I just got a collections notice from a Hollywood Video debt.

[TNDemo]

They closed here whenever Hollywood Video shut down, a couple of years ago, I guess. I had no idea I owed them anything. This collection agency out of TX names a couple of videos for a total of $20, which I guess are late charges? Not sure if there is any validity to this or not but did not remember owing them anything and they never tried to bill me while they were still in business. I know that old debts get sold and multiple agencies can try to collect the same thing so even if I paid this, it doesn't mean I am not going to get billed by other agencies. I do not want to contact them because that starts the statute of limitations again. Apparently these charges were in 2009.

So what would you do? I am okay with a bill if I actually owe it but don't want to get into a big mess.

[seabeyond]

1. couple decades ago, first house i bought, had a late charge on a video on my cr record,

from a couple years back. 70 bucks, lol. i could have bought the damn movie. i had returned it. i paid the 70 bucks to buy my house.

[gratuitous]

2. It's almost certainly a scam

Check the website for your state attorney general. Some collection agencies apparently vultured Hollywood Video's customer lists when it went out of business, and have been sending out bogus collection notices for years. The amounts involved are typically not very much, and folks will send them twenty bucks just to keep their credit rating happy. State AGs around the country have been trying to squelch this, but like mushrooms after spring rain, the pop up from time to time.

If your state attorney general has information about this, it will probably be on their website under consumer protection or something. If your state doesn't have anything on it, you can write the collection agency back, disputing the debt and requesting their documentation for it. Keep their notice and your response.

The above free advice is not intended to be legal advice and should not be treated as such. It is offered for free, and I guarantee it is, like, totally worth what you paid for it.

[pipi_k]

3. Contacting them

to demand that they validate that it's YOUR debt will not start up the SOL again.

Only an admission that it's yours and that you will pay it.

I went through something similar in 2005. A debt that was nearly 20 years old and which had been sold, for pennies on the dollar to a Zombie Debt Collector.

I reported them to the state's AG and got them off my back.

My advice to you...reply to them demanding that they provide proof it's your debt, then take it from there.

PS...there are various form letters out on the innertubes for you to use...

[TNDemo]

4. Thanks, guys.

The AG's website said they had joined a lawsuit about the Hollywood Video collections thing where so many people had their credit dinged without first being given the chance to pay it. I wrote them and asked what I should do about this. Note to self: Get this year's credit report...

[nuxvomica]

5. I got one too, just yesterday

I read somewhere that around 3,000,000 former Hollywood customers were affected. There was a settlement by some state attorneys general last March to prevent them from dinging your credit record or double charging (late fees plus cost of DVDs). There were people who couldn't get mortgages because of this. I never kept any DVDs and as far as I know I paid all my late fees so I'm disputing it in writing.

[TNDemo]

6. I am going to write asking for supporting documentation for the charge.

Do you think I need to make it certified or just a regular 80 cent confirmation of delivery?

[nuxvomica]

7. I'm sending it certified

It's recommended and it also tells them you're serious.

[susanr516]

8. I just got the same type letter.

We got a notice for 3 late films, $34. Except we had the monthly plan where you never got charged a late fee. I'll definitely be contesting this one.

[alphafemale]

9. Sounds like a fishing expedition.

I'd look into it further.

[Mopar151]

10. Talk to your Post Office about mail fraud....

Or mention mail fraud in your inital poison pen letter. Worked for me!

[nuxvomica]

11. There is an email address for disputes

Check the uflp.com site for Hollywood Video info. Here's some more info:

http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/consumeralert/2012/04/hollywood_video_debt_collectio.html

[TNDemo]

12. Thanks for posting that.

This is the first collection notice I have gotten. I don't know why I didn't hit the first wave. I sent a certified letter to them to provide documentation of what I owe and have yet to hear back.

[JessicaB]

13. I just got a collections notice from a Hollywood Video debt.

i just got a collections notice from a Hollywood Video for $77.33 for 7 videos that i rented back in 2009 and 2010... when Hollywood Video went out of business in my town a few years ago i got a notice and payed the amount for the late charges. now its been 2 years and got another one.... i went to the website that they gave me and it was a (.com) website witch anyone could make up. everything i have read said that its all a scam. on the website it also states that "These accounts have not and will not be reported to the credit bureaus." i hope this helps