Q: Is it legal for another collection agency to have my information when I paid the debt they are contacting me for?
I had an account with a hospital go to a debt collection agency, I paid them the money and received a confirmation number and also called to confirm the account was listed in their system as paid off. I then received a call from another debt collection agency looking for payment for the same account even though it has been paid off already.
A:
It's probably not legal and you may have rights and a remedy against the second collector. There are several federal statutes in place to prevent this exact kind of action including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. An attorney would need to know more in order to advise you of your rights but you may be entitled to statutory damages in the right circumstances of up to $1,000 per instance. However if you paid the debt off recently and there hasn't been a chance for this other company to have been informed you may not have a case.
This is general advice and you should contact a lawyer if you are interested in pursuing your claim.
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