Consumer complaint received 2018-07-10
Company: Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A.
State: MS
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Private student loan debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I received notice from XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX on behalf of XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX that a debt was owed. There was a " warrant in debt '' for 4 separate accounts. Foolishly I agreed to a payment plan and all of the debts were consolidated to {$4000.00}. I began the payment plan in XX/XX/XXXX paying {$160.00} each month. 

In XX/XX/XXXX my payments were no longer accepted. I had paid {$2000.00} thus far. I called the company who told me the loan had been recalled. I then tried multiple times throughout XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX to make  contact with this " XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX '' to no avail. 

Now in XX/XX/XXXX I received notice from Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA on behalf of XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX that a debt was owed. They claimed a warrant in debt for another 4 separate accounts. The consolidation agreement I had made with XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX did not exist, and the money I had paid also did not exist. 

At this point, I wrote to the local District Court regarding the " warrants in debt. '' Every single cause had been dismissed by the judge and remained as such, my paperwork is current as of XX/XX/XXXX. Though the  causes themselves were dismissed back in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

After receiving this proof of dismissal, I sent a letter of dispute to Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA on XX/XX/XXXX of which I have proof of delivery from the USPS on XX/XX/XXXX. In this letter I advised them that they would have 30 days from receipt to respond with my request before I assumed the debt was invalid. I requested the items below ... 
" -Agreement with the creditor that authorizes you to collect on this alleged debt -The agreement bearing my signature stating that I have agreed to assume the debt -Valid copies of the debt agreement stating the amount of the debt and interest charges -Proof that the Statute of Limitations has not expired -Complete payment history on this account along with an accounting of all additional charges being assessed -Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state ; and -Your license numbers and Registered Agent '' They sent me additional correspondence, but not what was requested. They sent me a bill for 2 of the 4 accounts they originally claimed I owed money. 

So at this point, I had not received any of the information within the 30 days I listed in the request. Therefore on XX/XX/XXXX I called their offices and left a voicemail advising them that they failed to meet my simple request and as such I would not be paying them the money they claimed I owed. I also advised them that any further requests for payment of these invalid debts would be reported to the CFPB. 

Surely enough 6 days later on XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from them with some of the information requested, but only for 1 of the 4 accounts  for which they claimed I owed money. And not all of the information was present. 

I do not know who would be the target of this investigation, be it XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX who GOT my money, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX who CLAIM I have unpaid debts, or Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA who claim to be " attorneys at law '' but can not seem to respond to a simple request, and who can not keep their records straight of how many accounts I am supposedly in debt. 

At this point I am obeying my promise to report to the CFPB as my requests with these companies have gotten me nowhere.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation