Consumer complaint received 2018-06-11
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IN
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX My brother called me urgently to say someone from a firm called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  had called him and needed me to contact them urgently about debt collection. I called them with my case number and spoke to a XXXX XXXX, a paralegal from this firm in XXXX, XXXX  ( at least that is the name he told me ) he proceeded to tell me by telephone that I was being given a summons/complaint against me for not paying debt to Fifth Third Bank that was from XXXX and we are in XXXX, and in my state of XXXX   the statue of limitations is 6 years. He proceeded to tell me the statue of limitations is 7-10 which is a lie. The only debt that comes to mind is something that I already paid off that same year in XXXX and paid in full, meaning the debt was already settled. But he tried to convince me it wasn't, when I told him I had been out of the country for 10 years and can not confirm this debt and to please provide me documentation he told me that they had been sending it to my residence, and address I haven't lived at for more than 10 years with a drivers license that opened the bank account, he had my social security number and told me they had been sending letters for months. I told him I do not reside nor have I resided there, and I had been out of the country and this could possibly be identity theft, he then proceeded to become very aggressive, using profound language and told me that if that this will become a misdemeanor on my credit report, that when we go to court I will have to pay attorney fees, plus the amount, and also if I can not pay they will put a lean on my wages, repossess my car, tax on bank levy because this account had become delicuent and Fifth Third Bank in ohio was demanding repayment. When I told him I wanted debt verification in written form he told me it would be at the courthouse in XXXX county, XXXX, and I could pick up all documentation there. I told him maybe it was best he could speak to my lawyer, and he became even more aggressive and insulting in which I had to ask him to please calm down and the way he was speaking to me was inappropriate very aggressive. He gave me not details on the account and only told me it was passed on to them from {$620.00} at the bank and now with interest was at {$1400.00} but would not provide me any proof of debt verification. Finally, I asked him what my options were and he said I am only calling to tell you that this will be filed in court by next week, in which I still did not have confirmation of why I was being sued and for what for. I proceeded to ask if a settlement was possible in which he changed his tone immediately and I told him I do not have the money to pay which he said he would be happy to do a three way call with a relative who I would have to borrow from to explain the same thing he told me. He then had his " administrator '' XXXX XXXX, send me a docu sign, with grammatical errors and incorrect dates and also asking for my credit card information and also the three digit code on the back to be paid to a XXXX XXXX XXXX. I told him I needed until Monday to review and speak to my relative so he sent me a " settlement demand proposal '' and proceeded to tell me that as soon as I pay, my credit score will be changed and told me I should take out a credit card to help my credit score,  and then told me that I can write off the interest that I pay from the accumulation on my taxes which does not have any relevance. I have taken the time to research my legal rights, contact various lawyers that sue for illegal debt collection, who have all told me that this firm has broken the law and is not legal, this firm doesn't even have a website, and the people I supposedly spoke to are no where on the internet, I couldn't even find this name on the internet anywhere. I looked up the address listed on the settlement proposal for the firm, and it belongs to car accident attorney firm that is not even close to having the same name as this debt collection law firm. I have mailed a debt collection verification letter to the address provided, and also scanned and faxed to their number they gave me. However, I am sure that this is not a legitamite debt collection agency, and also I am sure that I do not owe any debt to fifth third. Firm is called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX address XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX XXXX, phone : XXXX XXXX and fax : XXXX XXXX, if it is legitimate upon receiving my debt verification letter they will need to verify my debts and then can proceed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation