December 23, 2005
Is Zombie Debt Collectible?
Just because a business has gone under, or no longer exists, doesn't mean that the debt is no good. Debts are routinely sold by companies at reduced rates, and they are considered an asset of the company.
They are often sold in bulk when businesses close their doors. In bankruptcy proceedings, this is done with court supervision.According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Validation occurs if the consumer doesn't dispute the debt within 30 days ofnotification. On the other hand, if the debt is disputed within the30 day time frame, the collection agency must stop all collectionactivities until the debt is verified.
For verification to take place, all the collection agency really needs to do is produce a copy of the debt, which can be easily done if they own the original billing tapes or have film copies of invoices. Essentially, they need to show that the debtor actually received a bill. Alternatively, they can produce a copy of a judgment against the debtor. If they do this, then don't need to produce anymore documentation.A common misconception is that they have to produce original signatures. They don't.
A debt collector may pocket all of what they collect for certain debts. But if the collector owns the debt outright, then they are legally entitled to do this. Anyoneconsidering not paying for this reason needs to be very careful asyou can get sued and lose under these circumstances.
If the debt is not yours, then you need to try to prove this. Thisusually means swearing out an affidavit of fraud under penalty ofperjury and may also include filing police reports with theappropriate law enforcement agencies. This information should besubmitted to the CRAs and to the collector(s).
They are often sold in bulk when businesses close their doors. In bankruptcy proceedings, this is done with court supervision.According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Validation occurs if the consumer doesn't dispute the debt within 30 days ofnotification. On the other hand, if the debt is disputed within the30 day time frame, the collection agency must stop all collectionactivities until the debt is verified.
For verification to take place, all the collection agency really needs to do is produce a copy of the debt, which can be easily done if they own the original billing tapes or have film copies of invoices. Essentially, they need to show that the debtor actually received a bill. Alternatively, they can produce a copy of a judgment against the debtor. If they do this, then don't need to produce anymore documentation.A common misconception is that they have to produce original signatures. They don't.
A debt collector may pocket all of what they collect for certain debts. But if the collector owns the debt outright, then they are legally entitled to do this. Anyoneconsidering not paying for this reason needs to be very careful asyou can get sued and lose under these circumstances.
If the debt is not yours, then you need to try to prove this. Thisusually means swearing out an affidavit of fraud under penalty ofperjury and may also include filing police reports with theappropriate law enforcement agencies. This information should besubmitted to the CRAs and to the collector(s).
# posted by Sponduliqs @ 3:58 PM 
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