Posts by casualranger22

John Clark6 said:They aren't allowed to do that, though—but just so you know, when you make a payment, they don't apply it to the principal first. According to how the law is set up here in the States, they have to clear the collection costs first, then the interest, and only then does it touch the actual principal amount.

Thanks a ton for the reply.
Look, I’m gonna quote this follow-up letter I got from AT&T, dating back to 2001:

Dear customer, we are informing you that the debtor ---------, has settled the entire sued principal amount of ----- and court costs in the amount of ----- as of October 22, 2001.
Please note that the debtor paid $96 toward late interest as of October 22, 2001, and accordingly, the remaining balance for those amounts is $352.
The debt you are required to settle consists of the difference in the late interest payments in the amount of $352 credited to the creditor's account.
I have to point out that before I actually sent the money, I specifically asked them at AT&T for the exact figure I needed to pay, and I paid precisely what they told me to, so I was dead certain I had everything squared away...

So yeah, I still technically owe for those interest charges, and honestly, I’d love to just pay it off so I can finally get some sleep, but I have no clue where to even start because their account numbers have been changing constantly in the meantime...
And how on earth is it possible that in all this time there haven't been any invoices, warnings, letters, bank freezes, or anything? Not even a single notice from the court... I don't even know what stage my case is in right now. I've been working steadily since 2003, so they definitely could have collected from me if they wanted to...
Can anyone please give me some advice on how to fix this mess?
Thanks so much!!

Ryan Lopez4 said:Well, if you aren't quite sure which law firm they sent the file to, why not just give customer service a quick call with your Social Security number handy so they can look it up for you? Once you have that info, you really ought to reach out to the attorney directly, because since the matter was handed off, AT&T isn't really involved anymore, and seeing as AT&T has already been paid, those remaining balances are strictly legal fees—and let's be honest, an attorney isn't exactly going to just wave those costs away, right?

It’s always much better to prevent a problem than to try and fix one after the fact, don't you think? 🤷

First off, thanks for the reply. I don't actually owe this attorney anything, because back when this whole thing was going down in '99, we were fighting it out in court, and I paid off the principal, the court costs, and a chunk of interest—basically everything they told me to pay at the time. I’ve still got the receipts and even a letter from them confirming the balance was settled. But then, after I thought it was all over, I get hit with a notice saying I still owe some interest that apparently never got cleared. I really want to get this sorted because I completely lost track of this interest debt, and now I'm stressing about an IRS seizure or more crazy legal fees piling up... Is it even legal for them to charge interest on top of unpaid interest?

So, here’s the deal with my situation. I’ve got this old debt from AT&T dating all the way back to 1999 for some mobile phone plan. Someone else was actually the one using the phone, but since the account was in my name, I was on the hook. Naturally, that person refused to pay up, and when the enforcement office came knocking, I just didn't have the cash to cover it. After they tried and failed to seize any of my property, everything just went quiet...
By 2001, I finally managed to scrape the money together and paid off the full principal amount they were suing for
A few months later, I get this letter in the mail from AT&T’s legal department and their accounting office confirming that my payment covered the entire principal and the court costs, plus a chunk of the interest. But then they hit me with the news that I still owed about $333 in interest, and if I didn't settle it, they’d keep pushing with the seizure process. I called their legal team and told them straight up that I couldn't afford those extra interest charges right then... Later that same month, I get a bill for roughly $333 specifically labeled as late interest. After that, nothing. I never heard another word from AT&T or the courts...
Since it’s been over 13 years since that last notice, and it’s been 15 years since the whole seizure thing started, and everything has just stayed dormant... is it possible this is all past the statute of limitations? I really need some advice on how to handle this because now I actually have the means to settle it once and for all...
Should I even bother contacting AT&T to ask for a bill for those interest charges, or should I just leave it alone??
Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give!