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Thursday, July 30th, 2020 5:12 PM

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Debt collector calling me for a 7 year old debt!?!

Good Morning, I received a letter from ERC this week claiming a debt owed to AT&T.  While the alleged debt owed is relatively small, $96.70, I am not about to pay a debt that isn't legitimate.  The debt collector said that this was a past due amount from 2012 (over 7 years ago). Since then, not only have I moved but I've also had a new account with At&t which whom never mentioned this debt. I am trying to see if AT&T did indeed sell this debt to ERC, whom I have ascertained is a legitimate collections agency, but that they don't always collect on the legitimate debt.  I checked my credit report to see what I could verify there.  I do not see anything on any of the 3 bureaus reports. Aside from that, there is nothing else showing negative activity, or even an account from AT&T, anywhere on my reports.

 

I would appreciate it if someone could please assist me in determining the legitimacy of this collections agency and alleged debt.  Thank you in advance.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

ACE - Professor

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3.7K Messages

4 years ago

Federal law gives you 30 days to dispute this debt in writing. The collector must then furnish indisputable evidence that the debt is yours.

ACE - Expert

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27.6K Messages

4 years ago

This is a customer-to-customer forum with very little participation from AT&T.

 

If it were me, I would demand some sort of proof from ERC.  The fact that the debt is NOT showing on your credit report would make me suspicious.

(edited)

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

4 years ago

They need to prove the debt is your, not the other way around. They have been known to try to collect debts from the wrong people.

ACE - Expert

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14.1K Messages

4 years ago

Debts fall off your credit report after 7 years, so using that to determine if the debt is legitimate isn't reliable. 

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