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Scenario:

I have an acct with a local video rental store which I never use. Someone who is not listed on the account goes in and rents a movie under my account. That person's ID is obviously not checked, or else they would have seen that it is not my name. The person who rented the movie does not return the movie on time. Incurs fees. The rental company said they tried to contact me, but they have a phone number that is over three years old and is no longer my number. Until I received a notice this week from a collection agency for $47.00, I had no idea there was a debt against my account.

I called the movie rental company. I asked who rented the movie. They told me the name of the person. I asked what names are on my account for renting. The name of the person who rented was not listed as an approved person to rent movies. So clearly they see that they rented the movie to someone who was not authorized to rent movies on my account . But, because it has already been turned over to the collection agency, they say they cannot do anything about it. The collection agency doesn't care who did what, they just want $47.00. They said, since I know the person, I should go collect from them after I pay the bill. But I'm not a collection agency and I did not break the contract with the rental company. Shouldn't the rental company just forgive the debt because it was their mistake? I asked them to, but they said once they turn it over, they can't do anything about it. Unbelievable.

Sure it's only $47.00, but that's $47.00 of money that I do not owe.

Since they are at fault, they should in good faith terminate the collection. Also, from what I understand, they are the only entity that can cancel a collections process once it's been started. Unless you fork-up the $$$ and then I think it still goes against your credit score.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I would recommend contacting your Attourney Generals office for more specific rights.

Good luck with getting this resolved.

You know the person? Awwwwwkwaaaard!

You're clearly in the right. You shouldn't have any liablility against you and the video rental company should find it encumbent to contact the collection agent and tell them to call off the dogs. Having said that, I think you should cough up the money and pay it. You won't be able to fight this and remain sane, and in the long run it will put a mark against your credit history.

Hey, since you know who incurred the debt, just let us know his name and address. I have a couple baseball bats, I'll break both his arms and legs!

Mark

I'll break both his arms and legs!

tsk..tsk...Now Mark. Isn't that a little extreme. For $47 you only have to break one arm.

Well now that you know this is happening, it would seem wise to close the account. Video stores are so yesterday, anyway, with netflix and VOD being much more convenient.

I am not a lawyer, but I did work in collections for a while. Because a collection agency has contacted you, this falls under the FDCPA
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consume ... /cre27.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Debt_ ... ctices_Act

You should send a certified letter to the collections agency in which you calmly and rationally explain why this is not a legitimate debt, and you should request that they stop contacting you under the FDCPA. At this point, the agency should stop contacting you and most likely will give it back to the video rental place. It is not worth the hassle for the agency to collect on a $47 debt. They are probably not getting paid more than $10 if they successfully collect.

Then wait a few months and get a copy of your credit report. See if this shows up. If it does, then you have to go through the hassle of contacting each of the three credit bureaus to clear it up.

I suggest contacting your local Better Business Bureau immediately and give them all of the facts in writing. They will contact the video store. Businesses don't like having negative reports by the BBB, so this should take care of the problem.

Update:

It was easier than all of the above.

I called the video company headquarters collections deptartment. I explained the situation. They verified. They are calling off the collection agency. Woooo Hoooo! $47.00 saved today, and rental company reprimanded.

I don't rent movies. I haven't even watched TV in 3-4 years. Occasionally, if my daughter is with me, she might rent one. So checking the records of who had rented movies was enough to substantiate the truth of my statements to them, and I don't have to pay any fees at all. And I closed the account.

That's good. You should still check your credit report in the near future to see if it made its way into your record.

Unbelievable but I've also seen it before...Absolutly unbelievable...I'm glad it worked out ok for you in the end...Just think of how many other people that would just pay it..

DJ

DJ Downunder wrote:Just think of how many other people that would just pay it..

DJ

True, and it was tempting to just pay and be done with it........ but I'm tenacious and have a playground sense of justice. I don't give up easy.