'Debt tagging' by collection agencies a growing problem

Consumers can find lawyers in their state on the Web site for the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Unfortunately, you might have to go through this process more than once.

After getting phone calls for many years about student loans that he didn't owe, Kevin Pumphrey sued a collection agency in August 2007 for harassment.

The agency settled the case months later and left him alone, but other agencies started calling. This spring, Pumphrey received several letters from a different collection agency than the one he had sued. Pumphrey, a teacher in San Antonio, figures that if he bothers with suing again, the agency will just sell the debt and another collector will come after him anyway.

"Without knowing the details about this person's credit history and what other agencies called, it's hard to understand why other agencies would be contacting him," said Schiffman, a spokesman for ACA.

Pumphrey was past the point of trying to understand. "It's unbelievable," he said.

Staff writer Ylan Mui and news researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.