Colllection of 3rd. party discharged bankruptcy debts

Hi enmahrr
The problem which you are facing has to be solved step by step.

Step1

Firstly your sister was a resident of New Jersey and presently she is living with you in Arizona. She has been threatened by a out of state firm for not paying off the credit card debts which your sister feels is not her's but those of her ex-husband's. Now look there are two paths to be followed.

a)Ask your sister the following few questions:

i)Is she sure that the credit card debts do not belong to her? If yes she might be required to prove it by providing documentary evidence.

ii)If the answer is no then whether her husband was declared bankrupt after filing for bankruptcy. Since once a person is declared bankrupt after filing for bankruptcy then all his debts will be cleared off provided he filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and which I feel he has.

iii)If your sister says that her ex-husband has been declared bankrupt and his debts have been cleared off then please contact any of the nearest police station informing them of the threats as well as also contact and take the help of any local attorney and ask him to lodge a suit against the company because as per fdcpa(Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) your sister's right is well protected.The act clearly mentions about the way a collection firm has to proceed in collecting the debts.

Step 2

Your sister also told you that the credit card debt account were not a ???purchased account??? as per the credit collection company but her credit report says they were purchased accounts. Now there may be a mistake in the credit report and your sister should contact the credit reporting agency immediately to rectify the mistake. But since no paper confirmations or signature cards were supplied in respect of the claim your sister has nothing to worry. Please ask her to contact a local attorney to lodge a complaint against the company for violation of FDCPA.

Regards
Peter

Hi enmahrr

As per the law, your sister can ask the company to validate the debt by providing her the proof of the dues. Your sister should not start making payments of any amount just by some threatening done verbally. If that written statement confirms that those were her debts, then she will give attention to it.

The company did NOT state they were "Purchased Accounts" which the credit report says they were, but the did say the cards were from 1980... NO paper confirmations, copies of signature cards or anything was supplied.