“RJM Acquisitions” mailed Mark a funny notice asking him to pay up $4,448.23. The address they had associated with it was indeed Mark’s, 20 years ago, that is. Not only was the debt invalid, but even if it hadn’t, the statute of limitations was well expired. Mark got to work and drafted a kickass letter to dispute the debt and tell them not to contact him again unless they wanted to be sued $1,000 each time. Here is his letter, which can serve as a good model for any other readers fighting off invalid debt collection attempts, and his story:

When I recently received the attached notice from RJM Acquisitions Funding, LLP (“RJM”), I was instantly suspicious. Although the address to which the “debt” was associated was indeed correct (albeit a former address from nearly 20 years ago), the “debt” was not recognizable. My first action was to research RJM online, and I cannot say that I was surprised to discover a tremendous number of complaints against this firm. It became clear to me that RJM is a collection agency which either purchases old debt (debt which apparently exceeds the state’s statute of limitations for the collection of same) or, in certain cases, debts which are illegitimate or even nonexistent (and falsely contributes to one’s credit history). I also examined my recent credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies (my credit history and related credit scores are near-perfect as reported by all three agencies) and found that (1) this “debt” did not appear on any of the three reports, and (2) RJM had made an “inquiry” of my credit with Experian in February of this year.

As a result of my findings, I took the following actions:

1. Wrote the attached “cease and desist” letter to RJM (redacted), on which the New York State Attorney General, the New York State Bar Association, the Federal Trade Commission, ABC Eyewitness News and my own attorney were copied.

2. Wrote to Experian requesting that it bar RJM from receiving any further access to my personal credit report and/or history.

To date (and as I requested in my letter to RJM), I have received no further communication from RJM.

…I believe that this experience is precisely the type to which Consumerist readers should be alerted. My letter to RJM can easily serve as a model for those who are similarly contacted by … illegitimate debt collection agencies.

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