Consumer complaint received 2023-02-05
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was result of identity theft
Company: Stenger & Stenger, P.C (MN)

Debt Validation and Cease and Desist I am responding to your contact about a debt you are trying to collect. You contacted me about a debt on XXXX after I have disputed this debt with the original creditor and was not provided the information required. They decide to sell it to you for a debt that I do not owed. As a victim of identity theft, please supply the information below so that I can be fully informed : Why you think I owe the debt and to whom I owe it, including : The name and address of the creditor to whom the debt is currently owed, the account number used by that creditor, and the amount owed. 
If this debt started with a different creditor, provide the name and address of the original creditor, the account number used by that creditor, and the amount owed to that creditor at the time it was transferred. When you identify the original creditor, please provide any other name by which I might know them, if that is different from the official name. In addition, tell me when the current creditor obtained the debt and who the current creditor obtained it from. 
Provide verification and documentation that there is a valid basis for claiming that I am required to pay the debt to the current creditor. For example, can you provide a copy of the written agreement that created my original requirement to pay? 
If you are asking that I pay a debt that somebody else is or was required to pay, identify that person. Provide verification and documentation about why this is a debt that I am required to pay. The amount and age of the debt, including : A copy of the last billing statement sent to me by the original creditor. State the amount of the debt when you obtained it, and when that was. If there have been any additional interest, fees or charges added since the last billing statement from the original creditor, provide an itemization showing the dates and amount of each added amount. In addition, explain how the added interest, fees or other charges are expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or are permitted by law. 
If there have been any payments or other reductions since the last billing statement from the original creditor, provide an itemization showing the dates and amount of each of the debt. If there have been any other changes or adjustments since the last billing statement from the original creditor, please provide full verification and documentation of the amount you are trying to collect. Explain how that amount was calculated. In addition, explain how the other changes or adjustments are expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. 
Tell me when the creditor claims this debt became due and when it became delinquent. Identify the date of the last payment made on this account. Have you made a determination that this debt is within the statute of limitations applicable to it? Tell me when you think the statute of limitations expires for this debt, and how you determined that. Please only contact me to let me know that you will cease and desist from asking me about a debt I do not owe .In order to make sure that I am not put at any disadvantage, in the meantime please treat this debt as being in dispute, and cease reporting this debt to the credit bureaus until you can provide me with all this information.