Question:
How do I sue a Colorado collection agency from California?
This Financial Enterprise, Inc. of Denver, Colorado has been harrassing me
to try to collect money from me. I am not this person in debt, but we have
the same name (different initial, different birthday and different Social
Security Number).
Thank you for your advise and help.
Answer:
If it is a collection agency, and not the original creditor, the first thing
you should do is send them a letter by regular mail and certified mail
return receipt requested which simply states, "I do not owe the debt in
question. Furthermore, pursuant to the federal Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act, please cease all further communication with me." Don't
embellish or write anything else -- just those two sentences is all you
should include -- nothing else. The reason I said a collection agency and
not the original creditor is that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
applies primarily to collection agencies, not original creditors.
Once you send that letter, you will probably never hear from that collection
agency again. Instead, they will pass that case back to the original
creditor who will then pass it on to another collection agency. Then you
just do the same thing with the next collection agency.
They are allowed to contact you one more time after you send that letter,
but really just to tell you that received your letter, will be filing suit,
or whatever. But the reality is that you will not hear from them again.
If you can find it somewhere, there is an out-of-print book called "Back
Off! (The Definitive Guide to Stopping Collection Agency Harassment)" by
Benjamin F. Dover that explains all of this.
If they continue contacting you after you send the letter, just go to a
consumer law attorney near where you live. Show him/her what you have done
so far along with the proof that the collection agency received your cease
and desist notice. He/she will probably handle the case for you at no cost
because the laws allow for them to recover attorney fees from the collection
agency as well as actual and/or punitive damages. Don't waste your time
trying to fight this legally without an attorney. Just do the first steps
on your own and then go to a consumer law attorney if they don't stop.
Part 2 of the above is to check your credit reports through all 3 major
credit reporting agencies. If this or any other collection agency or
creditor is reporting negative information on your credit report for debts
that do not belong to you, write back to each credit reporting agency and
state that the debts in question are "not my debts". They are required to
check with the party that reported that information who then must verify
that it is correct within 30 days or it gets removed from your credit
report. If this process doesn't work, go to a consumer law attorney in your
area and ask what to do. There is a different "credit reporting" law that
applies and they can get it resolved for you -- again probably at no cost to
you.
I am not an attorney, but I think you'll find that this is all correct.
