Unsure of how to proceed with potential debt

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MedWonk

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So, I've been getting once monthly calls from an 800 number that I decided to look up yesterday, and discovered it's associated with a collection agency. No message, no nothing. Never gotten anything in the mail. I panicked a bit, since I'm not sure what debt I owe or that I even owe one. I checked my credit reports through the three credit agencies, but they're clean. The only thing on there are my student loans and my car loan, which was long ago paid off. No negative reports. I'm not sure what to do or how I should proceed. The last thing I want is to have some debt keeping me from getting a GRAD Plus loan or otherwise ruining my credit. I have no issue with paying off my debts/bills, and generally am pretty debt-averse, so seeing this call on my phone has given me a fair bit of anxiety. Pretty bad timing right before the NBME.

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Are you cool with sharing the 800 number and the collection agency name? Many of them have reputations and patterns they follow. There's potential for FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) violations.

I checked my credit reports through the three credit agencies, but they're clean.
Great fact checking for your peace of mind. Just to play a really solid defense right now, if you haven't used up your once-yearly FACT Act free credit reports, instead of doing them online, what I do is call the toll-free number for the big 3 and request a free hard copy that they print out and mail to my address. And archive those hard copies for years to prove that as of [date of the reports], your [Experian/Equifax/TransUnion] was showing as [100% clean].
 
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Creditkarma is better and free. You get continuous access to your score and report, no gimmicks. Just Google their number, find out if it's legit, and negotiate a settlement before they put it on your record. Even if it goes on there it's not the end of the world. There are lots of other weighted metrics they look at to commutate your score: accounts total, outstanding debt vs available credit, length of credit, number of inquiries, and derogatory remarks.
 
Creditkarma is better and free. You get continuous access to your score and report, no gimmicks.

Acronym soup:
* CA - Collection Agency
* JDB - Junk Debt Buyer. A bottomfeeder Collection Agency who profits by buying older trade lines that other CAs have failed to collect on or have long breached Statue of Limitations.
* CK - CreditKarma, a popular site for free unofficial credit reports. Ignore the scores.
* FDCPA - Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A 20-ish page piece of legislation (it's an easy read I swear...unlike HIPAA) and has avenues to sue for damages and enumerates all the rules of engagement in collecting a debt. Can't call outside certain hours. Can't do Third Party Disclosure (tell you details about someone else's debt), can't use profanity, etc. Each prov-able violation is $1000 in small claims court.
* CRA - Credit Reporting Agency. The big three are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Innovis is the 4th one and rarely used. LexisNexus is a massive database of databases and is a pseudo-CRA.
* CR - Credit Report. Get hard copies mailed to you from the 3 CRAs for archival and evidence. Or at the very least, get the PDF versions online and save them forever.


CK is well known for a good way to access CRs frequently and has a good reputation, but it's aside from the issue I was discussing in this thread. A CK report would not hold in court in any fashion hence why I recommended hard copies of the 3 CRs from the 3 CRAs archived to show definitely that the CA (Collection Agency) in question indeed are not following the FDCPA.

Just Google their number, find out if it's legit, and negotiate a settlement before they put it on your record.
This is dangerous advice on how to fight a CA and use the FDCPA. Not all CAs or JDBs (Junk Debt Buyers) are created equal. And for all we know, the ones calling the OP are pursuing someone else and just being annoying.

Even if it goes on there it's not the end of the world.
That's when you can play hard ball and sue for damages per the FDCPA if a trade line is truly not the OP's. But having multiple CRs to submit as evidence will make the suit go much smoothly. And then it's just quick $$$ in small claims court for the OP.

Hey @MedWonk, can you post the #? Some CAs and JDBs are bottomfeeders and break every aspect of the FDCPA to date. I'm just curious who's playing games with you. :D
 
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I would certainly not just pay. Unfortunately I agree that you're more likely to be pursued by people that are hoping to scare you into just paying. Get your reports, learn about the company and learn about their specific claim and who its from. I received one of these in fellowship. I knew I didnt owe that bill, and while looking into the company and claim it turned out even if it were true due to terms of the settlement (a company went out of business) they could try to collect anything they wanted but there was zero obligation for me to pay anything legally. I never called them, tossed it in the garbage, and never heard of it again. Its a form of spray and pray.
 
I get calls like that but they are looking for someone who had my phone number 15 years ago. I've been getting those calls for 15 years. Don't worry until you hear something specific.
 
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