milford's tax assessor, who got defensive about the use of Dodd, and several times she told me (in a way that sounded it was a phrase she's used many times before) it was within their legal bounds to collect taxes from up to 15 yrs ago. I asked her how many bills and reminders they sent out from 1997 to 2007 to try to collect those debts and she said they were busy and short-staffed. I guess anyone can make a lot in accrued late fees if they ignore an "unpaid" bill and go in for the kill, scraping together anything they can 12 years later. I also spoke with the tax collector. Both seemed sympathetic to my situation, but acted like it was with Dodd now.
 
Scooterdog said:
You must demand a cetification of debt

I have my papers on a "bad check" that a 3rd pary "bought", it isn't legal. PM me if you need more info. I beat that case as well. These types of debt are BS.
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Scooterdog, can you please explain? What is a certification of debt?

And saying I did owe this money (which I don't), would it be legal to just contact the town and bargain a cents on the dollar settlement? Because they're losing a lot of money to George Dodd.
 
I am following this thread closley. SO nobody has beat this? It is funny how all of a sudden this guy comes out of nowhere with what seems like all "debts" that are so old it is difficult to find proof.
 
maryc said:
Scooterdog, can you please explain? What is a certification of debt?

And saying I did owe this money (which I don't), would it be legal to just contact the town and bargain a cents on the dollar settlement? Because they're losing a lot of money to George Dodd.
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Mary, I believe what scooterdog is referring to is a legal judgment that you owe the money in question. In order to get this, a court hearing must take place and a judge has to rule in favor of the plaintiff. When this happens, the debt has officially been 'certified'. The resulting document can then be presented as proof of debt.

By law, nothing can appear on your credit report unless a judgment has officially been validated by a judge. However, there are creditors out there who bypass this formality and hit your credit anyway because it costs them money to get a judgment. They'll just hit someone's credit because they know the masses out there don't know their rights because they're too busy watching a ballgame or American Idol to do a little research. They see something on their credit, they wet their pants and they immediately go running for the checkbook.

Years ago, I lived in Ohio and rented a townhouse from a company that owned the entire development. I ended up returning to New England and the company in question tried to hit me with repainting, rerenting and other miscellaneous fees. I told them to go take a hike. They got only the money owed to them. These bogus fees came to around $600. They hit my credit for that amount.

When I noticed that this happened, I contacted all three major credit reporting agencies and asked them to demand proof of that debt. Most states (Ohio included) already had laws on the books rendering such fees invalid and I sent the Ohio legal precedents to the credit reporting agencies to support my claim that the debt was invalid. I knew the company never got a judgment against me. All I needed was the credit reporting agencies on my side. And I was vindicated.

As I recall, it took a couple of months but, in the end, that negative hit came off all my credit reports. It's a liberating feeling when you can take your legal foot and put it up some company's @ss.

As for negotiating with the town in question for a 'cents on the dollar' settlement, I have no idea why you would even bother to do that Mary but, for your information, the town has already signed a contract in which all debt collection will be performed by Dodd. They probably couldn't negotiate a better deal with you even if they wanted to as it would be a breach of contract.

Also, they'll sense weakness and simply direct you to Dodd with a pleasant little smile on their face. I hope you'll show some backbone and not allow yourself to become a victim. Everytime someone does that, I can hear P.T. Barnum snickering from his grave.
 
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I just received my second communication from Geo and he informs me that taxes being a soverign fee created by Federal or State entities are not relared to goods or services for the individual but to the communal need and therefor not subject to the FDPCA and is not a debt covered by the definition in Section 803 part #5. In other word they are refusing to validate the tax debt. Is this true? Because I've found old bank statements (thank heaven I'm a paper packrat!) that show payments made to the Town of Seymour just before I moved in 2000, but I need the original billing amount to determine if this bill has already been paid. Where can I get legal information that covers debt verification as realated to town taxes? As for the taxes thry're trying to get me for 2001, I did not live in CT then and have my moving van documents and, again, bank statements showing payment to the Oregon DMV.

Connecticut IS the 5th ring of hell!
 
Count Plainvlle In!

Just got a letter for my husband's truck. He lived in Plainville for 4 years. Now they are asking for the 2 years after he moved.

The years are 2003 & 2003 so we shouldn't have as much trouble with the 'proof' as others on this thread, but wanted to add to the discussion since they seem to be shifting to newer non-debt.
 
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