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Question
I was married a couple months back. My wife put the gas bill in her name. On the first bill, it stated "balance forward" in amt. of $52.00. I was told this bill was from a previous apartment app. 4 years ago. I was not aware of this, and had to have all bills, etc paid in full prior to moving out. Also, this amount does not show up on any of the credit reporting agencies.
I requested some sort of validation, and was told I would have to pay $25.00 to get those records as they are now "archived". Is this right, should I have to pay the debt collector to receive validation of this debt? thank you.
Absolutely not. If they refuse to give them to you without pay your only remedy is to sue them and make them pay you plus give you what you have lawfully demanded without cost. You do have rights under the law but sometimes you must do whatever is necessary to enforce those rights.
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Answers by Expert:
Creditwrench
Expertise
Debt Collections law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), federal law, how to properly answer court summons for collection cases, how to prepare federal cases against debt collectors, how to deal with debt collection phone calls.
Experience
I've been an active consumer advocate for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of people win cases against debt collectors as well as helping them defeat demands for summary judgment lodged against them by banks, debt collectors and defeat mortgage foreclosures and keep their homes.
Education/Credentials
Paralegal courses for the most part.
I have been teaching people how to deal with judgments, mortgage foreclosures and other such problems both on and off the internet for many, many years. I am a Richard Cornforth information provider ever since 2000 and worked with many other organizations and causes since 1980. I was Oklahoma State Chairman for the nationwide drive to defeat the Constitutional Convention which was proposed by various factions within our federal government such as the Council of State Governments and the National Organization of State Governors who were working hard to organize a Constitutional Convention to be held in 1995 for the purpose of rewriting our American Constitution to be more acceptable to the United Nations. I worked with Senator Charles Duke of Colorado and Senator Don Rogers of California and many others across the nation to keep them from getting the number of delegate states required to lawfully hold a Con-Con and we were successful. I have worked with many other legislative issues in Oklahoma and have always been very successful.
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