- Report: #274419
Complaint Review: Asset Acceptance - Warren Michigan
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Author Confirmed
Why?
Asset Acceptance
PO Box 2036 Warren, 48090-2036 Michigan, U.S.A.
Phone:
800-398-8814
Web:
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Asset Acceptance They are charging me for debt that is not mine. Warren Michigan
I have bills coming from Asset Acceptance LLC. It is $1040.68. It is for a phone bill, to a phone number, that is not mine. It never was mine.
I called the company to let them know that it must be for someone else with my name because I never had the phone number that the bill is for. They pretty much told me there is nothing they can do for me and that I need to pay the bill.
I have been receiving these letters for years now. I have looked into it a few times and still have not found out exactly what to do.
I have to admit, the first time I ever received a bill from them, I did pay about $200 on the bill because, I didn't think of checking and verifying that the bill was mine. I know now that it was stupid of me and I check bills for that now. At the time I had numerous doctor bills and I just kind of assumed it was one of those gone to collections.
I really need help with this. The phone number was never mine, and the bill is clearly for someone else with the same name as me.
Somebody please help me in this matter. I am lost and confused with it and I just want to get it off my credit report. Please help.
Jmariec
beaver dam, Wisconsin
U.S.A.
I called the company to let them know that it must be for someone else with my name because I never had the phone number that the bill is for. They pretty much told me there is nothing they can do for me and that I need to pay the bill.
I have been receiving these letters for years now. I have looked into it a few times and still have not found out exactly what to do.
I have to admit, the first time I ever received a bill from them, I did pay about $200 on the bill because, I didn't think of checking and verifying that the bill was mine. I know now that it was stupid of me and I check bills for that now. At the time I had numerous doctor bills and I just kind of assumed it was one of those gone to collections.
I really need help with this. The phone number was never mine, and the bill is clearly for someone else with the same name as me.
Somebody please help me in this matter. I am lost and confused with it and I just want to get it off my credit report. Please help.
Jmariec
beaver dam, Wisconsin
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Tim
Valparaiso,Indiana,
U.S.A.
Disputes are your next step
#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, September 13, 2007
If you have been unsuccessful in negotiating with the collection agency, your next step is to file a dispute with each credit reporting agency that has listed this debt. To do so, you will first need copies of each of your credit reports. You can get these for free by visiting annualcreditreport.com. Next, with the credit reports in hand, go to the website for each reporting agency that has listed the debt (Experian, Equifax, and/or Transunion). Each agency has an online dispute form. Fill out the form and wait about two months. During this time, the agencies will conduct an investigation and see whether or not the collection agency can actually prove that YOU owe the debt. After the two month period is up, you should have gotten a letter from each agency with which you filed a dispute, telling you whether or not the dispute was resolved in your favor, or if they need more information from you. If the disputes are not resolved in your favor, you have one of two options. The first option is to find out why the dispute was found against you, and to correct whatever error caused this result. The second option is to file a lawsuit for a declaratory judgment stating that you do not owe the debt. Of course, the lawsuit option is far trickier than anything else, but don't worry about that until after you have gone through the dispute process. In fact, if the dispute process fails you, come back with an update and, more than likely, somebody will help walk you through the legal processes. Best of luck!
John
Louisville,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
re:
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, September 13, 2007
I did pay about $200 on the bill because, I didn't think of checking and verifying that the bill was mine. ============== This falls into the "lessons learned the hard way" category. Anytime a collection agency contacts you, the very first thing you do is send a "Debt Validation" request to them asking them to validate the debt. As a consumer you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Act...you need to read and understand this this. You should never have made this payment without first investigating where the bill was from. If you had done a simple search on Google for "Asset Acceptance" you would have seen multiple pages detailing what a sleazy, bottom-feeder scam company this firm is. By making a payment of this debt, you have validated the debt as legitimate...even if it never belonged to you. Now that the debt has been validated as real by making this payment, this debt does belong to you. I wish I could give specific advise about what to do at this point From the web: ---------------------- Asset Acceptance is a debt collector that purchases extremely old debts, and then attempts to extort monies out of consumers. The motivation for repayment arises out of the information reported to the consumer's credit report, and numerous lawsuit and commentators have identified highly questionable reporting practices. One common theme is that Asset will "reage" the account so that it appears to have arisen from a more recent obligation that it did. The diference is that this newer date "resets" the permissible period in which consumer reporting Asset is known for its wanton lack of compliance with the Fair Debt Collections Practices act, and has been subject to numerous lawsuits as a result. Notwithstanding this, they continue on- due to the incredibly profitable nature of their business. They purchase many accounts on pennies on the dollar, yet try to collect for full face value or a portion thereof. Often, the accounts are inflated with spurious fees and illegal interest rates.
