I'm curious - do you work for a debt collector? I ask because I've been sent to collections multiple times over medical bills, and every single time it has taken hours of effort to eventually reveal that all of the documentation given to the debt collector was erroneous. Mentally, I treat it as spam because I've learned that it's going to end up being someone else's mistake that the debt collector didn't look at carefully.

I would love to understand better how to deal with it - and if there's a fellow HN user who understand the debt collector business, I would like to talk to them :)

Always deal with debt collectors via snail mail, not phone calls or email.

Snail mail is very hard to prove that correspondence happened. State law requires that I dispute their claims within 30 days via snail mail, which I did. They then have to provide documentation within 30 days via snail mail, which they didn't. They should be fined for that, but all I can prove is that I mailed them something within 30 days, and everything else is he-said-she-said. I prefer to tell them I'm recording the phone call. Unfortunately, my state's laws don't require they cooperate that way, and many just hang up immediately. It does stop the harassment, though.

The US postal service provides certified delivery. It requires a signature and proves delivery. You show your proof, and if they can't show theirs, you win in small claims. At least, that is the idea...

you should read patio11's recent post on dealing with this kind of thing. He's talking specifically about dealing with credit agencies, but the same paper trails are likely to be the standard way of dealing with any legal hassles. Also my understanding is that the burden of proof is on the creditor/collector to prove you owe something, so having a paper trail showing how you dealt with things in a timely manner is going to make you look better and avoids the he said she said problem.

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-re...

FTC complaints works great too.

Why?

Identity Theft, Credit Reports, and You | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15206926 (Sep 2017, 276 comments)

>code4tee: The bit about calmly but methodically collecting a paper trail and then reading it back to them is excellent advice

Less high pressure tactics and them verbally abusing you, plus it provides a paper trail of wrongdoing if they violate any laws.

Nope. Just our client's customer's have "balances" which can be in debt.

Usually it's because one of our client's payment gateways is terrible and doesn't record all payments.

They probably feel like they didn't solicit that communication.

I don't think you should be surprised that people view debt collectors with massive disdain.