Michell N. Kay Law Offices of Michell N. Kay P.C. They claimed I owe money for a credit card that I had long ago paid off and closed the account. New York, New York
So, I received this letter about a week ago. It said I owed money for Chase bank - that I owe them $596.51 - but I have the opportunity to settle it for, $298.26 if I did it within 30 days. Now, a couple months back, I made a bad move and wrote bad checks for Chase bank and another one, only a couple - but I paid for it, money wise and financial class wise. I have gotten a couple unanswered calls from Chase, but they never left a message. I thought maybe there was a mistake with my bad check payment, and this is why they were contacting me. Finally, today I decided to look it up. And found a site with a hundreds of other people complaining as well, which is nice - because a couple months back, I almost got scammed on a job for HL Plastics. It wasn't till after I refused to give Mitchell N. Kay my SSN - that I noticed the last four numbers of the account. They're not the numbers of my Chase debit card, they're the last four numbers of my Chase credit card, that I had a long time ago, paid off completely, and closed the account and cut up the card (I don't trust myself with credit cards). So, now I'm very confused on what I should do, I know for certain I don't owe them any money, but I'm kind of nervous on calling them, I have no proof, except on my credit report.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
John
Louisville,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
re:
#2
Fri, September 18, 2009
When a debt collector first contacts you, your first step should always be to request validation of the debt per your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Even if the debt is valid, request validation anyway.
Send them a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt (do not use regular mail) stating:
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I am requesting written validation of this alleged debt, which includes:
- a copy of the original signed contract with my signature - validation of the original "Date of Delinquency" for this alleged debt
- validation of the "Date of Last Activity" for this alleged debt
- validation that this alleged debt is within the statute of limitations.
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* Never sign your signature on any document that you mail to a debt collector. It could end up on a forged document that can be used against you. Simply type your full name.
When they call back, tell them: I have sent a certified letter to your office officially requesting written validation of this alleged debt per my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Per this federal law they must provide written validation within 30 days and they must cease collection activity until they send you written validation.