Unscrupulous Collection Agencies:
Dead Is Dead

by Ed Morris
(Miami, Florida)

I have always had a great credit rating. It's something I worked at in the thirty five years I've been on this planet. It hasn't always been easy, particularly when medical expenses rear their ugly head. Yet things have been O.K. until....my father died.

It took about three months from his death to the first call. You see, I was named after my dad, and after a three year battle with cancer, he died with a bankrupt estate. Rather than accept his death though, those whom he owed money tried to collect from me.

The calls went about the same each time.

"Is this Ed?"

"Yes"

"You owe"

"I don't. It was my father and he's dead"

"Aren't you going to pay his bills?"

And so it went. I'm not responsible for my dad's bills any more than he wasn't responsible for mine.

When I refused to pay the collection agencies, they put negative trade lines on my credit reports.

When I disputed the information, they sold "my" account to another agency and the process began again.

No one disputed the fact the debtor was my father, that he was dead and, that I had no legal responsibility to pay his debt.

Yet the agencies seemed to think if they harassed me and damaged my reputation, they could force me to pay his bills.

I was always of the belief collection agencies were a necessary evil. I now think we need to institute a public debt registry, like in Finland, so debt must be proved before agencies can damage your name and reputation.