Consumer complaint received 2020-09-18
Company: Receivables Performance Management, LLC
State: WA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, Receivables Performance Management LLC ( RPM ) ( based in XXXX, Washington XXXX received my account from a XXXX provider ( T-Mobile ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the notice and called XXXX on to dispute the debt and request an itemized bill as proof of the debt. 

During that call, XXXX confirmed to me that the account would be placed into dispute and that it would not be reported to the credit bureau while the itemized bill was pending. 

Months later, I received no such itemized bill and considered the matter closed. For context, I had switched XXXX providers, and having called XXXX prior, I was told my account information had since been deleted, so I was not surprised no such bill was forthcoming and without proof required by state law, I assumed they decided not to collect and to close the account. 

Instead, in late XXXX, I received another letter dated XX/XX/XXXX that again stated my account was in collections with RPM. 
I called a few days later to ask why, given that I had not received any itemized bill or further correspondence about it. 

The agent handling the call claimed the itemized bill was sent ( even though I repeatedly stated I never received such a bill ). On asking for proof or a tracking number for the mail they claimed they sent, the agent could not provide any such proof and became hostile and rude, claiming i had provided a false address and that they mail " must have '' been sent and tried to further bully me into " just pay your bill '', " you owe it ''. 
After again informing that I dispute it and asking that the itemized bill to be resent ( because I had never received it ), the agent said they would " try '' and I should " call back to confirm it was sent because that department had left the office ''. This only further increased my suspicion whether the mail was ever sent at all. 

I called back the next monday and a more respectful/knowledgeable agent confirmed what I secretly suspected -- XXXX had provided no further account details to RPM when forwarding the account, and so RPM had no itemized bill to send me ( only and account number and a total ). The agent also confirmed the debt was reported to the credit bureau in XXXX and subsequently removed on XX/XX/XXXX ( due to lack of proof ). 

I also provided XXXX pieces of feedback : 1. if they wish to claim and bully the consumer about mail they say they sent, but was never received, they should send the mail with XXXX XXXX information so they can prove it was sent. 
2. if they claim they sent mail and then never received a follow-up from the mail, prior to reporting the account to the credit bureau they should seek to confirm with the consumer ( either by mail or phone ) that they received the pending proof of debt documents. 

This to me now confirms RPM is/was trying to apply a scam/harassment/pressure tactic, wherein they knew they didn't have the proof to collect the debt, lied about sending the proof, and then reported the debt to the credit bureau as an attempt to scare me. 

While, by state law, they were required to remove the debt having been unable to provide the proof I requested, the fact that it was reported at all XXXX and then removed ) is harassment, and had I pulled my credit during the time it was reported ( for a home or auto loan ), it would have caused serious problems. 

The timeline is : XX/XX/XXXX : RPM receives the account XX/XX/XXXX : I receive notice and call RPM to dispute and request itemized bill XXXX?? : RPM reports the account to the credit bureau XX/XX/XXXX : RPM removes the report from my account XXXX - RPM sends another notice of account collection XXXX - I call back ( twice ) to confirm RPM does not have itemized details and can not provide proof of debt. 

I informed XXXX that this outcome and their behavior is highly unprofessional and amounts to scare-tactics. They can not simply claim they sent mail that they never sent XXXX or could not have possibly sent since they lacked the proof ), and then upon not hearing back ( from mail they never sent XXXX proceed to report the account without any proof of debt. 

Looking even beyond this incident, the future outcomes aren't either going to get better because the agent informed me that this process will simply repeat : RPM will absolve itself of having to collect the debt because they could not provide the proof they were not given by the debt owner, and then the debt owner XXXX XXXX XXXX will simply send the account to them again ( or another agency ), in attempt to collect the debt again, despite no new information or proof being provided. I can only XXXX then, by repeating the process XXXX and XXXX simply hope to scare or wear-out the consumer into finally paying the bill without the necessary proof of debt required by state law.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation