Posted on September 21, 2008 at 12:20 pm A collection agency has to verify a debt they are trying to collect.  With this in mind, avoid answering that phone without knowing who is on the other end.Collectors have been known to push people into making at least one payment, which indicates that they are accepting responsibility for the debt.Never answer a phone when you haven't received anything in the mail form the agency or the attorney's office!

Posted on September 22, 2008 at 11:35 am Good point.  Don't make a payment until you know you owe it- and it's in writing.  I had a hospital bill sent to collections- Didn't even know about it- My insurance was supposed to cover it.  I called the insurance agency and they sent me the paid bill. Something got messed up in the system and the hospital sent it to collections- under my name.  I had to get a lawyer to have it removed. Had I not done this- I would have paid on something that wasn't mine.

Posted on September 22, 2008 at 12:02 pm If you were able to prove by the insurance company that the bill was paid, I do not understand why they still refused to accept it and make you get a lawyer.

Posted on September 22, 2008 at 4:06 pm Since you had the receipt showing it was paid a talk w/their collections department should have sufficed. Sounds like it didn't. Your next step is to institute suit against them for defamation of character. Yep, not even a debt question. I bet they would have gladly paid you to quash the suit. I don't know that for sure but it has worked in the past and will work in the future. You don't need a lawyer to start a suit. All you do is write the complaint, file it and pay the filing fee. It doesn't have to be letter perfect. If it isn't, the court will straighten it out for you. You can go to your local law library (usually located at the main court house) and get a template from the law books. The library I used to use had a special template book on the table near the copy machine so people could copy - at 25 cents per copy - any template they wished. Just my 2¢.

Posted on March 28, 2009 at 10:47 pm Great bit of information in the discussion!! i always do that even when i make a credit card payment!! can't take such a big risk of not verifying the collecting agent!!