When Debt Collectors Attack the Wrong Guy

Twice in the last six months I've found myself on the receiving end of a barrage of repeated, angry calls from debt collectors. First, Providian insisted I pay them back over $3,000 in credit card fees. Now, Sallie Mae wants my student loan repaid immediately. The only problem: I have never had a Providian credit card, nor have I ever had a loan from Sallie Mae.

I know it isn't a fun job to try to track down money you're owed: Writers like me have to play debt collector all the time when magazines "lose" our invoices, when companies change hands, and when nefarious publishers just suddenly decide not to pay.

But I'm not so stupid to call the wrong magazine to collect what I'm owed. Alas, that's what I've been dealing with for weeks: A call comes in asking to talk to me about my student loan. I say I don't have a student loan. We go back and forth, establishing that I don't have the same Social Security Number or date of birth as the offending person, but apparently they live in San Francisco now, so of course it must be me. It always ends with them promising not to call me any more. Then they call back a few days later and we start all over. The collectors just refuse to believe that someone else might possibly have the same name as me. I can't imagine what John Smith must go through.

Lately they have started calling my cell phone, which I think they got off my answering machine message when I didn't pick up the phone once. Now they call both numbers. I will speak to the same woman within minutes of each call, and she'll have no recollection that we just had an identical conversation. It's maddening.

I asked experts how to deal with a situation like this and the advice was useful and handy.

Gerri Detweiler, co-author of Stop Debt Collectors Cold, said to 1) make sure to get the debt collector's name, address, and phone number in writing, 2) request written verification of the debt (whether you are the right person or not), and 3) check credit reports to make sure the debt isn't attached to your credit record.

Brad Stroh, co-CEO of Bills.com, pointed me to this helpful FTC web page, telling us what debt collectors can and can't do, legally. He also says that invalid claims are best fought in writing, and that you have 30 days of when you are first informed of the debt to do so. (I'm probably too late on that one.) Keep a record of all correspondence, he says. You can also write to formally request they cease and desist from contacting you at all, though this does not eliminate any debt you actually owe. Finally, Stroh says that if a debt collector is breaking the law, they can be reported to the FTC and your state's Attorney General's office. (The above FTC page has more information on that front.)

I asked Sallie Mae's public relations officials what the story was with all of this, and they said that such cases are "extremely rare," and that I was doing the right thing by telling the company they had the wrong guy. They also promised to get my numbers removed from their calling list. While I was responding in email with those digits, Sallie Mae called again. Twice.

Sigh.