Portfolio Recovery Associates trying to collect a debt that is not only not mine but

[KaratePixie]

wait for it, according to the guy who barely spoke english, from the, "mid-80's"... after I stopped laughing to which he was very offended and started yelling that I verify things I told him I would not verify a single thing, secondly, if he couldn't send me written verification to the address he claimed to have that I would sue him for the fillings in his undoubtedly rotting teeth. Now here is my question, they called and left a message on January 2nd, I called them back thinking it was regarding my-ex. I have not verified any information to them in spite of his yelling, was able to fluster him enough to tell me the creditor which I have never dealt with, do I send a DV letter or wait it out since I don't have anything from them in writing. I did notice that that did an inquiry to my Transunion today, probably in response to my telling the little man that if insisted on threatening to come to my house, I invited him to do so, and that no I would not verify my address, but to be warned that I'm a black belt and would proceed to rip his arm off at the shoulder and beat him with it. So what do I do wait it out, or send a DV given all I have is ambiguous info for a debt that I never owed which apparently dates back to the "mid-80's"???

[JeffWeico]

Under the FDCPA, they have 5 days from your initial contact to send you a "validation notice" informing you of your right to dispute the debt.

PRA is INFAMOUS for not abiding by this. Call a consumer rights attorney in your area, and give them all of the relevant information.

They will likely take the case on contingency, since the FDCPA allows for statutory damages. You can collect $1,000 and your attorney might be able to get $2,500 or more in attorney fees.

At that point, PRA will not be so eager to collect from you.

I am not an attorney, so this is NOT legal advice. I am simply passing on what worked for me.

[KaratePixie]

I understand that but given that I do not have anything in writing from them, it's just been one telephone call where I did a whole lot of laughing at the guy on the other end, do I beat them to the punch and send the DV letter even though I have nothing except "mid-80's" and the name of a creditor that I have never had a credit card with or do I wait till I actually get something in writing from them before I send the DV out? I don't think I'll be hearing from them given that before I hung up I told him the burden of proof was on his end, that no I would not verify a single thing, and if he thought he had enough information to verify what he was claiming was in fact true, that that he should feel free to send it to via US Mail to whatever address he thought he had that was mine, and I would pass it along to my lawyer. Should I sent the DV letter and beat them to the punch or wait it out given it's only been one telephone call that amounted to little more than a whole lot of laughing on my part...