Consumer complaint received 2019-06-20
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
State: PA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was already discharged in bankruptcy and is no longer owed

Complaint:
I was contacted by a company going by the name of XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX on Friday XX/XX/XXXX for the first time advising me there is a claim ( Case # : XXXX ) against me in the amount of $ XXXX for a XXXX XXXX credit card that went into delinquency back in XX/XX/XXXX according to the representative I spoke to. I immediately advised the representative that I am unaware of any alleged outstanding debt and that any and all credit accounts held by me or jointly with my wife were discharged in Bankruptcy court in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Prior to this phone conversation I have only ever had XXXX XXXX XXXX credit card held jointly with my wife. 

I advised the representative of XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) that I needed a few days to pull my credit report and also to get a copy of my Chapter XXXX bankruptcy discharge which was cleared on XX/XX/XXXX. Mr. XXXX stated to me that this alleged credit account was not included in the Chapter XXXX filing and that the alleged debt is still valid. Once again I explained to Mr. XXXX that I will get a copy of my discharge papers and would be happy to fax them to XXXX as proof that all of my accounts were discharged in Federal Bankruptcy Court. 

I intended to call XXXX today, Thursday XX/XX/XXXX however, I received a follow up call from a Mr. XXXX XXXX ( XXXX, ext. XXXX XXXX yesterday XX/XX/XXXX advising me that my case was now referred to him. I proceeded to explain the same instance of details I explained to Mr. XXXX the previous week. Mr. XXXX quoted my representing attorney in bankruptcy court, quoted the bankruptcy discharge date , county and state of the discharge ( All public information by the way ) and stated to me that the account was not listed on the discharge. I requested specific paper proof showing me how they determined that this alleged specific account was not listed on my bankruptcy accounts list. I was informed that they simply look at the account, compare it against a discharge list that they have access to and can determine on their end that the account was not included. Again, I requested the proof that he is quoting to me about this alleged account and Mr. XXXX could not present any proof of said account either in paper or electronically. 

If this is truly the case, why didn't they ( XXXX XXXX or any representing collection agency ) show up at the meeting of creditors during the Chapter XXXX proceedings? Considering that according to them, the account was delinquent since XX/XX/XXXX, and my hearings and ultimately discharge occurred in XX/XX/XXXX? Furthermore, the court never received any objections, written or otherwise to the filing when first initiated in XX/XX/XXXX. 

I then informed Mr. XXXX that I can not simply go by his word that this account was not included. I explained that I only ever had one XXXX XXXX credit card account prior to our bankruptcy filing. I also advised Mr. XXXX that I have never seen the one account that I am aware of go into delinquency. This account has not shown up on my credit report as unpaid or noncollectable by the original crediting bank. Mr. XXXX then gave me an explanation that sometimes banks don't report delinquent accounts to the consumer reporting agencies in an attempt to give the debtor an opportunity to pay the account. Five years of leniency? I have never, ever heard of any creditor granting such mercy to anyone. Everyone of my accounts that I had previously, were listed on my credit report and never once did any XXXX XXXX account come up as delinquent until the Chapter XXXX filing in XX/XX/XXXXunder advisement of our bankruptcy attorney. Furthermore, after the discharge, all credit accounts that my wife and I had previously were closed under the chapter XXXX filing. 

I advised Mr. XXXX that as a one time courtesy, I am going to fax them a copy of my Bankruptcy Discharge papers ( blocking out any personally identifiable information ) as proof that all accounts were in fact discharged. We ended our call at this time and I did in fact fax them all of the discharge papers to fax # : XXXX. I then proceeded to perform a reverse lookup of this fax number and the owner of the number comes up as XXXX XXXX and XXXX ( a collection agency ) located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX with a primary contact number of ( XXXX ) XXXX according to the XXXX  website. 

In my fax communication to this agency, I explained the content of the fax. I also at this time communicated my expectations that as far as I am concerned, this matter is fully resolved, null and void. I also stated in my letter accompanying the facsimile that should any of this invalid information end up on my or my wife 's credit report, I would seek full legal action against XXXX and any associated partners of their firm. I also furnished to XXXX the name and contact information to my Bankruptcy attorney 's office and made clear that any further information they might require would need to be obtained from the Attorney 's office and that I no longer wish to be contacted on this matter. 

I'm filing this complaint at this time for two reasons ; 1. The methods of which XXXX or XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX   are employing to collect on a debt that was discharged in Federal Bankruptcy Court, and, 2. I'm not sure what they will do with the information furnished to them by me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation