Afni, Inc. Bogus collections notice for AT&T Bloomington, Illinois

Recently I pulled a copy of my credit report because my wife and I wanted to start looking for a house.  Lo and behold, there's a a collection report from AFNI.  Looking at the comment section, it said it was for AT&T mobility and the debt was 1,800!  There was no other information other than the date this account was supposedly opened (7/2007).  I never received any letters or calls from AFNI so I immediately sent out a  debt validation letter to them because up until that time I had never had any cell phone service with any provider, ever.  Over a month later, I still have not heard a word from AFNI regarding anything.  I then filed a complaint with the BBB in the hopes to get this removed and someone from ATT contacted me yesterday via email to discuss this account.  I got on the phone with ATT and told them in 7/2007 when this account was opened, I was deployed in Iraq and that from 2000 to 2008, I was stationed overseas and never owned a cell phone during that time.  I had no knowledge of this account and had no information to give her.  I asked for the cell phone number and she told me the number listed was a Washington DC number.  I never lived in Washington DC!  The woman at ATT said well it looks like this cell number is not even an ATT number but a Verizon number.  At this point Im totally confused!!  I then called Verizon and was told that neither my social or my name was in the system.  Yesterday, I went to the FTC online site and filed a report against AFNI stating that they are reporting false information and ruining my credit.  I then wrote a letter to my AG in Pa.  This AFNI collection has brought my score down 85+ points and making it hard to get a loan for a house.    Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to deal with these people?  Its obvious this account isnt mine and would like to have it deleted... Thanks!

If that is the case then why did the representative I talked to completely ignore all of my questions? Why did he keep talking over me and saying the same thing over and over again? If this is such a great company who's just getting a bad rap then why did they treat me like crap when I called them by refusing to even acknowledge my questions. Isn't customer service important? Somebody walks up to you on the street and asks you to hand over $50 and you ask them why and they just keep talking over you asking you again and again to hand over the money, you mean to tell me your just gonna give it to them. Your gonna say, "Oh well, they must be right even though I don't agree with them or even know what they are talking about, they must be right so yeah here's my money take it!" Sure! I bet you would! People are bitching because their credit is being ruined for no reason and if they did it to you as well you be would on here bitching about it too! How can someone have a phone bill in collections when they never had a phone in their name? Impossible! Yet Afni says I do! AT&T agreed that they never had a record of doing business with me or of having a phone registered in my name with their company! Explain that!

Also, in response to your statement that you help people, do me a favor, look up suicide statistics and you will find that harassment from debt collectors is listed as a quite popular reason that people kill themselves. So yeah you help people, you help them right into the grave! But just keep telling yourself your helping them sweetheart, whatever you have to do to be able to sleep at night.

I was ammused when the AFNI employee said he helped people.  I help people.  I am a firefighter paramedic.  Nurses help people, doctors help people, police officers help people, teachers help people, garbage men/women help people.  Many people help people, debt collectors do not HELP people.  Do you sit down with people and budget with them?  Do you teach them how to nudget and put food, shelter, healthcare, transportation first, then get to the bill paying?  You help them?  You do nothing more than coerce them into setting up a payment plan.  You should pay your bills, no doubt, but a debt collector helps NO ONE other than their client who is paying them.  Do not say you help people.

I know how you feel.  they are trying to pull the same stuff with me,  when I got the wind of it
(got a notice of activity @ Experian and Equifax) i went to see and i was surprised because i had
no notice or warning from anyone.  I went and filed a consumer complaint with State Attorney of
Illinois, State Attorney of California, Federal Trades Commission who makes the rules they violate,
BBB.  A couple of days later i got an email from BBB saying Afni responded to their notice of my
complaint....  Now, you tell me if this makes any.....ANY sense at all:

June 27, 2011




Dispute Resolution
Case Manager/Business Practices
BBB Complaint Department
bbb@heart.net




RE: Mr. xxxxxxxxxxCase # 19024514
Afni, Inc. Acc xxxxxxxxxxx; Verizon Account 4497149526873




This is in response to your letter to Afni, Inc.., regarding the above referenced matter. We appreciate your assistance in bringing our consumer's concerns to our attention. In that regard, on or about March 2001, AT&T notified Afni the above referenced account remained due and owing from Mr. xxxxxxxxxxcc. This account was established on March 1, 2008 and was considered delinquent by the creditor on October 24, 2008. The service address for the account was his still-current address. 

I think it says " ATT notified Afni on or about March 1, 2001"  to tell them  an account i will be establishing on March 1, 2008  which they (AT&T) will consider delinquent on October 24, 2008.


(how am i doing?  are you confused yet?)  And these morons, with this in hand AND NOTHING ELSE
were able to con their way into the files of both Experian and Equifax to flag them with "IN COLLECTIONS" notice.   

When i read that they are claiming they have notified me with a letter...... who am i to doubt their
words? When they said they sent.......I went an filed a complaint with the Postal Inspectors for using the Postal Service to  defraud the public,  Me!  (that claim is in the second paragraph )  I have I have asked for a  "Holder In  Due Course"  guess what i got .... A photostat copy of an AT&T  bill with my name and address  but a phone number i neither had or used in my entire life-- and I am no spring chicken...

But........  Hold on.... Why are we talking about AT&T?   Look at the top of their letter......
It was a Verizon account..... all the time....  Yeah but I never had or used a Verison account either...

Of course that  is unacceptable by me and the attorney who is looking into it for possible legal
action.  What was a puzzle what turned up on the internet when I googled Afni Complaints
It seems Afni has a long history doing this.... deliberately altering dates etc,  to..... I don't know
what else to call it other than what it is... Conversion!

Why do they do that?  Its because we  sit and do nothing... We let these people walk all over
on us instead of taking every opportunity to go knock on every door  as in  filing complaints 
with every government agencies  we can find who deals with these kinds of things,  and not letting up on them to let them get away with it.  As consumers we have rights.... 

I am the original author of this report.

1. I never did receive a response from Afni

2. I had a weird conversation with AT&T about this, in which case I was left with no additional information. Weird meaning the woman took a while to respond and mentioned something that this was a claim for internet service at my brothers address. She wouldn't verify anything. Turns out it was my brothers problem.

3. I then had my brother spend waste a week of his life on and off the phone with AT&T to find out why this account was even open in the first place. He claims somehow they ended up opening 2 accounts in his name. Which sounds about right as he has DSL and this was for an account that was opened and never paid on.

Ok, so there was some screw up with AT&T over a DSL line that should not have been active to begin with.

But, to follow up with the Pro Afni employee .. This debt wasn't in my name. It was in my brothers name. So going back to my original complaint Afni is still a shady operation that goes after innocent people.

So my position still stands. Afni is a predatory lending operation that in my opinion is marginally legal.

You need to go read about afni first to find how reputable it is....
any business that is been around does not mean it is good or honest....  afni is not.

Afni was founded during one of the darkest times of this nation's economy   It grew fat
on the bones of the unfortunate people who found hard to feed their families, by evicting them
and claiming everything they owned was now theirs...

The sewers of Paris been in business a lot  longer....  does it mean you would want to live in it?
In my case your HONEST company is claiming i owe money to AT&T.  Do you know how to understand 
what you read?  i CAN PROVE IT TO YOU YOUR COMPANY IS INVENTED THAT DEBT..  How honest is 
that?  What kind of reputation should it have other than what it deserves?

Note to AFNI employee,

Quote -

"people (consumers) are so stupid sometimes. just looking for a reason to bitch about a collection agency and how they have done them so wrong.  you're just looking to pick a fight."

Unquote.

Budd Hibbs doesn't think much of Afni. Check on his website. Time to crawl out of your cubicle and do some research on your employer.

all of you consumers are the same. you think that afni makes up the information that we send to you. all the information on the accounts comes from the original creditor and we contact you.  check with the bbb, afni is registered and has been a REPUTABLE collection agency for 75 years.  quit being a dumbass, if you were to send us a bill we would laugh at you, and ask you to get your credit card out.  in most cases the bill is correct unless it's an out and out fraud.  what would you sue for anyway? being sent a collection notice? if we (being collectors) were to determine that the account was not yours and was a fraud or valid dispute the account would be closed and removed from your credit report (if applicable).  people (consumers) are so stupid sometimes. just looking for a reason to bitch about a collection agency and how they have done them so wrong.  you're just looking to pick a fight.  i'm happy to say i collect debts, and i do help people.  i doubt i would be able to help you though because you sound pretty ignorant

Anyone that is reading this, please know that there is help out there.  In a post following this I will tell my experience with AFNI alias Anderson Financial Network.

If I may suggest, please contact the BBB (Better Business Bureau) that corresponds with that region for that company.  You can either file an online report or write in to the BBB.  You can find out the correct BBB by typing the company's name into the website. 

File a report with the BBB.  Also, file a report/complaint with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation or whatever is the equivalent for your state.  The information should be listed on your CR (credit report).  These are powerful tools and allies in your quest.

Also, when submitting your complaint to the BBB and the Commissioner of Financial Regulation be sure to include copies of the reports from the Ripoff Report website that shows similar complaints from other consumers.  This was extremely helpful in getting my case resolved.

The end result was an apology letter from AFNI and the information was completely deleted. 

Lastly, be persisted and do not allow them to intimidate you.  Peace and Blessings!

Quite simple solution without all the hassle you propose:

Require that Afni, Inc. provide valid evidence that they are the true Holders-In-Due-Course. (That is the person who
can hold in their hand the original contractual agreement with your ink dried signature for payment in exchange for
services or goods.)

Take their very same scare-clause and toss it back at them:

"Unless you respond to my demand for proof of Holder-In-Due-Course within 30 days after receiving this
notification and provide a legible copy of the original contractual agreement with my signature, I will consider
your collection notice invalid. Further, non-provison of proof will result in possible legal actions on my part against your firm"