I was owed 30 cents or something by a TelCo about 20 years ago. So they sent me an invoice stating the debt every month.
I asked them if they can just cut me a cheque or something and they said they wouldn’t for such a small amount.
So I received a -30c payable invoice monthly for years until the company went out of business.
When our “final balance” from the landlord (late fee + “repairs”) went to collections I asked for it, got all the documents, and forwarded it to my attorney along with everything else.
Long story short they settled out of court, then didn’t fulfill the settlement contract (namely the bit about removing the erroneous reports against my credit), then wound up getting fined 50 grand by my local government.
Typically, the car title will show if there was a loan used to buy it, so it is already documented with the state as part of showing ownership. At that point, the owner of the car loan doesn’t have to talk to the owner of the car to repossess the car, they just need to talk to the state to transfer ownership.
Asking for proof of debt is actually a valid tactic.
When I killed my land line and went cellular, oh, 30 years ago, I paid my last phone bill and cancelled.
5 years later I got a call from collections saying I owed for the final bill.
I apologized to them for Qwest wasting their time, told them what was up and asked for proof of debt for which I knew there was none.
Never heard from them again.
I was owed 30 cents or something by a TelCo about 20 years ago. So they sent me an invoice stating the debt every month. I asked them if they can just cut me a cheque or something and they said they wouldn’t for such a small amount.
So I received a -30c payable invoice monthly for years until the company went out of business.
This kind of shit cracks me up.
They spent far more than that in postage.
I’ve had similar with owing small amounts… where the letter they sent cost more in postage than was owed.
You’d think someone in accounting would say something…. Hey let’s just ignore this one. ??
Could have been sooner if you had just collected that $0.30.
Not sure what you mean? I tried and they said they wouldn’t issue a cheque for such a small amount. They weren’t going to send me 30c in the post.
You should have taken them to itty bitty claims court.
I think their joke was that, if you successfully collected on the debt, they’d have gone out of business sooner.
It was just a joke.
When our “final balance” from the landlord (late fee + “repairs”) went to collections I asked for it, got all the documents, and forwarded it to my attorney along with everything else.
Long story short they settled out of court, then didn’t fulfill the settlement contract (namely the bit about removing the erroneous reports against my credit), then wound up getting fined 50 grand by my local government.
Good on you for having an attorney. Very smart move on your part.
Fortunately my boss at the time was a lawyer, so he gave me alot of great advice throughout the entire ordeal.
Unfortunately he didn’t do landlord/tenant disputes, his area is class action and credit related.
So we waited until the landlord sent it off to the agencies, and he took the case on contingency.
Unfortunately that fine was a fine and not an award / damages. I would have liked that cash influx lol.
That’s cathartic. If only bad faith earned a massive fine every time.
It’s actually what you’re supposed to do if the company calling you to collect isn’t the same company that you originally owed money to.
That is legit indeed. But old sovcit here is doing sovcit shit.
It doesn’t work as well with cars.
Typically, the car title will show if there was a loan used to buy it, so it is already documented with the state as part of showing ownership. At that point, the owner of the car loan doesn’t have to talk to the owner of the car to repossess the car, they just need to talk to the state to transfer ownership.