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Collections Law/Medical Debt that is not mine.
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Question
My son has a bill dating back to 2006. He was not then and is still not living with me. However, I am getting harassing calls and letter from a collection agency and now they are saying they are going to turn it over to an attoreny. I don't understand how this becomes my debt when my son was 18 at the time.
What are my rights?
If your son was 18 at the time that the debt was incurred then I would think that the debt is his problem and not yours. The problem you face now is that you should have demanded validation of the debt at the time you received your first communication from them. When you are contacted by an attorney you will have a chance to remedy that error. You will want to demand validation from the attorney and if that first communication is in the form of a summons and complaint you will also want to respond to the complaint and start your discovery process all at the same time. That is the only way you can hope to defeat their attempts to collect from you.
If you miss that opportunity to do things the right way you will most likely end up with a judgment against you for the full amount of the debt and end up having to pay it no matter how wrong it might be.
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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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