Consumer complaint received 2020-05-14 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged
Company: I.Q. DATA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
I checked my credit report in XX/XX/XXXX and noticed a collections debt that I had no prior knowledge of. I had not been given due process/notification via phone, email or mail that I owed stated debt by XXXX or I.Q Data International. 

Due to that fact I began to dispute it citing fraud. I finally received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from I.Q. Data International , Inc. stating that they would investigate my fraud claim if I provided certain information such as police reports, copy of my valid government issued Id and proof of residency at said time fraud occurred. 

I believed it to be fradulent initially because I had not been notified or given due process by XXXX or I.Q. Data International notifying me of the debt. The debt just appeared out of nowhere on my credit report. Only when I noticed it on my credit report and disputed it as fraud did they reach out to contact me and notify me after the fact via mail of the said debt. 

At this time I wrote a letter to I.Q. Data International , Inc in response to their letter to me dated XXXX. I requested 1 ) debt validation and 2 ) to provide me with proof that they own or have been assigned the debt by the original creditor and have the legal authority to collect this debt in the state of TX. 

I received a letter from I.Q. Data International, Inc on XX/XX/XXXX. They provided 1 ) verification of the debt but failed to provide me with 2 ) proof that they own and/or have been assigned the debt by the original creditor and are legally authorised to collect this debt in the state of TX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I wrote a letter to I.Q. Data informing them of the missing information that they must provide to me legally. In the letter I informed them that if they did not provide me the information and continued to pursue collections efforts against me that they would be in violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Since sending that letter I have not received any further letters in attempts to collect this debt from me via mail but they continue to fradulently report to XXXX.

I have filed at least 4 disputes with XXXX  on this case. XXXX  has put that I dispute the case on my file however if the Collection Agency does not provide me with what I am due legally then they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and must remove this from my credit report and cease all future collection efforts. 

By law the agency after receiving my dispute must send me proof that it owns or has been assigned the debt by the original creditor, validation of the debt and proof that they are legally authorised to collect this debt in the state of TX. 

If this does not happen how do I know that the original creditor actually hired this company and this company is not trying to run a scam? What if I settle this dispute and another collection agency contacts me claiming that I owe this debt to them? Without providing me this proof all settlement attempts on my end to provide a pay in lieu of deletion have been stalled due to their negligence, fraud and abuse. 

If this collection agency is not fradulent or a scam why have they discontinued pursuing further collections via mail with me yet continue to report this fradulent debt to the credit bureau?

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