Convergent Outsourcing Fradulent debt, fraud, scam, terrible company Renton, Washington Nationwide

In preparation to buying our first house, my wife and I made great efforts to zero out our debts, which included some consumer debts, but primarily were student loans. 

I made quite sure that my wife was debt free, and routinely pull both our credit reports to make sure our credit scores are either stable or on an upward trajectory. 

The other night, my wife came to me with a letter from Convergent saying she owed $3,642.52 on with a charge off date of 01/30/2006.  The letter offered a chance to settle for $728.50 (20%).  MBNA was listed as the original creditor.

This letter raised a ton of red flags.  First of all, we'd been diligent in zeroing out our debts during the home buying process.  I checked and doulbe checked.  I even had our broker validate that we both looked debt free from the credit report he had pulled (he said we did.). 

Second, I could find nothing on my wife's credit report to validate the debt.  I checked two reports nearly a year apart. 

Third, if the debt was indeed legitimate (which I seriously doubt it is), it has exceeded both Oregon and Washington statutes of limitation.

Fourth, the letter stated that we would not be sued [lucky us :;) ], and that it will not be reported to any credit reporting agency.  You mean like how it's not on our credit report now.  I'm sorry, but if FICO doesn't say I owe it, then I frankly don't believe it.  Digning someone's credit score is one of the strongest threats a company can make, so to not use that threat indicates to me they have no legal right to do so.

Fifth, a brief Google search uncovered a number of customers who were vocal in their denouncement of Convergent.

I did some calling and emailing.  I started with my broker, who verified my wife as being debt free from the information he had on file.  My next attempt was to follow up with MBNA, which as I discovered is Bank of America.  Now, my wife and I have had a Bank of America account together since 2004.  If we owed bank of America, we'd know it.  Moreover, Bank of America has our money in checking and savings.  If they felt we owed, I'm sure they would've squared up with us rather than use these Convergent jokers.

I did call Convergent, just to do my due diligence.  I did not have their letter with me at the time, so I couldn't provide their account number.  They then asked for my wife's social security number.  Her FULL number.  I offered them the last 4 digits, as virtually any reputable business can make do with name and last 4 digits.  This seemed like a total scam to me.  I angrily told them the conversation was over. 

In dealing with my wife's debt, I have had to deal with collection agency's before, acting in the capacity of a third party.  I was always treated with respect by other agencys.  The folks at Convergent were ill-tempered and impolite.  There are good collection agencies out there, but Convergent is not one of them. 

This whole encounter left me pretty angry.  I spent an entire lunch break, plus a half hour of the clock dealing with this.  I don't think it's exactly fair that I should be so inconvenienced by something that has all the hallmarks of a scam.  But that's due diligence for you.

Look, there were many nights in my 20s when I'd be up late unable to sleep with "how the hell am I going to pay for this?" on my mind.  Being in debt sucks, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  So this touched a raw nerve.  It dragged up a lot of emotion, and I don't think it's right to put people through that kind of worry.

Convergent Oursourcing is the worts kind of business.  It's simply the worst.  Con-artists, scammers, charlatains, and usurers.  The whole lot of them. 

To people who owe Convergent money, my advice would be not to pay them, and attempt to settle your debt with the original creditor.  Convergent deserves none of your money.

To companies who use Convergent as a debt collection agency, there are better agencies out there.  I received great treatment from ECMC, and ECMC received their money.  Companies of America, you have better options than Convergent. 

To the folks out there struggling to be middle class, Street Dogs said it best.

"Never give up, never give in, never walk away, always fighting"