Here are a few things you can do to 'deal' with AFNI. And they won't be able to charge you with slander, libel, or anything else. First, you refer to the debt (usually Verizon, from what I've read), as an 'alleged debt'. Never, NEVER admit that it is yours, or that it might have ever been yours. This is, of course, presuming you get anyone to talk to you on the phone, which from reading all the comments, seems like a slim chance. You tell them it is NOT your debt, or you say that you don't remember anything about the ALLEGED debt, and hang up. Then you send off a letter, telling them to stop calling you. NEVER provide them with ANY information, but ALWAYS request information from them - when did the ALLEGED debt occurred, what time frame did it encompass, what address was it physically attached to (in case it was a phone bill, which seems to be the majority of these complaints), what name or names is it listed under, etc. Since AFNI is claiming it's your debt, and you're denying any knowledge, you have the right to ask questions about the alleged debt. If you receive any further communication, in ANY form, contact the FTC, your county State Attorney's Office (at least that's what we have here in Illinois), your State Attorney General's Office, and then the BBB, preferably in that order.
In many of the comments, people were questioning if there wasn't a limitation as to how long a debt, real or alleged, was collectible. There is. I just happen to be reading a book entitled "Debt Cures" by Kevin Trudeau even as I was reading these comments, and I give Kevin credit for this next list of state by state Statute of Limitations - I already knew the info in the first paragraph :-) . So if these alleged debts fall outside the following number of years, tell AFNI (or any other collection agency that may be troubling you): "The Statute of Limitations has run out on this alleged debt." If they're smart, they'll know they've been beaten at their own game; if they're not smart, you may have to repeat this a few times, until they get it thru their thick skulls (notice, I did NOT say 'brains') until they realize they're going nowhere fast.
Mr. Trudeau's book was just published in 2008, and I've only had my copy for 2 weeks - but even so, he does caution to verify with an attorney or other source as to the number of years for the Statute of Limitations, but here is the listing as he has provided it. (And to Equity Press, the publisher - please, do not file charges against me for using this small section of Mr. Trudeau's work without first getting your written permission. I could have looked these up on my own, but it would have taken a day or two, and Mr. Trudeau had already neatly compiled it). I am grouping the states by the years, and this is for 'Open accounts', such as a phone bill, but not for a Cellular Bill, which is a written contract, at least in most states.
3 years - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Washington, DC, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington
4 years - California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah
5 years - Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, West Virginia
6 years - Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin
And then there are two states that seem to be very, very anal-retentive: 8 years for Wyoming, and a whopping 10 years for Rhode Island!
I ran this list past my personal attorney, and he agreed that it looked correct to him, but again, please use this list as a guideline, and as a 'first step' with AFNI. If they're stupid enough to want to play 'hardball', place a call to your State Attorney's Office to verify the number of years before going into court. I seriously doubt if they will take it that far - they've bought these accounts for pennies (or penny) on the dollar - literally. If Verizon thought it could have gotten more out of each debt, it would not have sold it off to start with.
I went thru a bankruptcy 2 1/2 years ago - I now have some agencies (a credit card company, a credit union that I had a car loan with that I allowed the car to go back, and a couple of others), that have NOW put those accounts BACK on my credit report as CHARGE-OFFS! It is now my responsibility to prove to the 3 credit-reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax, and Trans-Union, that these debts were part of my bankruptcy of Dec 2005, and are not current debts. Every individual in the United States, and Armed Forces Members anywhere in the world, are entitled to one FREE copy of their credit report, every 12 months, from EACH of the 3 credit-reporting agencies I just mentioned above.
I strongly recommend you take advantage of this opportunity to get a copy of your credit report from EACH agency. Google "free annual credit report" and it should pop up as the first or second listing offered. You fill in your information on the main screen, and select which agency(ies) you want your credit report from. Select all three. It will take you to the first one; you finish with that, it will offer you the opportunity to go back to 'annualcreditreport homepage'; follow the prompts, make sure you have plenty of paper in your printer, and you will soon have in your hands a wealth of knowledge you may not have known before. Each agency will 'offer' you the opportunity to 'buy' a copy of your credit score. Knowing your credit score is a good thing, and if you can afford it, do it. If you can only afford one, buy the one that offers you the "FICO" score - off the top of my head, I can't remember which one that is. The FICO score is the one that major banks, mortgage lenders, etc., look at. And once you have your reports in hand, you still have access to them online for up to 30 days, depending on the agency. Make sure your Personal Profile is correct! My daughter in-law asked me to pull hers up as she doesn't have access to a computer. I found absolutely NOTHING under her married name, and she's been married for 10 years! I searched under her maiden name, and found 5 different variations of her maiden name, including her married name; a middle initial she's never had; addresses she's never lived at; a 1 digit variation in her SSN; a one-day variation in her date of birth, and a phone number that she recognized as belonging to some one else in HER FAMILY! For the last 10 years, a family member had been using her to get credit, and credit cards, in her name, and variations of her name, and this was someone close to her, that she trusted. So if you find ANYTHING wrong in your Personal Profile, dispute it! In this age of Identity Theft, while it may not be personal, as in the case of my daughter in-law, something as small as a wrong middle initial, or a Jr. or Sr. when there isn't one, could be a sign of identity theft. I've been a victim of ID theft, twice now. I was fortunate, I discovered it early both times, and the bank and credit card company reimbursed me for what had been charged to my cards.
I wish you all well in your fight with AFNI and others. I will come back and visit these pages periodically, so if you have any questions, feel free to leave them, and if I have an answer, or can get it answered for you, I'll be happy to do so. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I absolutely HATE and DETEST debt collectors, at least the dishonest ones!!! Have the rest of a good life, without AFNI in it! :-) |
88 days ago by Heidi [
83 days ago by Jen [
62 days ago by Kristina Williams [