<prompt> Human: Throwaway account here. My father is an alcoholic, deadbeat, and homeless though he currently holds down a job a grocery store. I am in my early thirties I have tried and tried to help my father -- through his divorce, unemployment, and various troubles, financial and otherwise. I paid off some debt for him seven or eight years ago not a great decision in retrospect, moved him into my house in another state, and helped him find work and his own apartment. About a year after that he was thrown out due to non-payment and lost the job. Since then his brother tried the same thing with the same results -- he spends all of his money after alimony is forcibly taken on alcohol though he wont admit he has a problem. This is the usual situation, as I understand it.The reason Im here is that the man continually collects debt and I was lovingly given the same exact legal name as him. I have no JR, II, or anything else. Despite my repeated request, when he lived with me he registered his drivers license at my address. Now, even though I have since moved, I regularly get collections notices and phone calls from bill collectors for his unpaid obligations. About once a year I have to dispute various items on my credit report almost always TransUnion -- thanks even though I have all of the possible notices and warnings on there about verifying the debt or account is actually mine. At one point there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest due to an unpaid traffic fine -- he was out of state and the warrant was where I live. Splendid.I need help -- if I had the means and disposable income I would just hire a lawyer to deal with this each time it comes up, but I have my own family and limited income so I really need some advice on how to deal with this every time I get a phone call or letter. When I speak to these people I try to politely help them understand they are not looking for me and, no, I dont have a way for them to contact my father... but it keeps coming. Right now I have a collections notice in my hand for some medical lab work -- I recently filed a complaint with HHS regarding a HIPPA violation since I am receiving his medical bills, but they declined it...Ive looked all this up on Google before and Ill do that again, but Im hoping someone here may have had a similar experience... I dont really appreciate having to prove my identity to people I dont know and do not have any business relationship with and this is both stressful and maddening.Assistant: Anytime you get a request from a collector immediately ask them to verify that they have the correct John Smith by verifying the Date of Birth and Mothers Maiden Name, as you and your father share the same name.What you are doing is verifying a debt is actually yours, and not someone elses your fathers. They are required to do this. Have them send it via mail.Human: Ill try to put together a form letter of some approximation with this information. Would it be a good idea to actually summarize the on-going issues? Something like The debt you are collecting belongs to another individual with the same legal name and is, unfortunately, a recurring issue. or should I just play dumb?I have excellent credit when I can keep this stuff off my report. I have 10 years of history and no late payments or anything. That makes this all the more annoying.  <response>: As a rule you never want to admit to any forms of debt. Debt collectors record conversations hoping for this admission, and because you share your name with your father and are already entagled in the situation, by admitting to a debt existing youre only potentially dragging yourself down the hole further and doing nothing to help the situation. So, just dont ever admit to any debt, always say alleged debt.There really isnt a benefit in playing dumb either. Simply state the situation briefly; ask them for date of birth and SSN of who theyre trying to collect this debt from, find out their name and the companys name, tell them you are not the person they need to be speaking with, you will report them and their company for any incorrect marks on your credit history because of this alleged debt and that they cannot contact you by phone any more and that all contact including proof of the alleged debt will be done via mail. Any contact by phone will be considered harrasment and will be reported you dont have to really report anything but collectors usually back off if it sounds like you know what youre doing, the debt is low and especially if theyre in a different state.Also, if you can give up your dads phone number so they have an actual lead to follow, then by all means give them that number if you feel so inclined so theyre more likely to stop bothering you. 