Debt Collection Dirty Tricks Could Delay Getting Your New Credit Card
If you’ve applied for a new credit card and been told that you don’t qualify because there’s a problem with your credit scores, a collection agency’s dirty tricks may be the source of that problem.
Some collection agencies are now specializing in dirty tricks, and thousands of unsuspecting consumers are falling for them – and paying debts they do NOT owe!
First is the one that will hurt your credit scores. It’s attempt to collect on debts that were either discharged through bankruptcy or are so old that the statute of limitations passed years ago.
Here’s how it works: At one time, those collection agencies “purchased” the debt. They paid pennies on the dollar for the right to pursue collection and, hopefully, make a very large return on their investment.
Now, even though those debts have become legally un-collectable, they’re still there, hanging around in a moldy file. So, a debt collector can pull them out and start causing trouble. We’ve heard reports of debts discharged 20 or more years ago being used to try to extort money from consumers.
They know that calling isn’t going to get them anywhere, so they file a lawsuit. Then, even though it’s illegal, they use what’s called a “gutter” process server to deliver the notice to you. It’s called gutter, because they “toss the paperwork in a gutter” and it never gets to you. So you can’t go into court and show the judge that you don’t owe the money.
Thus, they win by default, and the notice of judgment goes on your credit report. Then the debt collector sits back and waits until you need to use your credit and find out your credit rating has been trashed.
Unless you check your credit report regularly, you won’t know it’s there until then. At that point, many consumers rush to pay the debt and get it cleared from their credit reports.
And so, collection agencies collect money that isn’t owed.
If this happens to you – don’t pay them. Send them a certified letter with proof that you don’t owe the debt. Then contact all the credit bureaus and fill out the appropriate paperwork to have the information cleared from your records.
Getting this straightened out may delay you getting a new credit card, or even a car or a house. But unless the amount is so small that you’d rather pay the bill than spend the hours to have it removed, you shouldn’t let them get away with this.
These people are just common crooks – and they don’t deserve your money.
