Update on Out-of-State CA's

[treehugger1]

Many of you might know that months ago, I was sent a dunning letter from my hometown CA for an alleged debt from an out-of-state collection agency for ~$12K in alleged debt. While I think, but can't be sure the debt was mine, I did a bit of research and discovered an out-of-state CA had assigned the debt to my local CA with an additional $4K tacked onto the debt. The local CA had sent me copies of DV information that had "blacked out" ssn, and other personal information. I went ballistic and called the OC and asked them who had the debt. It was the out-of-state CA. They had NO knowledge of my local CA having any knowledge of the debt. I sent the local CA a letter suggesting they were engaged in the sharing of personal identity (me) and I suggested they were committing a felony by knowingly receiving and accepting identity from me through another third party.

On Friday, i received a letter from the local CA stating that they had returned the collection of assumed debt to the original CA. They stated they cease to be involved in this debt recovery. I have no idea what will happen now, but after reading a post on the responsibility of OC's to protect ID, I think there is a chance that one can always question how a CA or even fourth-party CA has information related to your personal identity.

I think this sharing of debtor personal ID has yet to played out in the court system, but it can only be a matter of time before the defense and counter-suit based on illegal ID information becomes a player in lawsuits.

I am now adding a new line to my DV requests where I also request information related to "how" the CA obtained personal information related to me. I state the request is to protect my privacy under federal and state laws.

In this particular case, I have just composed a letter to teh OC demanind that they tell me why my personal information was shared with someone they have no knowledge of! I'll report their response. LOL. Wonder what they will have to say?

Cheers.

[BigJohn]

Last month, a woman's name was in the paper. She had been arrested in the summer and her second court apparance was approaching. I was interested in the case because 'it was a 'no case', a waste of tax payer's money. The day before her second court apparance, I went to the court and got a copy of the citation. Surprising, the document had her social security number on it.
After wasting almost one full day trying to find out who I should complain to, I found out the person to contact is:
The Inspector General attached to the Social Security Administration.

[catleg]

What is your point? Your SS number is attached to a lot of public documents, I can go get copies of your BK filing, your mortgage papers, recorded certificates and citations etc, the list goes on...why is this an issue it is common practice.

Not anymore.

Please be advised that on or about May 13, 2009, the Board of Bankruptcy Judges for the District of New Jersey approved a General Order Governing Redaction Procedures Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. section 107(c) and Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9037(a).
In accordance with Fed. R. Bankr.P. 9037(a), counsel, parties and others who make filings with the Court, must exercise their responsibility to redact Personal Data Identifiers (Social Security Numbers, Taxpayer Identification Numbers, Financial Account Numbers, Names of Minor Children, Dates of Birth).

[treehugger1]

And, of course, the ID Red Flag Rules. I will request from the OC a copy of their Identity Theft Prevention Program. I had already referred to this in a letter to the local CA.

http://ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/redflag.shtm

The letter I received from the local CA stated, "This letter is to advise you that the account previously assigned to this office has been cancelled back to ##### CA, in ##### state. We are no longer willing to handle this matter."

In my mind what the out-of-state collector did was furnish my personal ID information to a local CA. The out-of-state CA does not own teh account and was only asigned to it. This CA also tacked on more than $4500 in "collection fees." I immediately called the OC and asked who they had shared my information with. The only party they had knowledge of was the out-of-state collector. I told them I found it interesting that another CA also had copies of the information the OC had shared with the out-of-state collection agency.

It is hard to know where this will go, but I have kept an excellent paper trail of all documents that were passed among the two CA's, including the very poor attempts to "black out" SSN, Birthdate, etc. Should the out-of-state CA attempt to sue me, I would probably attempt to get a consult with an attorney.

I had also complained to my state AG's office.

I'm wondering at this point if i should file a complaint with the FTC. I'm not sure what particular part of a USC would apply, but maybe just drawing attention to the issue might be a reasonable step to take.

[BigJohn]

And, of course, the ID Red Flag Rules. I will request from the OC a copy of their Identity Theft Prevention Program. I had already referred to this in a letter to the local CA.

http://ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/redflag.shtm

The letter I received from the local CA stated, "This letter is to advise you that the account previously assigned to this office has been cancelled back to ##### CA, in ##### state. We are no longer willing to handle this matter."

In my mind what the out-of-state collector did was furnish my personal ID information to a local CA. The out-of-state CA does not own teh account and was only asigned to it. This CA also tacked on more than $4500 in "collection fees." I immediately called the OC and asked who they had shared my information with. The only party they had knowledge of was the out-of-state collector. I told them I found it interesting that another CA also had copies of the information the OC had shared with the out-of-state collection agency.

It is hard to know where this will go, but I have kept an excellent paper trail of all documents that were passed among the two CA's, including the very poor attempts to "black out" SSN, Birthdate, etc. Should the out-of-state CA attempt to sue me, I would probably attempt to get a consult with an attorney.

I had also complained to my state AG's office.

I'm wondering at this point if i should file a complaint with the FTC. I'm not sure what particular part of a USC would apply, but maybe just drawing attention to the issue might be a reasonable step to take.

I would not complain to the State's Attorney General's office. They resonate with the word worthless. I would go directly to the Inspector General's Office of the social Security office.

When I contacted the local court about the women's social security number appearing on the document, they claimed they do it all the time. When I told them I was going to the social Security office and another office to complain about the situation, their attitude changes. They even said I was not suppose to get the doc with the Social Security number on it.

[treehugger1]

BigJohn, I am fortunate to live in a state where the AG's office is broken down into several smaller indices including a state arm of consumer finance. As long as I provided documentation as to my particular grievance, they always acted quickly. This has been particularly true of unregistered collection agencies in my state.

I recently had an old account $121.00 for some long lost phone bill go to an out-of-state CA who is unregistered. I complained, and the AG's office notified them of the violation. I doubt I'll hear from the CA again. All CA's must be registered in Oregon. They must also be licensed unless their state has a similar licensure law to Oregon. If not, I think the bonding to license as a CA here is in the 10's of thousands of dollars. Regardless, they must ALL be registered if attemptign to collect on a debt incurred by a consumer while a resident of this state. The fines for failing to comply can be quite steep and the AG's office here has been know to enforce the laws and fines. This is particularly true now when the state has such huge financial issues. Every bit of revenue to the state coffers helps int he end.