Afni Collections / 9 year old phone bill!

I also got a letter on the 18th of Dec. 2007 from Afni claiming my husband owes $120.00 from a phone bill from 1999! I called IMMEDIATELY because I know that the statute of limitations on this debt has LONG since passed, and that they can't put this debt on his credit report either because legally things can only go on your credit for 7 years from the "last active" date. Which in this case they claim is 1999. SO, with that knowledge in hand I called and informed them that I know my rights and that I want verification that this debt exists. They actually SUGGESTED that I don't write in to have them verify the debt, that I just send in a ceaase and desist letter to keep them from contacting me. They said it would be a waste of time and a waste of their manpower to send me records and bills if I wasn't going to pay it anyway. They told me NUMEROUS times it wasn't worth it, to just send the cease contact letter. DUH- because they don't have the verification!!! There is no bill, never was a bill!! SO, feel free to call them and let them know that this debt is past the statute of limitations in ANY state...you can find this info out online. I think the longest statute on any type of debt is 7 years. This means they cannot legally sue you, no legal action can ever be taken against you. You are protected by the law. LET THEM HAVE IT. Make them go through the records they claim to have and send you copies! If they don't, then they can't keep coming after you! Problem solved.

WOW! I received the same type of letter today 12/21/07. A balance owed on a Verizon account fpr $199.99 from 1997!!! I called and AFNI they wanted me to settle?!? I am filing a formal complaint. This is disguisting!!!

I also received the same type of letter on 12/21/07, stating that I owed an outstanding balance of $399.00 and change on a verizon (formerly nynex) since 1997. When I talked to a collection agent ( I believe her name was Heather) she was very quick to take my money over the phone and asked why wouldn't I want to take care of it right there and then. I told her that I would send her a check once I researched it. The more I thought about it, I came to a conclusion that I'm not sending anything to them. You got to be kidding me!!!

I received the same type of letter today 12/13/07. A balance owed on a Bell Atlantic account fpr $246.00 from 1992!!! I called asking for inof, but after reading these posts Im am just sending a letter to cease and desist. 16 years ago, there nuts.

I also received a letter in December 2007 from Afni about an eleven year old bill from Nynex (a now defunct company who was bought by Verizon). On the phone, they tried to claim that I still owed the money. I did some research and found that your state's Office of the Attorney General can give you the information on the statute of limiitations in your state. In NY, it's ten years. After I found that out, I wrote to Afni (within the 30 days to dispute) and told them to cease because the debt is time barred and that any further actions to collect or to impair my credit would be reported to the Office of the Attorney General as they would be violating the law.

Afni sent a very nice letter back stating that they investigated the dispute and closed the account.

It is very important that you notify them in writing to cease and that you are disputing the debt. A phone call will not do it.

I hope that this helps others.

You might want to get a copy of your credit reports. I never heard of AFNI and did my yearly credit report check and found them on all three of my reports for a Verizon bill. The companies were all contacted in December 07. I just received my first letter from AFNI today stating I owed Verizon for a bill from 2001. I never had a Verizon account before 2006. My contracted expired in December of 2007 and I called Verizon and they said I have never had anything past due and don't owe them anything.

I just recived a letter from afni saying i owed 281 dollars to direct tv from over 7 yrs ago i wrote them back and said the statute of limation has ran out hopefully they get a clue and leave people alone