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Question
I live in California and we just received a collections letter from "afni" stating that we owe $156 for Charter Communications.  I called the number and spoke with a Diane and told her that I didn't think that we have ever had Charter and I wanted to know a date on this claim.  She would not give me a date but said we owed it and asked for my husbands employer and personal info.  I told her I would give it to her until I knew this debt was ours and she said she would put that I was uncooperative and refused to answer.  I told her I wasn't being uncooperative, I just wanted a date to verify this debt.  She got very rude and stated that we owed it and how were we going to pay.  I again asked her for the date and she said this was going to be reported on our trw on 3/17/06 unless we paid it.  I told her that if we in fact owed this debt I am sure we would pay it. I again asked for the date.  She finally gave me 1/31/01.  Is there a statute of limitations here? I don't know if I have records back that far to prove we paid it or if we had Charter at the time.

Answer
Hello Sandi,

I want to start off by saying that I am delighted to hear from you.  I am not shocked at what you are saying.

Lets start by looking at the situation as I see it:

1.  First of all the debt is small, so this is not really a serious matter (from the perspective of a collection agency)

2. Secondly, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO DEMAND THAT THE COLLECTION AGENCY PROVIDE YOU WITH VERIFICATION OF THE DEBT. THAT MEANS THAT THE CONVERSATION THAT YOU HAD WITH DIANE WAS NOT ONLY ILLEGAL (IN HER MEANS OF COLLECTING) BUT SHE, AS A COLLECTION AGENT IS OBLIGATED UNDER FEDERAL LAW TO ACCEPT YOUR VERBAL DISPUTE OVER THE PHONE.  THE COMPANY IS ALSO REQUIRED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE "MEDIA" TO VERIFY THE VALIDITY OF THEIR CLAIM.

Bottom line is this, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT and DOCUMENT.

Send a letter via certified mail to the collection agency demanding that they provide you with "written verification to validate the claim that they have against you"

You also need to send a copy of the letter to Charter.

If you do this as I say, and they still put this on your credit report, then contact my offices, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf.

NEVER EVER PAY A COLLECTION AGENCY UNLESS YOU RECEIVE THE DATA TO PROVE THAT THE OBLIGATION IS YOURS, and IF THE DEBT IS OLDER THAN 7 YEARS, TELL THE COLLECTION AGENCY TO GO TO ****.

I look forward to reading your feedback.

Let me know how it goes!

Robert Paisola
robert@trumpworldwide.com  

Collections Law

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I wanted to take a moment to talk to our clients and readers around the world.
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As the CEO of Western Capital MyCollector.com , based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Robert Paisola has been distinguished as a foremost expert in the field of debt collection, credit, creditors rights and collection agency administration. Having appeared on many national news and information programs, Mr. Paisola is the expert the media turns to when a creditor/ debtor issue becomes HOT! Check out the web site at www.mycollector.com for more information. If you have a special situation that you need personal assistance with, simply visit www.WesternCapitalVIP.com and you will be on your way to resolving your crisis!

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We are taking this mission very seriously and have received over 2 Million Hits on our site at www.MyCollector.com in the past 90 days.
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UPDATE OCTOBER 2006- NATIONWIDE CREDIT IS NAILED TO THE CROSS BY ROBERT PAISOLA FOR MULTIPLE FDCPA VIOLATIONS- CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT IN PROCESS- MILLIONS TO BE PAID! LISTEN TO THE LIVE CALL AT MYCOLLECTOR.COM

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