I live in Illinois and operated a business with a net 30 account for inventory. In October, I went out of business owing roughly $13k in invoices. Over the course of the last few months, they've held payments due to me for services rendered by my business while it was still operating against the debt bringing it down to the below $10k area. I did try to contact the company to set up payment arrangements a couple of times, but I'm aware I drug my feet and did not put in the right effort to catch the right person at the right time. In January, I received a letter from a company trying to collect on their behalf. It was poorly worded and contained unprofessional text like, "You continue to break promise after promise," and "Legal action will be taken. If thst happens you will have no one to blame but yourself." The ammount that they showed I owed was much greater than what I know I owe ($16k). I called the number on the letter and left a voicemail with my contact and account information for the person (let's call him Mr. Brown) who's name was on the letter. I was called back a few minutes later by another person (Mr. Red). I told him that I'd like to get some information from the originating company regarding the account. He told me I was no longer allowed to dal through them and anything I needed to say I'd have to say to him. I did make an attempt to contact the originating company and was told he same thing, so I called back Mr. Red and left a detailed voicemail with my email address and very nicely requested a statement of the invoices for the past year along with my payment history record, any funds held against my debt, and any documents I signed agreeing to pay additional fees for collection etc. Mr. Red called back immeiately irate telling me that he already suggested that his client sue me and that if I didn't make some kind of payment he would make sure they did. I had a very hard time getting a word in, but I told him that I intended to make arrangements for what I owed the company but I wanted to verify the debt ammount before arrangements were made. Over and over he repeated that he wasn't my book keeper and that he was going to make sure his client sued me. At this point, he was yelling like a lunatic. This went on for a few minutes until I hung up and called the originating party again and insisted on speaking to someone about Mr. Red and the information I wanted sent to me. Ibgot the runaround for a while until a woman (Mrs. Green) came on the phone and informed me that she had just spoken to Mr. Red and she didn't need to know any details other than "did you request information from Mr. Red that he refused to supply?" I gave her the condensed version and asked if there wa any way to speak to Mr. Brown who had originally sent me the letter. She told me that Mr. Brown doesn't exist and that they operate under alliases but assured me that she would have someone else from Mr. Red's office take over my account and they would get ahold of me. Yesterday I received a letter again from "Mr. Brown" that stated
"We have already advised our client that you refuse to pay the debt owed to them as indicatd above. We are recommening to our client that one option is to sue your company. If a law suit is instituted, it will become a matter of public record and could affect your ability to purchase goods on credit. A document similar tobthe attached affidavit is on its way to our client. Once suit is authorized, the costs to remedy the balance will drastically increase the ammount owed by you. Put your check in the mail within 72 hours of receipt of this letter or we will have no alternative but to proceed in an effort to protect our client's interests."
Attached to this letter was a blank form titled Affidavid of Claim.
I called the originating company again and left a message with Mrs. Green explaining that I had not refused the debt but was still waiting to be contacted by another person at Mr. Red's office. She called back and asked what information I was requesting and agreed to email it to me. She did send slme of the information, but not all. I intended to reply with an email asking for detailed information today, but got a call first thing in the morning from Mr. Red. He was obviously trying to keep his cool and act like a different person. I said "I was told that someone else was going to be assigned this account." He assured me I had been talking to Mr. Brown (who doesn't exist) before, but he was Mr. Red and we'd never spoken. I breifly told him I knew he was the same person but decided to move past it. I told him what information I'd like to have sent to me to which he responded "here we go again." But he composed himself, asked for my email address and agreed to send me an email requesting a detail of my request. Obviously, it seems like this is starting to head in the right direction, but what exactly are my rights when this goes sour after I start disputing the dollar ammount? Because I know that Mr. Red isn't going to hold his composure when I start talking about alterations to the debt ammount.