Consumer complaint received 2019-06-05
Company: Convergent Resources, Inc.
State: OR
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
I was first contacted by XXXX, XXXX with a collection notice for a XXXX XXXX account that was not mine. I have never owned a XXXX XXXX or other affiliated account with XXXX, ever. The notice was dated XX/XX/2019. On XX/XX/2019, my attorney sent them a debt dispute letter that stated this was not my debt and that if an account with XXXX XXXX does in fact exist, it was opened fraudulently. USPS tracking shows that XXXX did receive the dispute letter. They responded on XX/XX/2019, stating that in order to submit my identity theft claim, I must contact XXXX XXXX directly ; XXXX has updated the account as disputed and will comply with all laws in accordance with this claim. Myself or my attorney never heard from them since. I did not contact XXXX XXXX because it is my understanding that they close their account records once they send off an account to collections and would not work with me to fix this issue. I then received a collection notice from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, dated XX/XX/2019, for the same exact debt/account with XXXX XXXX. My attorney sent them a similar dispute letter on XX/XX/2019. USPS tracking shows that XXXX did receive the dispute letter. Myself nor my attorney has not received any further correspondence from XXXX. I then received another collection notice from Convergent dated XX/XX/2019, for the exact same XXXX XXXX account and debt amount, except now they added on a collection cost. Once again, my attorney sent a similar collection notice that this is not my debt/account, and that in fact I have never had a XXXX XXXX account. This letter is still in the process of shipping. It seems that this should be along the lines of harassment at this point in time. Once you dispute a debt with a collection agency, they should not be allowed to sell your debt off to a different collection agency and continue to harass you for a disputed debt. I believe that Oregon law, which is where I am a resident, has been violated. See ORS 646.639, which was recently amended to add additional language to ( 2 ) ( t ) as follows : ( 2 ) A debt collector engages in an unlawful collection practice if the debt collector, while collecting or attempting to collect a debt, does any of the following : ( t ) Collects or attempts to collect a debt if the debt collector is a debt buyer, or is acting on a debt buyer 's behalf, and collects or attempts to collect purchased debt before providing to a debtor, within 30 days after the date of the debtor 's request, all of the documents listed in subsection ( 4 ) ( b ) of this section. To me it seems that this interpreted to mean that a debt collector, once you dispute a debt, is required to send you the requested proof of the debt before they can engage another debt buyer to attempt to collect the same debt. Not only this, but ORS 646.639 ( 2 ) ( m ) ( n ) does not allow for additional fees to be added upon a debt, which is exactly what Convergent Outsourcing , Inc. has done with a " collection cost '' added to this debt.

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