Consumer complaint received 2015-03-19
Company: Meade & Associates, Inc.
State: KY
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt resulted from identity theft

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I filed a police report regarding my wallet being stolen which had money, credit cards, driver 's license, SS card, and checks. I immediately went to my bank and closed the account and reopened a new one and received new checks with a different account number. The person who stole my wallet had used my debit card ... but since it was still pending ... the bank was able to block the withdrawal. I placed a fraud alert on my credit reports and I got a new driver 's license and then ended up getting a XXXX one with my new name since I had married. 
Last week I received a letter from Meade & Associates attempting to collect on a debt from XXXX checks written on my old account with my old drivers license name starting in XX/XX/XXXX. I called and spoke with XXXX XXXX and he agreed that everything was done correctly, I just needed to send him the information from my bank and the police report along with my current drivers license. I requested that he send me copies of the checks that were written, which he did. I went to my bank and they did not have anything specific since nothing actually went through my account at the time. However, they new I had closed that account and reopened the new one and that I had presented them with a police report. They wrote me a letter to give to XXXX XXXX and I was able to retrieve the police report online. Monday, XXXX XXXX, I faxed both of these documents along with my current drivers license, my actual signature, as well as the new police report number for the case filed with the forgery/fraud department. I followed up with a call to XXXX XXXX on Tuesday and was informed he was not available, but they would have him return my call. I called Wednesday afternoon and was then told that he had left early that day without returning my call. I asked if anyone else could help. I was transferred to XXXX. She obtained the documents that I had faxed and I explained to her I wanted to finalize clearing this ordeal. She became hateful and kept saying she needed documents that I she already had. She stated I still needed an affidavit from my bank stating I did not write the checks ... she refused to listen to anything I had to say and acted is if it did not matter what I sent ... it was n't going to make a difference. At that point I definitely became angry and she told me to never call that office again. I called my bank and told them what was going on and they stated that XXXX did not know what she was talking about because the bank never had me sign an affidavit because nothing had actually gone through my account since I had immediately blocked all transactions due to closing the account. The check transactions even clearly say that when they were processed there was no account found. I am currently waiting for my case to be assigned to a detective ... but I am filing reports and claims to help prevent any more aggravation from this company and hope they will learn that you ca n't treat people like criminals when they are the victims in some circumstances ... especially when they present facts and proof.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed