Collection Agency adds 8700.00 to amount owed?????!!

[lookingforward]

I owe 32500.00 to a certain company. I got a letter from their collection agency and it says I owe 41000.00. I got a statement from the company today, it still says 32500.00. The collection agency is in Canada. Can they do that? I am sending a DV letter ASAP, but have you ever heard of a
collection agency adding almost 9000.00 to the original amount due?

[magyar123]

Are you and the original creditor also in Canada?

[justbroke]

Maybe it's in Canadian Dollars... LOL

They can't just add punitive interests of fees unless it's in your credit agreement. Secondly, make sure they are licensed to collect in your State (the Collection Agency).

[lookingforward]

The original creditor's billing offices are in Canada but their manufacturing plants/cust service reps/shipping depts/etc are in the US. I am also in the US. They are also the only people calling who are so extremely rude it is shocking.

[Tbornetun]

If the letter was dated December 9th it would equal US dollar v. Canadian.
Maybe it was sent to the collection agency and they did/didn't do the conversion.

It is possible...

[Keebler]

I owe 32500.00 to a certain company. I got a letter from their collection agency and it says I owe 41000.00. I got a statement from the company today, it still says 32500.00. The collection agency is in Canada. Can they do that? I am sending a DV letter ASAP, but have you ever heard of a
collection agency adding almost 9000.00 to the original amount due?

It was my experience that the debt collectors sometimes pad the total this way so they can try to get you to admit you owe them more than you originally owed them. It seemed like the ones who didn't pad the total would respond to my Validation Requests and the others who play the "oops, we accidentally added some money" game were afraid to validate. Maybe they didn't want to explain where the extra money was going!

Sned them a Debt Validation letter and there's a good chance you'll never hear from them again.

[BROKENN]

Yep, I had one that was 4K and when it went to collection it went to 12K. And to top it off, they sent me a letter at tax time saying they would deal for 4K! In the summer they sent me a judgment filing for 12K and atty fees.

I called my atty and filed

[Overmylimit]

I have a credit line with Bank of the West for 100k. The CA that took the file from them sent me letters demanding payment and they added 22k to the amount owed, so yep they can do it alright.

[lookingforward]

Today, I DV'd them. I had to send an airmail registered letter since its in Canada. Cost me 13.96! They'll have to verify the total amount right? So they'll have to list the added money as their charge when they verify? It seems strange for them to "verify" a debt that they've padded. Well, my papers are at the lawyer's office, I'm waiting to hear from them to sign and file. They can add the 8700.00 in along with the rest!