Consumer complaint received 07/27/2017 about Debt collection (Medical debt) with Ability Recovery Services, LLC (CA).
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint: Ability Recovery Services ( XXXX, XXXX ) was hostile to me as someone erroneously assigned debt that was not mine. The companys representatives have been hostile, misled me, refused to help me remove an erroneous collections account, and hung up on me repeatedly. I did not receive any documentation or notifications addressing this debt until I received a notification from credit monitoring services that a collections account had been placed on my credit reports. I called ARS to clear my name, but never received a call or letter from ARS before the account was placed on my credit reports. I was hung up on by 3 separate representatives at various points during calls, and repeatedly interrupted by them also. In particular, representative XXXX XXXX was hostile and unhelpful once I informed him this was not my debt and I would not be paying it. XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) at Ability Recovery Services ( ARS ) was incredibly rude and activelyprevented me from clearing my name by : -not furnishing the PO box or fax number for ARS to provide documentation for my dispute, even when specifically asked what documents to provide  and how -continuously insisting that the hospital could NOT help me in any way ( indeed, it was the hospital that helped clear things up because their billing error caused this issue ) -repeatedly interrupted me, yelled at me, and hung up on me -would not work toward resolution and instead insisted it was my debt after repeated claims it was n't -Specific examples of hostile practices : -During conversation, I asked for the steps to take to remove this erroneous account from my credit. Instead of providing a fax or PO box , XXXX 's response : " I 'm sorry sir, we do n't have a way for you to not pay your bills. '' This is further illustration of his unwillingness to assist in resolving the matter. This call eventually descended into a yelling match, as he kept interrupting me and I kept trying to talk over him. -On my third call to XXXX , the morning after our yelling match, I asked for more clarification, and I specifically said I did n't know if it was ID theft, etc., and that I " would appreciate more understanding and less outright hostility from him, '' he immediately hung up on me with no response - the exact opposite of what I plead for -XXXX was not the only rude representative, I was hung up on by at least 2 others after asking them not to interrupt me. This is a culture of bad behavior at ARS. -When I asked for a supervisor after the first of the hangup incidents, I was told they would take my name and number and call me back. I never received that promised call, even after a week and a half. Additionally, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) violated the FDCPA by knowingly furnishing incorrect information to a debt collection agency that has caused me undue stress and wasted significant amounts of working hours to resolve. I never received any notification of debt from XXXX, but was notified of this mistaken identity when credit monitoring services alerted me to a collection account added to my credit report. Upon investigation with the collection agency, I learned that XXXX initially held the debt and sold it to XXXX XXXX XXXX after attaching it to my name. The actual debtor shared my birth date, last name, first name ( spelled differently ), and had a different middle name. Upon further investigation with XXXX at XXXX ( reference # XXXX ), XXXX informed me that the account contained notes already stating the debt was in the wrong name and had erroneously been attached to the wrong person. Indeed, an individual at the correctional facility ( XXXX XXXX ) that housed the original debtor called to resolve the issue with XXXX, who did not resolve this mistaken identity. Instead of resolving the issue, XXXX knowingly furnished incorrect information to the collection agency, who then added it to my credit report and wasted my time trying to resolve this issue. The only information XXXX used to assign this debt to my name was a different name from my own and a shared birthday between myself and the actual debtor. There was no social security number ever used in the course of this debt handling. Indeed, in the debt verification letter, the address is a correctional facility - in no way does it match any of my information beyond having a matching birth date. Knowingly furnishing incorrect information and posting it to an individual 's credit report violates the FDCPA and causes undue hardship on the individual, not to mention the hostile practices of the debt collection agency. I filed a formal complaint by mail to ARS at the PO box provided and have received no response after over 4 weeks. Attached is the debt validation letter ARS provided me with, obviously containing a differently spelled first name, and an incorrect address in a state I never resided in. This case of mistaken identity should never have happened ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ' fault ), and I should have not been treated in such a hostile manner in the course of resolving the issue ( ARS ' fault ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation