Debt Collection agency - need expert...

[The Professional]

...advice? I have been approached by a debt collection agency stating that i have an unpaid debt. However, they have not given me any documents to prove that they are now the owners of the debt. Further, the original creditor has issued me a letter stating that I have repaid the debt in full (though in error). What is the best course to follow? The debt collectors just call at all sorts of strange hours and threaten me....I am so sick of this. I do not want to pay anyone till they give me the documentatin that they own the debt or else someone else may come along and claim the same thing. Do I just ignore them till I get the confirmations? Do I have a duty to find out or should the burden lay on them?BTW, it is not credit card debt - just an education debt. What really annoys me is that the creditor made a mistake and they are trying to pin it on me. At no time has the creditor sent me a statement or asked me for repayment even though I updated my address with them. Then this debt collector shows up....GREAT...Thanks for the answers - but what do I do about the underlying debt if they do not offer proof that they are the ones who own it? I have written them a fax stating what I require from them to prove that they own the debt but they have not provided one shred of evidence. Can they try and PIN it all on me when the creditor made a mistake by not sending notices to my updated adress even though I gave it to them? I suspect they do not have the necessary evidence to bring a case to court as the creditor made a mistake. Should I wait to see if they sue me before trying to settle or should I do it now?

[marketingsyndrome]

I have to disagree with the first comment. You don't have to lie to get away from the call. You need to know your rights, and there are legitimate ways to stop them from calling you. Read the following source for more information. It's from a government site, so you do know you are looking at the correct information.Good Luck

www.ftc.gov

[apple27]

The first thing I would do, is if you owe the debt, contact the original creditor in writing expressing that you are intrested in resolving the issue and are being harassed by a collection agency...be sure to provide them with who the collection agency is. If you still owe it, they will work with you.As far as stopping the calls, simply ask the agency for their mailing address and send them a certified letter demanding the harassment and phone calls stop and that all communiction should be in writing. Be sure to log the calls and the times and any threats or harassing they commit. After they recieve the letter, it is illegal to call you....if they do, file a complaint with a copy of your letter and the certified receipt showing they received it along with your log to the authorities. Whatever you do, do NOT discuss the debt with them at all! Simply cut them off politely and say that you need a mailing address and tell them that any future communication should be in writing. Follow up with the certified letter, and it should stop. Also, if the collection agency has reported the debt on your credit report, you can remove it by sending a letter to each of the creit reporting agencies denying the accuracy and demanding that the debt be "validated". This will give the collection agency 30 days to send a copy of the original signed credit agreement as well as a complete payment history. If they donot do this completely within the 30 days, it must be deleted by law.Good luck....I hope this helps you.