Debt Collector

[Chrisdice]

I received a call a few minutes ago from a collection company called Harvard Collection Services. They said I have an outstanding balance with Sprint of $43.00 from March of 2003. I know nothing about this and as far as I am concerned my last billed was paid in full over 6 years ago. I have no records from that long ago to even look it up. I told them to contact me in writing with proof of the debt. They said because of the age of this, they have nothing other then an amount that I owe. Now I don't want to damage my credit for a mere $43.00 but lets get real, I don't feel comfortable about this at all. Any suggestions?

[Sid]

looks like a scam Chris

Harvard Collection-Bogus Sprint claims - Harvard Collection Services Chicago, 60630

googled it...

[luckydog]

you don't owe it, i think they would have to mail you proof that they bought this debt from sprint.

looking at Sid's link, it does look like they can post it to your credit status.

[new in town]

Capt. Weirdo Strikes Back Again ! ! !

[Sid]

i do find it somewhat difficult to believe that a company can just tarnish someones credit record with no proof no nothing.. what is the world coming to?

[mcknli7]

i always thought that after 5 years a debt was written off so there cant be any way that the money they are saying you owe can exsist

[birdbrain]

7 years unless they refile in the last 45 days

[jwegger]

Collection agencies sell the debt they can't collect on to other collection agencies, the olded the debt the cheaper it is. Say you owe a Credit card and they can't collect, they can then sell the debt to another agency for a percentage of the debt. If they can't collect they will sell to another agency for a smaller percentage of the orginal debt, sometimes it can go through 4 or 5 collection agencies before it's deemed uncollectible. Depending upon how old the debt is it can be bought for a few cents on the dollar, the longer it's gone uncollected the worse the collection agencies are if your name is close they will send you an old bill to try and collect something off their investment, If you are paying $100 for $10000 worth of debt it doesn't take but one or two people to pay you to turn a profit. And they can report it to the credit agencies to try and make you pay to keep your credit clean.

[FTKServices]

Just tell them that it was paid & if they don't believe to go and check their records. That you are sure it is right next to the amount owed of $43.00.

Since they have no records to prove you owe the amount then they don't have any proof that you never paid it.

[luckydog]

a few years ago when I had my new central air installed i gave the installer $500.00 cash and a check for the balance.

both payments were written up on the bill and bill was stamped paid in full.

a year later the owner called and said i had a balance of $500.00 owed on the bill,

i keep all my important reciepts in a folder, so i told him it was paid in full. and if he didn't believe me he could come over and look at the reciept

so i saved a trip to small claims court

[millermaster1]

CLARK HOWARD!
ClarkHoward.com Home: Save More, Spend Less and Avoid Rip-Offs on clarkhoward.com

This is a great site for checking all sorts of scams. There are also FREE links to getting your credit report run. You can see if there are any outstanding bills or things you left open!
Lots of great information, just keep looking...

[daverob]

In this case I'd tell them that the debt isn't yours and if they file anything on your credit report then you will sue them for damages. So unless they have evidence that it is your debt and that evidence is sufficient to stand up in court, then they'd be better off dropping the case.

Of course also tell them that if they do have such evidence, if they send you a copy you will check it's validity and provided it is genuine, you would be happy to pay.

Also contact Sprint and see if there was ever a debt placed on your account that was sold on to external debt collectors, as I'm assuming that they must legally keep records like this for at least as long as the debt is enforceable by law.

[pinball wizard]

those scam artists should be rounded up and shipped off to prison.i wonder how many decent people they scared into sending them money to save their credit ratings, even if they had no outstanding debt.i am not a legal expert by any means,but i believe there are laws against this kind of criminal activity.

[compirate]

I think if you do have debt and it gets sold around like that you should be able to buy it yourself for pennies on the dollar, then try and collect from yourself!

[jwegger]

Another thing you have to watch out for is if you go to the doctor and get some lab work done the Labs will bill the insurace before the insurance gets the paperwork form the doctor. The insurance company pays the lab everything except the co-pay, the lab then send you a bill for the co-pay. Everytime I go to the doctor I get a bill from the lab and have to call the insurance company to have them adjust the billing. The last time I called the agent told me that about 1/2 the people end up paying the lab because they think the insurance company didn't pay and they owe the extra money, and after 30 days the labs will send you to their collection department and start harrasing you.