Make Credit Vultures Prove You Owe

What is the right paperwork? The collection agency needs to send you proof that it either owns the debt, or has been "assigned" it, meaning that the company that originally lent you the money has legally entitled them to collect from you. That means you need to see the contract between the company you originally borrowed from and the collection agency.

They also need to show you a copy of the original agreement you made with the company you originally borrowed from, and account statements from that same original creditor. If they can't furnish you with these, you don't need to pay them. For more detail, I again recommend going to this site, which helped me stop Allied Interstate from harassing me on a daily basis:

OK, let's go with the worst of all scenarios. These credit losers come up with evidence that you owe money.

This brings us to Rule No. 2: Don't admit it. When talking to a collection agent, assume you've just been arrested. Anything you say can and will be used against you, possibly in a court of law. So don't give these shysters any information over the phone. And even if you believe you truly do owe them money, don't believe a single world a collection agent says. They will happily lie and make idle threats in order to intimidate you into paying, but it's important to recognize that they're just hustlers.