New Collection Agency

[stepdad]

I have read through this forum, and read most of the cases.

I have a question. I know when a collection agency buys a bad debt, they purchase it between $.50 - $.75 to the dollar. (original debt $1000., bought for ? $700.)

My wife just got a letter from a collection agency that purchased this bad debt from a different collection agency. Did this agency buy the debt $.50 - $.75 to the new dollar amount also? ($700. bought for ? $525.)

This loan was taken out a long time ago, and in the first call from this agency, they stated a recent home address they were sending info to, that we never lived at.

We are going to ask that they validate this debt, for the date of possible last activity was 1991. (it is possible to be her debt) This never shown up on a credit report, and was apart of her previous marriage. Is it possible to also take her EX to court to pay half of this bad debt, even though he was not on this loan? He wasn't on the loan because he had no credit, and the loan was refused if his name did appear. Their divorce papers name other bad debts, but this one never made it to the credit report, so it wasn't mentioned by name in 1996 divorce papers.

Thanks for your time

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You have no idea how much money a collection agency may have purchased a debt for. It also does not affect the amount of the judgment against the debtor, who still owes the entire amount of the debt (although it may be paid to another party.)

Avoiding the issue isn't going to help you. A credit report doesn't mean much -- it's only a tool and isn't absolute. The credit report does not "validate" or "invalidate" a debt. It just means that a significant financial event occurred which may have been reported to an agency that keeps track of people's credit. If you had a personal loan with your neighbor, it may never be reported to a credit reporting agency if you blew off the loan but it doesn't mean you don't owe it just because she never reported the default to a credit reporting agency.

Regarding whether you can hook the ex, it all depends upon what the original loan agreement was and whether he took out the loan, cosigned, or was a guarantor.