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[-] jordanlund@lemmy.world 75 points 2 weeks ago

Asking for proof of debt is actually a valid tactic.

When I killed my land line and went cellular, oh, 30 years ago, I paid my last phone bill and cancelled.

5 years later I got a call from collections saying I owed for the final bill.

I apologized to them for Qwest wasting their time, told them what was up and asked for proof of debt for which I knew there was none.

Never heard from them again.

[-] BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org 42 points 2 weeks ago

I was owed 30 cents or something by a TelCo about 20 years ago. So they sent me an invoice stating the debt every month. I asked them if they can just cut me a cheque or something and they said they wouldn’t for such a small amount.

So I received a -30c payable invoice monthly for years until the company went out of business.

[-] satanmat@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

This kind of shit cracks me up.

They spent far more than that in postage.

I’ve had similar with owing small amounts… where the letter they sent cost more in postage than was owed.

You’d think someone in accounting would say something…. Hey let’s just ignore this one. ??

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

Could have been sooner if you had just collected that $0.30.

[-] BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 2 weeks ago

Not sure what you mean? I tried and they said they wouldn’t issue a cheque for such a small amount. They weren’t going to send me 30c in the post.

[-] daikiki@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

You should have taken them to itty bitty claims court.

[-] Glytch@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

I think their joke was that, if you successfully collected on the debt, they'd have gone out of business sooner.

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

It was just a joke.

[-] Zikeji@programming.dev 38 points 2 weeks ago

When our "final balance" from the landlord (late fee + "repairs") went to collections I asked for it, got all the documents, and forwarded it to my attorney along with everything else.

Long story short they settled out of court, then didn't fulfill the settlement contract (namely the bit about removing the erroneous reports against my credit), then wound up getting fined 50 grand by my local government.

[-] henfredemars@infosec.pub 13 points 2 weeks ago

Good on you for having an attorney. Very smart move on your part.

[-] Zikeji@programming.dev 12 points 2 weeks ago

Fortunately my boss at the time was a lawyer, so he gave me alot of great advice throughout the entire ordeal.

Unfortunately he didn't do landlord/tenant disputes, his area is class action and credit related.

So we waited until the landlord sent it off to the agencies, and he took the case on contingency.

Unfortunately that fine was a fine and not an award / damages. I would have liked that cash influx lol.

[-] barsquid@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

That's cathartic. If only bad faith earned a massive fine every time.

[-] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 26 points 2 weeks ago

It's actually what you're supposed to do if the company calling you to collect isn't the same company that you originally owed money to.

[-] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago

That is legit indeed. But old sovcit here is doing sovcit shit.

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 10 points 2 weeks ago

It doesn't work as well with cars.

Typically, the car title will show if there was a loan used to buy it, so it is already documented with the state as part of showing ownership. At that point, the owner of the car loan doesn't have to talk to the owner of the car to repossess the car, they just need to talk to the state to transfer ownership.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 37 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Is it selection bias in posts here or are all these sovcit stories just someone trying to wiggle out of a debt?

[-] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago

They're all someone trying to wiggle out indeed.

[-] orcrist@lemm.ee 11 points 2 weeks ago

Avoiding debt is common and easy to understand. The complicated stuff -- claiming to be natives, or claiming that the case of the name is not the person, or claiming stuff about no contracts existing, etc. -- you gotta study some to understand any of it, and of course there's no point in learning those details.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'm reasonably sure all that manoeuvring is also to avoid some debt/creditors (or debtors, I can never remember which way around it goes).

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

That's like 80% of what being a sovereign citizen is. The other 20% is arguing about the difference between driving and traveling.

Ohh, and years of study and practice with protractors to get the exact right 45.0467 degree angle when writing random words that invalidates contracts.

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 26 points 2 weeks ago

Hanging up on a sovcit must be extremely satisfying.

[-] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago

They call back and say "I do not consent to you hanging up on me", I bet.

[-] Plopp@lemmy.world 19 points 2 weeks ago

"What do you mean you don't want to talk to me, I'm not talking, I'm orating."

[-] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 22 points 2 weeks ago

They bought a car but think they are the original creditor? Do they know what the word means?

[-] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago

Sovcits believe that when you are born the government sets up a secret trust worth 2 million dollars and you can use that trust to pay money if you send all sorts of stupid correspondence to your creditors that magically allows them to bill the mysterious trust.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 21 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

They don't know what any of those words mean.

To them it's a magic spell in an arcane tongue.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

To be a little fair, have you looked at legal documents by lawyers, for lawyers? We get a faint taste with stuff like employment contracts or leases. The stuff lawyers send to each other and courts can get downright arcane.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago

It is full of Latin... So yeah, probably spells.

[-] Rhaedas@fedia.io 11 points 2 weeks ago

Half probably do and are riding the scam train, the other half...I'm not sure what they think anymore. Imagine all that brain power used to create these logic circles that could be used constructively instead. I'm betting some of the first half are probably selling some how-to materials to the other half...

[-] prex@aussie.zone 3 points 2 weeks ago

"all that brain power" feels like a cat strapped to a piece of toast.

[-] mechoman444@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

" we have a copy of the contract" Christ on a stick....

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Proved they were their own creditor?

That's uhhhh, not how that works unless you have enough money that you're not worried about a car repo.

this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
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