Several debt collectors have me confused with my father, and hound me repeatedly because we have the same name.

by Joe
(Florida)

My father lost his house to foreclosure about 2 years ago. He also accrued a lot of debt on credit cards, utilities, cell phone, and medical bills. I can understand the confusion at first for the debt collection company and know they are just attempting to do their job. It really becomes annoying after the 3rd and 4th time explaining this to them, while they speak to me like I am trash.

About 6 months ago I was contacted by a law office out of Delray Beach,FL Gill D&F, via a process server. Since I have the same name as my father, and they were at the door step of the home that I own, I figured the documents were for me. I signed and accepted them, and before the process server could leave I stopped him to let him know he served the wrong person. Gill D&F is a 3rd party collection company for Suntrust Bank. Suntrust is the bank that foreclosed on my father, and also the same bank that holds the note on my mortgage. I contacted Suntrust to ask in their assistance in straightening this matter out.

They did their due diligence and although it took a while, the matter was laid to rest to my satisfaction. I received a notice from the court that I did not have to appear now.

Last week the same process server came by with specific instructions to look for my fathers make and model vehicle in the driveway, and then to serve me again. I did not accept the docs this time, and I gave him a copy of the courts dismissal of the last paperwork he had dropped off.

Today I get another call from their office asking me how do I want to handle this matter.

I am a real estate agent and need to maintain a positive image in my neighborhood. I can not have process servers coming by and making a show of paper work that is not mine. I also am to busy to keep trying to straighten each of these debt collectors out. Do you have any advice?

Reply from DebtCollectionAnswers.com:

Please contact a consumer law attorney. This is sloppy and may be illegal. A consumer law attorney may be willing to take your case on a contingent fee basis since the other firm may be forced to pay your attorney's fees if you win.

You can talk with a consumer law attorney with experience in debt collection cases. Learn how to get low cost or FREE legal help with your debt collection problem here. There is no fee unless you recover.

Unfortunately, sometimes it comes down to this. There is no excuse for law firms to keep coming after you for this debt after you've demonstrated they have the wrong person.

Comments for Several debt collectors have me confused with my father, and hound me repeatedly because we have the same name.

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May 15, 2014
 Debt collector confused me with my father
by: Anonymous

I am also in a similar situation... My father and I have the same last name and my father put a vehicle in his name for my brother. The car was impounded and the city subpoenaed me to court and garnish my wages and also froze all my bank accounts because the car had tickets and citations that were under my father's name . They somehow confused me with him They even have my social security number on all the legal document. I called the collection agency and they told me that they were going to fix it that they mistakenly thought that I was my father because of me filing bankruptcy they had a system check the data and it came back as me.

Reply from DebtCollectionAnswers.com:
A couple suggestions. First, it's always best to deal with a debt collection agency in writing. That way you have a clear record of what you asked that it do and what it said it would do. You may need this record later if you end up in court. Even if you communicate with an agency by phone initially, always follow up with a letter that restates your request and summarizes your understanding of the action/s the agency agreed to take. Make a copy of every letter you write for your files and send each original via certified mail with a return receipt requested. Keep the receipts with your letters as well as all communications you receive from the collection agency.

Second, if you are unable to resolve your problem yourself, we recommend that you contact an attorney right away, free consultation with a consumer law attorney. The help of an attorney could be invaluable because resolving a problem like yours is not always easy.

Finally, have you checked your credit reports recently to see if they have been damaged by your problems? We imagine they have. Federal law entitles you to one free copy of each report annually. Read each report carefully. If you find errors, you are legally entitled to get them corrected although we are warning you, doing so is not always easy. Go here for information on how to order your reports and tips on how to correct problems, http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0151-disputing-errors-credit-reports.
Nov 05, 2011
 question for Joe
by: Jon

Hi Joe,

I am in a similar boat. I was served a Summons earlier this year and accepted it as they came to MY house and asked "Are you Jon Q. Public"... I was able to get the plaintiff's attorney (after sending my D/L and redacted portion of my SS Card to him) to file a motion to Quash service and request an "Alias Summons" be issued.
Just this week, another server came by with notice for another suit from another compsny. I missed him; but called and explained he's trying to serve someone with a similar name; but it's not me. He was nice and said he would send it back with that written on it and my # in case he wished to call. Still waiting to hear.

However, a criminal attorney I know through work told me: I should in good-faith accept any Summons that has MY NAME and ADDRESS on it, file an Answer and request a Court Date where I present documents to prove the plaintiff's did not perform due diligence in their targeting of me and request relief that the Court dismiss the case WITH prejudice, thus causing them to lose their filing fee!
Sep 06, 2011
 Thanks for the answers!
by: Joe

Thank you for getting back to me so fast! I will contact an attorney and let you know the result.

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