Columbia House's Debt Scavengers by George Ziemann -- November 17, 2007 This is a delayed article. Even though others were already experiencing problems with Nationwide Collections Inc. in relation to Columbia House, I wanted to see how this all worked out before I made a public comment about it. June 7, 2007 -- Nationwide Collections Inc. of Fort Pierce, Florida, is after me for a debt "originally owed to Columbia House." They want me to "prevent legal action" and let me know that a judgement against me could affect my "ability to get credit, buy a home or car" unless I promptly pay the balance due of... $19.77 When I was finished laughing, I wrote back to them (below) and asked for that elusive thing the RIAA can never seem to produce in court -- evidence. I hope they find some so I can waste some more of their time. I did have a Columbia House Music Club account (had one at BMG Music Club, too) and I assume the $19.77 charge is because I still needed to buy one more CD when the music industry turned pure evil. I never did. A clear breach of contract. If this charge came from any other industry, I'd feel ethically obligated to pay it. Before Napster I would have felt even more obligated to pay it since I would have thought not doing so was somehow ripping off musicians. I made an agreement and didn't fulfill my part of it. Fortunately, small claims court isn't concerned with morals, just the law. I looked back through my checking records and the earliest check I find to Columbia House was in April of 1997. That means that any agreement I signed was prior to that. As I recall (which is why I hope Nationwide provide actual documents), the original agreement was to buy 5 CDs at regular club prices in three years. By not having purchased that last CD by April, 2000, I became in breach of contract on or before that date. In these type of civil cases, this would be "discovery," or "cause of action" -- the earliest time I could be legally determined to have breached said contract. According to Arizona law: 12-548. Contract in writing for debt; six year limitation An action for debt where indebtedness is evidenced by or founded upon a contract in writing executed within the state shall be commenced and prosecuted within six years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward. So Nationwide is like a year too late. At least. Every state has a different statute of limitations on written contracts, from as little as three years (Alaska, Maryland, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and South Carolina) to as much as 15 years (Kentucky and Ohio), so I could have a problem if I lived elsewhere. But I don't. So I sent them the following letter: June 5, 2007 Nationwide Collections, Inc. 805 Virginia Ave, Suite 1 Fort Pierce, Florida 34982-5881 Re: Record number (Redacted) Dear Sirs: I am in receipt of your June 1, 2007 letter, which refers to "Debt of $19.77 originally owed to Columbia House." Having never received an invoice from Columbia House for the amount in question, the validity of this claim is highly suspect, especially in light of security breaches concerning customer records at Columbia House as far back as March, 2001 (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/tsearch/Security+breach+customer+records.htm). Therefore, it is necessary to dispute the validity of this debt. To give this matter any further consideration, I would need to see a signed, dated copy of any original contract, including the terms and conditions, plus an itemization of all account activity from the date of the contract to present, as well as a description of the goods and/or services billed for. In the event that such documents do exist they will be checked against the statute of limitations for civil matters in the state of Arizona, which have almost certainly been exceeded and during which time absolutely no effort whatsoever has been made by anyone to collect the alleged debt. You have threatened legal action (as illustrated by the phrase "Please prevent any legal action" on the payment form) and harm to my credit rating ("A court judgment could make it difficult for you to obtain future credit" and "could affect your ability to get credit, buy a home or a car") over a sum of $19.77. This is a violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. George Ziemann I have not heard from them since.