Bank is asking me to hand over $1,600.

Kind of off topic, but that's what this is here for, right?

Maybe you guys have come across something like this before.

When I was younger and attending college I had a bank account with Bank of america, both my name and my mothers were on this account. I lived at home and pretty much let her use the account whenever she wanted. I was a good son and sometimes she needed help paying bills. I had a job as a newbie tech.

However I eventually left and flew across the country to start life over, and now I live alone in Los Angeles. I left that bank of america account to my mother and she informed me that it was closed long ago.

Point: I don't do my banking with Bank of america anymore, and have moved on to others.

Problem: I was just contacted last week, apparently Bank of america claims that I have an outstanding debt with them. $1,686.95 exactly. They say that when my account was closed there was still money owed on that account. I don't know the specifics, but I'm guessing that amount rose with time.

I just don't get why they contacted me now, many years later to finally tell me this. I just received a letter from a collection agency called FBCS Inc. and I'm being told to response within the next 30 days.

I'm planning to visit a bank of america this week to see if they have a record or some information showing what happened with this account. I don't even know if what they are doing is legal. $:\$

I can understand that if I have a debt, it needs to be paid. However noone contacted me and just let it grow until now.

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Comments

veritas_libertas

Something sounds very fishy! You should definitely not do anything until you get some official documents.

Selfmade

Do nothing, it sounds like extortion to me.

Plantwiz

Oh goodness

BoA is not the easiest to deal with, so good luck, have patience and get EVERYTHING in writing.

You may wish to find a Dave Ramsey ELP in your area to assist you with this because:
1 - is it possilbe your Mom incurred fees on this account and walked away?
2 - your name is on this account, and if they cannot collect from her...they will certainly go after you.
3 - do you have specifics of what the fees are about?

The 'good' news is that $1600 isn't a huge amount to correct this problem and move forward with life. However, don't blindly pay them a penny until, everything is in writting and you 100% understand it.

You'll want to know if there is Fraud/ID theft on this account. If it was closed, then there should be paperwork showing that it is closed which, I'd hope, you have copies of.

The concern, there are many well-intending parents who mess up their children's accounts (and financial lives) because they never really understood how that all works. I'd seek out a local ELP (endorsed local provider) who can look at your situation and walk you through this.

Best wishes! (and have patience, it may take a bit).

veritas_libertas

Plantwiz wrote: »

You may wish to find a Dave Ramsey ELP in your area to assist you with this...

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I have heard of weird stories like this on his show before, but I couldn't remember any of his suggestions for dealing with it.

NightShade03

You said that it has been a number of years....

There is a statute of limitation on these things and I don't think that they can just demand money from you so many years later. I agree with the others....don't do anything until you have documentation from the bank.

TheMechanic

Best advice is if you do owe and it's validated, negotiate the amount. Reach a settlement and place a dollar amount of the most your willing to pay, and negotiate for half of that. Gl!!

Plantwiz

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I have heard of weird stories like this on his show before, but I couldn't remember any of his suggestions for dealing with it.

Tends to be old debts that get 'forgotten' about and sold off to crap-o collection houses. They hassle people until they collect. The ones I've heard call in range form ID theft (frequently a loved-one who has access to the account) to old charges that were missed, and then fees piled on.

Because I would advise to NOT discuss the specifics on a forum such as this, I'd seek out the opinion of a local Pro, who can work through this with you. If it turns out to be ID theft, then a police report needs to be filed to keep the OP off the hook for paying (which becomes real messy when it's against a parent

).

So, working with someone you can sit with face-to-face, someone who does this sort of work 'daily', and someone who can give the OP true advice for his/her situation regardless if it is tough to hear...would be my recommendation.

It could be a mistake. And the paperwork gets straightened out, the OP gains some grey hair in the process and learns the hard lesson of, always close your own account, even if a parent (who we impliciatly trust) promises to close it for you.

It could be some old business that was missed and now needs to be paid up and cleaned-up. So get the facts. Work a deal if necessary...pay NOTHING until it is in writing from BoA and move forward.

It's pretty challenging to get into all the specifics on a forum (and I wouldn't want to do that for a few reasons).

Don't ignore it, but don't be bullied either. As stated eariler, the good news in this, is it isn't a huge amount of money. Once all the facts are flushed out, it's possible to pay and close this chapter, but I would NOT pay a penny until the facts are know...and it may be very possible to settle for a lower dollar amount.

Little frustrating, but in a couple months I suspect, this can be worked out and become a closed case.

ALWAYS GET THINGS IN WRITING and don't pay until they send you the agreed amount IN WRITING (then you overnight the payment, if that happens to be the solution).

Probably not a scam, but very likely an old problem with a boatload of ridiculous fees assigned to the account.

blargoe

I wouldn't even assume it's the same account. It could be a mistake. Was it BoA that contacted you directly?

Make the collection agency validate the debt. You are legally entitled to this. Some info here:

Debt Validation: The ultimate weapon against the collection agencies

Also, look up the statue of limitations for debt in the state in which the account was opened. If the time since passed you shouldn't have to pay, then you legally shouldn't have to pay. Either way, make sure you communicate with them via certified mail so that you have a paper trail.

Devilsbane

Contact the bank directly. First, verify that it is true. Assuming it is, then work with them and explain your situation. If you handle it quickly, they might not stick it on your credit report.

Next step, is get a free credit report from all 3 agencies. If it is on there, contact each agency and explain the situation to them as well and ask that it be removed.

NightShade03

Devilsbane wrote: »

Next step, is get a free credit report from all 3 agencies. If it is on there, contact each agency and explain the situation to them as well and ask that it be removed.

That's easier said then done....I've been fighting with them for 2 years over things on my credit report....

Plantwiz

NightShade03 wrote: »

That's easier said then done....I've been fighting with them for 2 years over things on my credit report....

Well...the 3 credit reporting agencies cannot 'do' anything regarding your report.

If you tell them something is 'false' they may take it off, but only for a limited time. Their function is to 'report'. If there are inaccuracies, then you need to go back to the source and have THEM remove it.

So, dig the problem out at the root, the reporting agency has no say in what is valid or not, they merely report (and they are not the mediary to fight for your facts). Unfortunately, the burden in on you to clean up the inaccuracies.

NightShade03

Plantwiz wrote: »

Well...the 3 credit reporting agencies cannot 'do' anything regarding your report.

If you tell them something is 'false' they may take it off, but only for a limited time. Their function is to 'report'. If there are inaccuracies, then you need to go back to the source and have THEM remove it.

So, dig the problem out at the root, the reporting agency has no say in what is valid or not, they merely report (and they are not the mediary to fight for your facts). Unfortunately, the burden in on you to clean up the inaccuracies.

I should have been more clear. I have been fighting the source of these "inaccuracies" for 2 years.....like you said the credit reports just reflect that they are still there.

Zartanasaurus

Thankfully you live in CA, which has very short statutes of limitations on these sorts of things (3-4 years in most cases).

You definitely don't want to ignore it, so you can preserve all of your rights. Send this collection agency a very short letter stating that you dispute their claim. That's all you need to do to protect your rights under the law (Cali FDCPA law may be slightly different, but I believe it runs parallel to the fed version).

Send the letter certified mail return receipt requested (CMRRR) and place the CMRRR# in the body of your letter as a reference. Ball is in their court at that point. They will either send you back some information so you'll have a better handle on what you're dealing with or they'll drop it.

Zartanasaurus

Go here for good advice on debt collection.
Bad Credit Repair Discussion Forum

Plantwiz

NightShade03 wrote: »

I should have been more clear. I have been fighting the source of these "inaccuracies" for 2 years.....like you said the credit reports just reflect that they are still there.

That stinks

And unfortunately, isn't real uncommon.

You do have some options though and you can prove you have taken care of the problem way back when you thought it was done (i.e. closed the account and you kept the paperwork, or made a final payment and kept the final paperwork)...then you can send a certified mail/return receipt requested letter stating that they have 'x' days (usually 30 days) to correct the inaccurancy or it needs to come off the report permenatly. At that time, then IIRC you can send this all to the Reporting agengies and then can remove it (again).

I'll try to dig around for some examples of the wording...I'm fairly tied up this weekend on a project (and continue to pop in here to prograstinate finishing

Michael.J.Palmer

Just a couple of suggestions to make sure that this is legit.

If you recieved a letter in the mail regarding the debt and the letter is addressed to you then your debt with BoA will be on your credit report. Go to a credit report website (there's a free one provided by the government but I can't remember the name of it) if you have to you can do the free trial thing with FreeCreditReport.com or whatnot and just cancel off before they charge you. That's what I did when I had some old debt come back on me and never paid a dime to see my credit report. If the debt is legit, it'll be up there, you'll also be able to see if there are any other outstanding debts that you might not know about.

Secondly, contact the bank obviously, you'll want to resolve this ASAP as if it has been on your credit report for years then your credit is probably taking a beating from it. The quicker you resolve it the quicker you can get your credit back on track.

Lastly, contact your mother. What happens a lot of times in cases like this is there were letters to attempt the debt early on but they were sent to your last physically known address to the bank, case in point they were sent to your mother. If your mother never opened mail with your name on it or threw them out then it's a possibility that they tried to contact you years ago but you just never got wind about it. The bank now has your new address because you've lived there long enough for the address to show up on your background checks (which debt collectors regularly check to try and find new phone numbers and addresses that the person may have moved to). That may be why you just recieved the new notice at your current address because they just discovered that you lived there in the first place.

Debt collectors will sometimes go months to even close to a year before sending additional correspondences if you never contact them to resolve the debt. So as much as I'd like to say that it's "sketchy" that they are just contacting you now, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration and chances are it's legit.

So, just follow those steps and you should be fine. Of course, talk to your mother about the debt as well, ask her if she ever spent that much money. 1600 in the hole is quite a bit, so you'll definitely need to talk about that to find out where it came from and how it became so high.

Zartanasaurus

Something I forgot to mention.

Do you currently have a bank account? Usually, when you close an acct with a negative balance you get put into ChexSystems, which is a credit report agency for bank accounts. If you owe money, banks usually won't let you open a new account with them.

NightShade03

Plantwiz wrote: »

That stinks

And unfortunately, isn't real uncommon.

Actually I have an unusual circumstance. My father and I have the exact same name and they put things from his credit report on mine....Don't know how that happens.

The funny part to it is that they claimed I had this credit card balance for like $500 outstanding in 1988 ( I think it was like a macy's card). I was two years old in 1988

Hyper-Me

This happened to a friend of mine, and it was even bank of america.

They called and said 8 years ago he wrote a 20$ check at the grocery store and that the checked had bounced, and that they are charging him interest for the overage charge and 20$ and now the amount is 950$. He asked why it took them 8 years to bring it to his attention and they tried to say they had mail returned from his old address cause he moved, to which he informed them he had lived in the same house for 12 years.

He then told them that they had plenty of time to contact him in those 8 years, and he suggested they do several things, sexual in nature and involving their butt, and told them he would not be paying. They never called back and it never showed up on his credit.

Michael.J.Palmer

Hyper-Me wrote: »

This happened to a friend of mine, and it was even bank of america.

They called and said 8 years ago he wrote a 20$ check at the grocery store and that the checked had bounced, and that they are charging him interest for the overage charge and 20$ and now the amount is 950$. He asked why it took them 8 years to bring it to his attention and they tried to say they had mail returned from his old address cause he moved, to which he informed them he had lived in the same house for 12 years.

He then told them that they had plenty of time to contact him in those 8 years, and he suggested they do several things, sexual in nature and involving their butt, and told them he would not be paying. They never called back and it never showed up on his credit.

Situation like this is more than likely a scam then, you can't owe anything anymore without it ending up on your credit, especially to a bank.

Of course, did he just check one report or all three of the major reports? It's true what they say in those commercials, sometimes stuff will only show up on one report and not on another.

keenon

First thing is make them prove it!
Second what was originally owed when it was closed.

I would base my whole negotiation based on what was owed when the account was closed and not the "umm,well we waited until now balance" and tell them the 'F' off on the rest. As they got to make money off of your tax dollars F'n up $h't so lets call it square

Zartanasaurus

NightShade03 wrote: »

Actually I have an unusual circumstance. My father and I have the exact same name

This is actually not that unusual.

What's more, it should be very easy to get fixed if gone about the right way. If it's not fixed, this could result in a monetary award in your favor.

Plantwiz

NightShade03 wrote: »

Actually I have an unusual circumstance. My father and I have the exact same name and they put things from his credit report on mine....Don't know how that happens.

The funny part to it is that they claimed I had this credit card balance for like $500 outstanding in 1988 ( I think it was like a macy's card). I was two years old in 1988

Sad, but not that strange to see happen.

I know of folks who have cards issued to their pets and dead realtives...so, mixing up info based on a name...not strange

Stay on them!

JDMurray

Whatever you do, do not pay them any money. Doing so is an indication that you legally acknowledge the debt being yours. BoA sold the debt to a collection agency because they couldn't collect on it themselves, possibly due to it being past a statute of limitations. You need to contact an attorney and have this situation investigated. If this debt is old, the collection agency may not have any legal standing to sue you, and all they can really do is try to scare you into giving them some money.

KGhaleon

I went by a BoA today and asked them about it, but didn't tell them about being contacted by a collection agency. The women wasn't able to pull up my account because it was so old, but she called someone else who had more access and he verified that I did owe money on that account.

The account was supposedly closed in May of 2008, but they couldn't tell me what amount I owed at that time, or if the debt rose in time to what it is now. They couldn't pull up a statement on that account and told me to call their support line.

KGhaleon

So apparently the original amount that was owed was $843.47(likely due to my parent, cough). So I negotiated it down to the original amount. I went ahead and paid that and they were willing to forget about the interest that built up since 2008.

eh, it's still a loss in the end but I'm just glad to have them off my back.

veritas_libertas

KGhaleon wrote: »

So apparently the original amount that was owed was $843.47(likely due to my parent, cough). So I negotiated it down to the original amount. I went ahead and paid that and they were willing to forget about the interest that built up since 2008.

Well, I am glad that is cleared up!

KGhaleon wrote:

eh, it's still a loss in the end but I'm just glad to have them off my back.

Yeah, they are not people I would want to deal with. I prefer to deal with a credit union whenever possible. They usually treat more decent than bank will.

Devilsbane

NightShade03 wrote: »

Actually I have an unusual circumstance. My father and I have the exact same name and they put things from his credit report on mine....Don't know how that happens.

Same thing happens with my brother and my dad. Same first name, middle initial, and last name.

Devilsbane

Glad it worked out. Just remember to follow up and make sure that your record gets cleared.

Zartanasaurus

Of utmost importance: Get a letter from BoA stating that they accepted your payment as settlement in full.