A lot of companies now sell debts that they cannot or do not want to collect. Usually the sale is for pennies on the dollar. But the way that they operate is the amazing thing here.
I switched from T-Mobile years ago. Apparently there was a $30 charge left on the account that neither my wife nor I remember being billed for after the switch.
A company called me and tried to pass themselves off as T-Mobile. I can smell a bogus collection attempt, however. When I asked for more information about who the caller was and who he represented, he admitted he worked for a debt buying company.
Naturally I asked for confirmation of the debt – after all, how do I know whether they had purchased the debt or not? Someone calls you up out of the blue on a debt from three years ago, will you really just send money to the person without any kind of confirmation?
So the debt collector asked me how he could have known about the debt if they hadn’t bought it. Wow! Great legal argument!
When I asked what would stop T-Mobile from trying to collect the debt after I paid him, he said that they wouldn’t do something like that. Really?
I said that I wanted proof of the purchase of the debt, same thing that he would have to prove in court if he sued on the debt, as well as proof that I really owed the $30, which I may have, and he shouted, “Oh, come on!”
They called me about ten more times, with me asking the same question. I haven’t heard from them now in years.
Know your rights and what any company would have to show in court to prove a debt, and demand information accordingly.
