Consumer complaint received 2019-07-17
Company: V and H Portfolio
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
As a result of a purchase at XXXXXXXX XXXX in XXXX partially financed by XXXX XXXX  I received an unsolicited " pre-approved '' credit card from XXXX, which I never activated and to which I never charged any anything. The debt to XXXX arising out of the XXXX XXXX  purchase was fully paid and XXXX. 

However, I later received a collection letter ( approximately on XX/XX/XXXX ) from XXXX attempting to collect XXXX related to an debt that I had allegedly originated with XXXX XXXX XXXX. I never incurred such a debt and I disputed the charge. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from XXXX stating that their investigation concluded that I did not owe the debt and that all charges were being removed. 

However, on or about XX/XX/XXXX I received a collection letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX attempting to collect the same debt that was now allegedly owned by XXXX XXXX XXXX. I also disputed this charge and explained that the charge was the result of stolen identity. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX I got another collection letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX attempting to collect the same debt on behalf of the same XXXX XXXX XXXX. I then hired a lawyer who on XX/XX/XXXX sent a letter to XXXX XXXX demanding that all credit collection efforts cease and that such debt be removed from my credit history with the several credit reporting agencies. My lawyer also sent letters to XXXX, XXXX to fix my credit report. 

Since we received no response from XXXX XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX my lawyer wrote a letter to XXXX XXXX XXXX, the alleged owner of the alleged debt, demanding that all collection efforts be stopped. No response was receive. 

Later XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) renewed collection efforts on the same alleged debt, but now on behalf of XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX my lawyer then wrote to XXXX making the same cease and desist demand. 

On XX/XX/XXXX The XXXX XXXX XXXX, a law firm representing XXXX sent a letter to my lawyer as a " confirmation that XXXX ha [ d ] closed and returned the account to the creator ... [ and had ] ... submitted a trade-in deletion request to all relevant credit reporting bureaus ... '' It also stated that the current owner of the alleged debt was XXXX XXXX and that XXXX had provided XXXX XXXXa copy of my lawyers XX/XX/XXXX letter outlining the issue. 

Now, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received another collection letter from Vance & Huffman Llc ( V & H XXXX demanding I pay the same alleged debt. I don't know on whose behalf V & H is now attempting to collect the alleged debt. My lawyer again has sent a letter to V & H outlining the issue and the history of this illegal collection saga. 

It is apparent that even though both XXXX and XXXX recognized and acknowledged the fact that I did not owe this debt and stoped their collection efforts, the owners of the alleged debt keep assigning it to someone else who then commences new collection efforts. I do not know whether this is just a glitch in the system or whether it is being done maliciously by the holders of the alleged debt. 

This matter has already cost me a significant amount of money, on top of the mental anguish it has caused me, in an unsuccessful attempt to stop this outrageous harassment. My lawyer informs me that the only step left to him is an expensive lawsuit against V & H and the current holder of the debt ( unknown to us at this time ), and maybe against XXXX XXXX XXXX the last holder ) who apparently, even after being informed of the issue, assigned the debt or is still trying to collect it. He can't guarantee me that even after incurring these expenses and obtaining appropriate injunction orders from the court ( and maybe some compensation ) the problem would not continue and further legal steps would be necessary. 

I need help to stop once and for all this outrageous harassment.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief