Call Kurtis: Hounded Again By Debt Collectors For A Bill She Didn't Owe

A Stockton woman thought her hassles with an alarm company were all fixed when she first called Kurtis.

When a fourth collection agency started harassing her, it was time to call Kurtis again.

The alarm company said it was fixed and she didn't owe the money.
So why have the harassing calls started again?

"It's a mistake, it has to be a mistake again," said Brandy De Alba, Stockton resident.

Sent to collections for the fourth time for a $449 debt she didn't owe in the first place.

"I'm stuck. I actually have no power in this, I feel powerless," said Brandy.

Brandy says she cancelled her alarm contract with CastleRock Security in 2009 but the company kept charging her and caused her credit to take a 100 point dive, preventing her from buying an investment property.

"All of a sudden, I'm being punished for something I did not do," said Brandy.

Our investigation uncovered she's not the only one with this complaint.

A states attorney in Illinois filed this lawsuit, claiming CastleRock... "failed to honor the valid cancellations of automatic renewal contracts by customers and continued to charge customers for alarm monitoring services..."

When we contacted CastleRock, they had no comment on the suit but promised to pull Brandy out of collections.

And her credit score went back up.

Then in July, another collection letter showed up and the debt collecting calls started again.

"They took back the debt but they kept it on their books as a debt," said Eric Ratinoff, Consumer Attorney, KCR Legal.

While it's common for collection agencies to sell debt to other collection agencies, Ratinoff says selling debt for people who don't owe the money is illegal.

"It wasn't nailed down in writing so she got stuck," said Ratinoff.

CastleRock Security now tells us it's under new management in New York.

They sent Brandy an official letter reading...

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you and agree that it should not have happened... "

"... we consider your account closed and in good standing."

Brandy hopes she won't be hounded anymore.

"It would be great if it could just be over," said Brandy.

We reached out to the third collection agency, National Credit Solutions, and they tell us they didn't sell Brandy's debt. Instead, they say CastleRock Security took back the debt last December and most likely resold it to a third party, who got a fourth debt collector to hound her.

CastleRock Security says they're now under new management and don't know how that happened.

To stop the cycle, get something in writing from the company, saying your balance is cleared. That way you have proof should any debt collector hound you again in the future.