Palisades Collection ripoff Englewood Clif New Jersey

Bert:

That's the nice thing about our consumer protection laws - you don't have to prove that the debt is not yours - the burden of proof is on THEM.

First, send a letter via certified mail, return receipt to Palisades (at the address listed on your report). Tell them that you just noticed their account on your credit report and that you dispute the debt in it's entirety (make sure you get in a little verbage letting them know that you haven't heard from them about this debt in the past). Tell them that until such time that they provide you with validation of the debt, they must stop their collection activity.

Once this is put in the mail, wait about a week and then mail a dispute letter certified mail return receipt to any of the credit bureaus that show this Palisades account. Tell them that you never had an AT&T account and this collection does not belong to you.

Any of the following might happen:

1. The account falls off of your credit report and you never hear from Palisades again. File all of your correspondence and receipts for a later date - the account coulp pop back up sometime in the future.

2. The credit bureau "verifies" the account - it remains on your credit report and you still haven't received proof from Palisades that the debt belongs to you. Send 1 more letter directly to Palisades informing them that you have yet to receive validation and that their "verification" of the tradeline on your credit report consititutes continued collection activity. Demand the removal of the account immediately. (At this point, you must be prepared to possible hire a consumer law attorney who specializes in debt collection law).

3. The credit bureau "verifies" the account - it remains on your credit report and Palisades mails some bogus account information to you trying to prove the debt. Send a dispute letter back to them telling them that their proof is bogus and that the account doesn't belong to you. Demand immediate deletion. (Again, you should be prepared to sue if they don't follow the law).

Read up on the federal debt collection laws: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and the state of Oregon's own laws. They'll tell you what these guys have to do in order to comply with the law.

Bert, thousands of others have been victimized by this company. Here is what I am doing to handle them. Of course, I am not a lawyer and this is only what I am doing for my situation.

Go to:

http://creditboards.com Register (free) and read everything on the site. I have learned so much from these people it makes me a little sick that our government doesn't do more to protect us.

I filed a dispute with the Credit Reporting Agency's (CRA's) and Palisades.

Then I filed a complaint with the BBB and the PA Attorney General and the Consumer Protection Agency in my state.

WHAT EVER YOU DO...DO NOT MAKE A DEAL TO PALISADES AND DO NOT TALK TO THEM ON A PHONE. They will consider that an admission of owing the debt.

In a letter to Palisades, dispute it (if it truly is not yours) and tell them to VERIFY AND, AND, AND VALIDATE this ALLEGED debt. You want everything to include the original contract with your signature. Like I said...go to the above website and learn how to do this. Also, check out budhibbs.com for more information.

I am not affiliated with either site in any way other than a member of creditboards.com.

Goodluck!!!