Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

You don't make the mistake of talking to these people . Calls do not work and they will do nothing with whatever you say. How do they know you are being honest and not just a debtor who is a deadbeat?

First, you need to pull your credit report and see if there are strange accounts on there. It could be that someone has taken out credit cards and defaulted while pretending to be you. It also can be something as simple as the debt collector looking for the person who has the same or similar name to yours. So start with your credit report.

If there are UFO accounts on there, how is it that someone might have stolen your identify? ? Did you live in an apartment ad a pre-approved offer was sent to someone who filled it out and pretended to be you? Was it a family member? If there are strange accounts, then you will have to go to the police and fill out an identity theft report. If it was a family member, it is possible that the creditor or junk debt buyer will prosecute that person. Identity theft is a crime. Some people do not want family members to go jail so carefully consider this. If you don't report the person, however, then the debt will stay in your name and be on your credit.

If there are no strange accounts, then you don't need to fill out a police report and it may be that the debt collector is looking for someone else. Is it possible that the person they are looking for is a relative of yours with the same or similar name? For example, a father and son may be designated as "Sr." and "Jr." or "II" and "III". Sometimes a parent or child has bad debts that the other relatives don't know about and their credit files may have become intermingled.

If this really is not your debt, the next tim e they call, make a note of the number. Politely ask if the call is recorded (it almost always is). Get the name of the person you are speaking to, the name of the collection agency and their address. Politely find out what debt they are calling about and the identity of the debtor and get any reference or account number. Explain this is not you and that it is a violation of the federal fair debt collection practices act for them to discuss someone else's debts with you. Tell them that they are to stop calling you and to remove your number from their files. Hang up.

Send them a certified letter reiterating that they have misidentified the wrong person. If this is a case of identifty theft, send a copy of the police report. Tell them to send you a fraud affidavit. Advise them that if they still insist this is your debt, to send you a verification of the debt. Finally, if calls at work are a problem, tell them that your employer does not allow you to receive personal calls while at work and request that all further contact be in writing and directed to you at the above address.

Under the debt collection practices act as well as NC law, a debt collector is generally not allowed to bother you once they know you are represented by an attorney. If you want to provide me with more specfics of your case, I give free consults via email and may beable to give you more specific advice once I know the facts. For a reasonable fee, I will also be happy to contact the debt collector on your behalf.