Same as other honest citizens, I too, was a victim of fraudulent business conduct.
A year ago, I discovered a negative account reflected in my credit report. The information in my credit report, showed a past due account send to collection. The collection business was West Management, and the originator was AT&T. Two of the Major Credit Bureaus, Experian and Equifax showed the account as a bad account.
I disputed the account with the credit bureaus as a fraudulent account and requested an investigation.
Not only I contacted the credit bureaus, but I also contacted AT&T to inquire about the account and submitted a report to their Fraud Department. Although as a result of the investigation, the account was deleted from my records, I must mention that the process was agonizing and painful. This happened last June.
To my surprise, on Wednesday, April 12, I received a phone message from a collector from Asset Acceptance, LLC, indicating that they have bought a delinquent account on my name from AT&T for a phone account that has been closed for many years. I questioned the collector, about the account, and he indicated that the account in questions was bought this year and that it was an account that was sent to collection in 2005.
I explained to him, that the AT&T account used to me my phone number 20 years ago when I resided in Chicago, and that I have not lived in the premises reported for the phone number for the past 17 years. I also, indicated that my last address for Chicago was Burbank, Illinois in 1997, and that for the past five years I relocated to Texas, and that AT&T can testify to the fact, since I am a current client here in Texas.
They contacted me on a day, in which I came home stressed out from work, and I was not thinking straight. I disputed the account, and under stressed I proceeded to make a full payment, not because I was validating it, but because I did not wanted to go through the same painful experience of last year, and because I did not wanted a bad account in my credit record.
During my conversation with the collector, I was not able to connect the West Asset Account with the Asset Collection, mainly because of the dates were different. But upon retiring to bed, I came to realized that Asset account was the same account disputed and investigated by the credit bureaus last year.
Early Friday morning I contacted Asset Management to questioned and mentioned my discover and to request an investigation. I immediately developed a notarized dispute statement and sent a certified mail to Asset Management in Warren, Michigan.
In my dispute I provided supportive evidence to include the results of the investigation executed by the credit bureaus last year, and emphasizing the results of the previous investigation. Not only I demanded an apology but also refund for the amount paid in the fraudulent account.
At the time that I submitted my dispute, I had no knowledge of Asset Acceptance, LLC but today, while researching for the phone number for the company headquarters and the email address, since I wanted to send a letter to the President of the company, I came across some postings in the consumer complaints. I read the report posted by Carlos, and it was then that I realized that once again, I have been a victim of a fraudulent act and as Carlos mentioned in the posting, Asset Acceptance does change the information in old debts to make them look like new ones.
I am still to get an answer from Asset Acceptance, as you can see this happened only two days ago. I am given Asset Acceptance the opportunity to apply the Code of Ethics and to do the right thing. And now that I have reports of other citizens regarding their frivolous business conduct, in an event that Asset Acceptance does not take advantage of the opportunity given to proceed with honor and decency.
I am ready to sent a petition to the Better Business Bureau with a copy to President Bush and to members of US Congress requesting justice so that severe sanctions be imposed against companies such as Asset Acceptance Corp. LLC., and for Congress to pass a law that will better protect consumers from fraudulent acts from companies such as Asset Acceptance and West Management.
When the time comes, I would ask concern citizens and those that have been victims of Asset Acceptance terrible unethical business practices to join me in my petition to Congress.
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