Complaint Review: American Agencies - San Diego California

I agree with the above poster, don't pay a cent to these people. ignore them. For anyone else reading for a debt this old whether valid or not never acknowlege the debt as it will re- age the debt. If the original debt was 10 years ago, statute of limitation has run out (normally 2-6 years) once this happens they can't sue you and yes it will fall from your credit report. But if you acknowlege the debt then the clock starts all over again from the moment you acknowlge the de

It is not your debt - as you stated probably never was Problem with Junk Debt Buyers- they paid pennies for it and try to collect the full amount - if not adding more - ITS A GAMBLE THEY TAKE. they are also the worst in regards to violating fed FDCPA laws. The debt is probably someone elses with the same name - they found you so therefore they have decided you are the debtor. I believe the 1st rebuttal was trying to refer you to the Bud HIbbs website - just search on Bud Hibbs since ROR removes the link this CONSUMER ADVOCATE WEBSITE.

I've seen others post in other sections about how the collection process works. I have worked for a collection agency before, not as a collector but as a contractor. I have not worked directly for American Agencies, so this may or may not be the process for their collections but this is usually how it works. American Agencies is what is called a "junk collector". They contract with other LARGER collection agencies to "buy debt" for pennies on the dollar. The information that American Agencies has about the debtor has been passed down by other agencies or the main corporation that the company has purchased the debt from. The information passed is like playing telephone, remember when you'd whisper in someones ear and the next person would try to repeat to the next person what was said and usually at the end it turns into something funny or in this case jumbled? When the main company, lets say PAC BELL sells the info to the collection agency, PACBELL cancels the account and turns over all information directly to the collection agency. Mind you, PACBELL has already reported this information to whatever credit bureaus they deal with. Ding 1 on your credit. They will SELL the info to the Collection Agency, who then filters through the information - whatever info they receive is coming DIRECTLY from PACBELL. The Collection Agency will not have the "original bill", they will only have the acct number, dollar amount you owe and an address to which the phone number was registered, which is why the debt is difficult to VERIFY. Sometimes the consumer data is received from the credit reporting agencies - mostly addresses. Have you ever looked at your credit report and noticed your other names, or addresses that are listed? Usually the info is gathered this way because you tried to obtain credit. This flag on your credit report notifies the collection agency that this is Where YOU Live and you have APPLIED for credit while living at ___ address. Usually the information is CORRECT which is why they can ALWAYS find you! If you know for a fact that the debt is fraudulent, contacting PACBELL wont do you any good. Telling the Collection Agency WILL do you good. They will place a fraudulent flag on your credit report until they can verify the information. If you still feel that the debt is not yours, file a police report, contact your original creditor AND the collection agency. They will reverse anything negative on your report. I know this because this has happened to someone close to me. If the agency is telling you that the debt is on your credit report, have them fax a copy to you so that you can verify the information. Also, SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN THE LEGAL department if you cannot get an answer from a collector. If in fact you DO owe the debt, pay only the original debt amount, not the interest. Tell them you will send a certified check only or use a credit card to pay the debt. If they insist there is interest on the account, ignore them and stand your ground. You are ONLY responsible for the original debt, plus any late fees - usually around 30-50 dollars. If the account is very old, the late fee may still be assessed. Remember, the collectors DO get a commission on the account, BUT it's not coming out of your pocket! Remember, the agency purchased the debt for pennies on the dollar, so the collection agency is already making money. If you owe the money, but cannot pay, TELL THEM THAT! Promising to make a payment only makes it worse. It will not make the calls stop, but at least you're being honest. Even if the debt is 10 years old, the agency will still try and collect on it. You STILL owe the money to the original creditor and they will do WHATEVER it takes to try and recover their losses, even if that means continuing to report it on your credit. Just because something is 7 years old, doesn't mean it goes away forever - trust me on this. Collectors have a job to do, they try to collect 10's of thousands of dollars per day. They WANT to be nice to you, because they want you to pay your debt, if they are rude to you, you will be rude to them and neither one of you will get to where you want to be and the calls WILL NOT STOP! They will contact you 3-4 times per day at any number they can reach you at and they will start a 8 am and wont stop until 9 pm. If you feel you are being treated unfairly, speak to a supervisor, they are trained to deal with this kind of stuff and are usually very helpful. It is helpful to always check your credit report every 6 months for errors, this way catching anything fraudulent will show up. Also, placing a fraud alert on your credit report will prevent unwanted fraud taking place and people trying to steal your identity. I believe the fraud alert lasts up to 6 months, but i cannot be sure. Good Luck

With an account so old, no matter how valid it originally was, they are not only barred against collecting from you, but they cannot sue you or even report to to any credit reporting agency. Sue them in small claims court and collect an easy $1,000 in presumed statutory damages under the FCRA/FDCPA. They are routinely sued for FCRA/FDCPA violations too, and they routinely lose. You have an easy win on your hands, and the by product is that they WILL go away forever. American Agencies (located at 1660 Hotel Circle N # 215, San Diego, CA 92108) are bottom feeders of the worst sort and they have no problem breaking all sorts of laws in their day-to-day conduct. More here: (((ROR redacted))) CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.