January 26th, 2010 | 
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So my husband recieved a letter dated for October, just this month. It was from a Regent Collection Agency/ Assets Management. The letter stated that he owed a large amount of money regarding a U.S. Bank account that he closed 2 years ago and that he had 14 days to reply or a lawsuit would be filed against him.
We called Regent and they told us that they woudl not provide a break down, only that part of the money was an overdraft from the closed account and the rest was interest accrued. They offered either a one time or two time payment plan where if we agreed, they would take 300 off of the total owed. They also had my husband’s social and our debit card # on file and asked when we would like to start the payments.
I called U.S. Bank to get details on the account and they had nothing. NADA. They said that we were no longer in their records whatsoever and that Regent is responsible for everything.
I called Regent back and they said that if we didn’t make the payments they would get an attorney, take us to court, and that they have a signed afffadavit from a U.S. Bank banker that would win their case. They also REFUSED to send me a copy of the letter they sent my husband or any sort of verification or proof of why we owed the money.
I have since talked to an attorney, changed my debit card and bank account #, and have recorded the dates, times and names of the people from Regent I have talked to. I also went online and found a bunch of sites that say Regent is a scam.
What do you think? What else should I do? Legally we are not liable for a debt that can not be proven…correct?
I meant 2 year old closed account.
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: Amount Of Money, assets management, debit card, overdraft, proof, time payment plan, u s bank
I thought debt collectors were required by law to send you the information in writing if you request it. If they call again tell them that you know of no debt and if they want you to pay anything they are going to have to mail proof to your home address.
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If they are a legitimate collection agency, they would have given you a breakdown. This is either a scam or a company that can’t do due diligence, neither of which deserve your money.
If they are willing to take you to court over this, let them.
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I work at a bank and I have seen similar stuff like that before. They try to pressure you with a small amount of time and have severe "consequinces" in store for you if you don;t act quickly. You seem like you did the right thing. Did Regent show you that they have your husbands social security number?? Sometimes they are bluffing. The fact that they r super rude and pushy is another red flag. Whenever people want money, they try to pressure you and rush you. Thats what the banks teach the tellers at training lol. Besides what you have done, My suggestion is to go to the bank where you closed the account and explain them the situation, bring the letter with you. Have the personal banker try to look up your account history. Where I work, even if you closed up an account, you can still look up information from 7 years ago!!! Calling people can only do so much. Walking in I feel is more effective. Can you go to the Regency headquarters personally? The fact that they wont give you any info is weird, isn’t that illegal?? That they refuse to provide you with information?? Just be nice to the people when they are helping you, they will be more willing to go out of their way for you if you are nice and dont give attitude. I sincerely hope the best for you and your husband
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US Bank will not have any record, because they sold the debt to Regent. That is the business they are in.
You can either pay them, or let them sue you. If they sue you they will have to produce proof that they own the account. They may, or may not, still have that proof. If they do not, they can’t win. If they do they will win – most likely the whole amount they are asking you for.
It’s a gamble for you. You either negotiate a reduced pay-off not knowing whether they will win if they sue you, or you let them sue you not knowing if you’ll end up paying more.
Richard
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do u or do u not owe that money?if u owe this money u will have to pay sooner or later. and the sooner the less u pay. normally firms and banks and what not can sell their unpaid bills to collection firms. so the bank sold your debt for less money to this collection agency or whatever it is and it has all the papers and well, u may try to ignore them and see what will happen. but my bet is they have all the papers and they can sue u and win and u will pay not only your debt but also a court fee or go to jail. the bank sold your debt to the collection agency for them to go through all the troubles and get money from u
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If the bank no longer has any record of your closed account then you shouldnt worry. If you did have an overdraft then the bank itself would tell you so and freeze your account if you didnt pay for it that long. All you can do at the moment is keep in contact of an attorney if anything unusual pops up and keep the letter that was sent to you. Its a total scam and the next time something like that comes along talkto your bank first. Its the best way to avoid identity theft and fraud.
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I received a similar letter, from a different collection agency, trying to collect on a debt that I know I don’t owe. Luckily, when I called them, they told me that the debt wouldn’t appear on my credit report, and I didn’t pay them. They offered to cut the amount in half if I would pay it within a certain amount of time, but like I said, I didn’t pay it.
They may very well be trying to collect a debt for someone else, and it may be a case of mistaken identity. I wouldn’t pay it, either, if I were you.
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GO TO COURT.
It’s the only way you’ll find out. They won’t even show up to court if it’s a scam. The worst that can happen in court is that you have to pay the money because they’ve proven that you owe it.
Honestly, I think it’s a scam. They’re just using court to threaten you.
EDIT: I Googled some keywords about your situation and apparently US Bank has had some trouble with the bank tellers. Members of organized gangs were posing as tellers and stealing people’s identities, withdrawing their money, and depositing the money into their own accounts. It is possible that this could have happened to you and the info regarding your account was sold to this Regent collection agency. They think you owe this debt that someone else created.
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Chances that they will actually take this to court are about the same chances that Barrack Obama will leave his wife, and admit his gay love affair with George Bush. Yeah, they’re really that slim. It is a scare tactic that these leeches use. If you dispute the validity of the account, they will have to give you a breakdown of the charges at some point, especially if it gets to the point that they do take it to court. And you are 100% correct. If they are not willing or able to provide any evidence supporting the validity of the debt, the you cannot be legally held responsible. Now, the scariest part to me is that they have your husband’s social security number. If you aren’t already doing so, it would be a good idea to monitor the credit reports of both you and your husband for at least the next year or two. You can get a free copy from all three major credit bureaus. Placing a fraud alert on your credit files may also be wise. It can be a pain in the neck when applying for credit, because it will usually require a third-party verification of your identity, but it is worth the pain to stay safe.
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