NCO Financial

Take them to court, and they will only start spoof calling you.  They are spineless wimps.  That hide behind their phones.  NCO Financial and JP Morgan/Chase (who owns them) only hire people with third grade educations, so they don't have to pay them minimum wage.  They feed them maggots at supper time, and rice in India.  The Rattlesnake is in your backyard.

By law, anything sent to you by postal mail which is unsolicited may be considered a gift.  If you advised them you didn't join and to stop sending to you then whatever they sent you after that is probably yours to keep.  NCO my be treading on thinner ice than usual with this one.  If they put anything adverse on your credit report I'd speak to a lawyer about it.

NCO tried to collect on a hospital bill that was 7 years old.  I do not remember such a trip to the ER at the hospital they claim I visited.  I previously paid $100 and received a receipt stating the account was paid in full and I owed nothing.  Then I started getting a claim from NCO Financial for $347 dollars.

billokc,

You have made a serious error.  NEVER ignore this stuff.  From the moment of initial contact you have 30 days to exercise your legal rights under the FDCPA.  You must be aggressive about educating yourself and following the law.  PLEASE research the FDCPA now.  I would go ahead and proceed with exercising my rights as if I was just contacted, and you might assert that you have just become aware of their efforts to contact you.  You can ask why they are attempting to contact you, and request validation on any debts they may be attempting to collect.  You can prohibit communications except in writing by postal mail.  You can prohibit communications entirely if you wish, but if they intend to sue you, that will probably be the trigger.  DO NOT MAKE OR TRUST verbal agreements.  They might well settle for a lesser amount - but there are many factors which enter into such things.  ALL CONTACT FROM YOU MUST BE BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT.  ALL CONTACT FROM THEM NOT IN WRITING IS MEANINGLESS AND NOT TO BE BELIEVED.  NEVER GIVE THEM A CREDIT/DEBIT CARD, OR BANK ACCOUNT INFO.  Send them a bank check, or U.S.P.S. money order.  They will empty your accounts if you let them.  DO NOT LET THEM BULLY OR INTIMIDATE YOU.

As an aside, sadly, there is more and more evidence of incestuous relationships between government officials and bad actor CAs.  I am particularly concerned about the relationship between the organization responsible for most student loans and certain Federal level politicians.

Spend this weekend on the Internet researching and educating yourself.  Also (very important in your situation) spend some time learning about Dave Ramsey (he has a web site (mostly free), radio show (free), and books (cheap).  There are also probably classes in you area - he is for real, not a scam - just great advice on fixing your life and dealing with these situations) .  These steps can help to change your life for the better.

Good Luck.

I'm a former debt collector (not with NCO) and unfortunately this happens all the time.  The debtor either used to own your phone number, one of their cosigners/references used to own your phone number, or else someone gave your number instead of providing a legitimate phone number for themselves.  The problem is that if you number appears in one place, it also appears in countless other places so even if they mark it "bad" once speaking with you, a skip trace report or credit bureau report could pull up your number and unmark it.  I'd suggest sending a Cease And Desist letter (you can find fill in the blank ones across the net) and obtaining a Google Voice phone number (which is free).  If you then provide the Google Voice number, you can designate which phones to ring (home, cell, none, etc) and then easily block calls from these types of businesses.  Blocking through your real phone company is a pain at best, but blocking through Google Voice is really simple.  Yes, it's annoying and you shouldn't have to do anything, but even a trusted company marking the number bad will end up calling again.  Good luck!

Jackie Hair-

Ask them to validate the debt.  If they can do so, you can still be held responsible for it without the Paid/Settled In Full receipt.  The debt may be out of the Statute of Limitations depending on your state, but an unpaid debt never goes away fully, it just falls off of your Credit Bureau Report and is no longer actionable in a court of law.  However, if you paid the $100 Balance/Settlement less than 7 years ago as you, you re-aged the debt and the SOL will go from that payment date potentially putting back in SOL.  Good luck.

billokc-

If the "organization responsible for most student loans" you're concerned about is Sallie Mae, you have reason to be trepidatious.  They bought out the company I was working for and turned my office into a Sallie Mae collection office and let's just say it was not good.  There is zero communication within the company, errors are everywhere, and the employee base is full of idiots (especially management).  Unfortunately I learned how awful they were after borrowing some $70,000 for my undergraduate and graduate education so I'm probably more concerned than you!  Good luck!

That last reply was to lonestranger, not billokc.  Sorry.

People have been giving a lot of good advice about this, but one thing I haven't noticed being touched on (sorry if I missed it) is that that this is a state income tax debt, not a regular consumer loan-type debt.   In terms of collectibility and the statute of limitations running, along with what provisions of TCPA/FDCPA apply,  the rules may vary substantially for tax debt.  For instance, NCO may not have bought the debt, but is merely acting as the collection agent of the state.   I strongly recommend consulting an attorney--not a "debt consolidation company" or anyone else, even your accountant unless he is authorized to practice in tax cases, about your status.    Tax debt pretty much never goes away.

I also have had the misfortune of dealing with NCO on two occassions. First was when I had to cancel the contract early on my Cingular Wireless account when I became ill, couldn't work and afford to keep my cell phone and the second when an idiot local utility company screwed up my account. They used to call me at work at least a half dozen times a day and when I got home I found they had also called me there. They continued to call me even though I was paying off the original creditors. I finally just stopped answering my phone and they did not stop calling until long after I had paid their clients off.

how lucky you are!  these people (NCO) been calling me from at least 5 different
phone numbers under "unavailable" "unknown caller" "blocked" etc.  i am a deaf
person, i do not use phone to make or receive a call..... although i told them that
twice via regular mail, they still call...  as far as i'm concerned they can knock themselves out.
yesterday, i got a paper in the mail on one page they are telling me "our client
will take half the amount owed"  on the other side, they are telling me they "bought"
the debt from the original creditor."   which statement is true? who cares?
a year ago, in a letter i told them " someone's say so is hardly a reason for me to
send a check,"  asked  them to prove  1. the debt is valid  2. i owe the amount. no
reply.....  i'm still waiting...
i'm thinking by calling from so many different numbers is done to go around the
how many times a day they are allowed to call by law.. any feedback on that?
thank you for your time, all.....

TJ said: "If the "organization responsible for most student loans" you're concerned about is Sallie Mae,"

They resemble that remark ;^) .

I have been warning people not to fall prey to the great student loan scam.  I am all in favor of education, but if you took the money you would be spending on monthly student loan payments and invested it in a good mutual fund, you would become wealthy.
 
But what upsets me the most is the "for profit" private schools which push people into loans they cannot afford, intentionally delay the graduation of their students through a number of games, and leave people with a degree that will not lead to a job - for example - "nursing graduates" with no credible clinical experience, and no one who would consider hiring them as a result.  

Even more disturbing, I have a family member enrolled in a state supported college, and several professors there have warned the students in their classes that the same kind of behavior is coming to our publicly funded colleges.  Professors are pressured to advise students to take extra "junk" classes in order to delay graduation, and professors are being told "this school is here to turn a profit and make money, not to educate a bunch of spoiled brats".

Welcome to change.

The FDCPA bars all forms of unfair, abusive and deceptive collection practices. If you believe you're being harassed, visit www.consumerdebtlaw.com

I cancelled my cell phone service with AT&T and was out of contract.  They billed me $200.00 per cell phone times 4 family members, totalling $800.00.  They threatened to ruin my good credit and I paid $333.58 and disputed remaining charges via certified letter.  I don't owe these charges, but I'm afraid of my credit being ruined.  What can I do to stop this and keep my credit in good standing?

My daughter has not lived with me for over 5 years. It is my daughter they have an issue with and they will not give up calling my number.  My phone number is mine and mine only, I pay the bill for it and I live alone.  They have no right to harrass me but they do.  Not only do I have to put up with the constant ringing even if I ignore it, but if I actually do talk to them to tell them the facts, I have to listen to the annoying electronic voice telling me to hold before someone else finally comes on and tells me to tell my daughter to be responsible.  I am beginning to thing the only thing I can do is change my number to a private one, but why should I have to?  There should be something done about them to stop them from harrassing innocent people.