What legal steps should be taken in regards to this dilemma?
This is rather complicated and long, so I thank all who take the time to read this in advance.
A while ago my mom received a collections notice in the mail addressed to her for an overdue cell phone bill from a provider she’s never had before. At the time, an aunt of mine (B) was living in the apartment complex where my parents reside. She and my mom’s first and last names are the same, but their middle names are different (they married two brothers). My mom went to go talk to her and asked her if the bill was hers. B said it was, and my mom told her to call the company and straighten it out and left. It’s obvious now that B didn’t do anything about it (called nor paid it), as it showed up on my mom’s credit score when my parents were talking to a realtor about buying a house (they are still going through the process). The realtor told them that she did not advise them to do anything about the issue yet, as it would complicate applying for a loan. Anyway, my mom is still getting notices about the unpaid bill, even though she has called the company to tell them about the issue. So, finally, here is my question. How do we handle this issue legally? We don’t know where B lives anymore because she moved. And is it true we should wait to take any legal action until after my parents get the house stuff over with? Needless to say this has been a pain in our necks and has even messed things up with the parent student loans my mom took out to for my college expenses.
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7 Answers
How much money are we talking? If not too much, maybe your mom should just pay it and get it done with.
The delinquent bill notices will hurt more than getting it taken care of. If it is not much they probably will be better off just paying the bill and be done with it.
If not your mom should probably speak to an attorney. If they already have an attorney, notify the collections agents that the attorney is handling the situation and any correspondence should go through his or her office. Let the attorney know to expect the letters from the collection agents.
The collection agent doesn’t care if he has the correct person. As long as he has someone who responded and they have contact information they will keep calling or writing. I am getting collection calls for the person who had my phone number before me, I have sent them pictures of her gravestone, but they still think if they keep calling me they will get her to pay them somehow.
When my ex and I were attempting to buy a house, he had some unpaid bills as well. We were also told that he should hold off on paying them because, and this makes no sense whatsoever, that paying off any debt would lower his credit score.
If I were your mom, I’d wait until the loan goes through, then contact a lawyer to see what her options are. Won’t a lawyer end up costing more than the phone bill? Or is it a principle thing?
First of all, assuming you’re not going to pay the bill on someone else’s account, you can’t “explain things” over the phone and think they’ll be taken care of. Not ever.
They might have some luck if they write to the company that thinks it was stiffed, but if the bill has been sent to a collection agency, then the original carrier may not even care any more.
So the next step is to contact the credit reporting bureaus and obtain their credit reports. In the USA (and Canada, I think) there are three: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian
They are entitled to free copies (at least annually) of their credit reports, and the agencies provide means to dispute and explain negative reports. More consumers should do this.
Your parents should write to the credit reporting bureau they prefer (or all three, if they wish) with full particulars about the likely name and relationship mixup. Since they’ll be writing to the credit reporting bureaus, who already have full particulars on Social Security numbers and other identifiers, they should include that information so that the explanatory note is applied against the black mark in their own credit report.
First, take a deep breath.
Second, your mother should write a letter to the cell phone company saying they have the wrong person. He name is X Y Z and they want X U Z, her sister-in-law. She should copy the letter to the Consumer Protection Division (usually at the State Attorney General’s Office.
Then she should copy the letter to all three credit reporting agencies and ask to have it attached to her file.
In the letter, she should ask the cell phone company to remove the notice for the balance owed from her credit files. Say that she will take legal action if this is not done in a timely manner.
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