If you're being bombarded by debt collectors to pay a debt that isn't yours, a tempting solution can be to just go ahead and pay it off so you won't be bothered by them anymore and the debt will be removed from your report.
But if the debt isn't yours to begin with, why should you have to pay it off? Paying it just to get if off your credit report isn't fair for you and there is a cheaper solution.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows you to dispute the debt by informing the credit reporting agencies - Experian, Equifax, Innovis, and TransUnion- that the debt isn't yours to pay and copy down the debt collector/ agency's information so the credit reporting agency can verify you're being truthful.
If the credit agencies still won't remove the debt, you have a few options.
You can dispute it again or sue them.
It's also important to keep in mind that sometimes debt collectors and creditors will knowingly "park" a debt on an account that it doesn't belong to.
They do this because they know eventually you will get fed up and pay it off in an attempt to salvage your credit report.
This is basically blackmail.
A federal judge has even commented that this method, although it's wrong, is one of the most effective ways to "wrench" payments out of consumers.
Don't let yourself be strong-armed into giving in and paying for a debt that isn't yours.
If it's not your debt, dispute it and don't pay it.
If the debt is removed from your report, great.
If not, suing the credit reporting agency is another option.
Either way, you have the right to stand up for yourself and not be a victim of illegal blackmailing.