Debt collectors accusing people of not returning videos from Hollywood Video

Threatening letters are arriving in Valley mailboxes. The ABC15 Investigators found they are targeting you, if you rented videos.

It happened to Kathy McMillan of Mesa.

She's an Xbox fan and rented new games for $5 or $6 to see if she wanted to buy them.

She rented them from Hollywood Video. That chain of video stores filed bankruptcy a couple of years ago.

Kathy says she hadn't thought much about them, until she recently received a letter from a debt collector.

The letter stated that she owed money for three unreturned games. Kathy admitted renting them, but she says she returned them.

An online check shows others complaining about the same thing.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office even put out a warning involving the collectors. It says these debt collectors cannot submit any reports to credit bureaus or threaten that they will.

They also can't add fees. The letter says Kathy only owes $21, but she says she will never pay something she doesn't owe.

With any debt collector, if you don't owe, don't pay. Demand proof in writing. They must provide it within five days.

Also by law, they cannot keep contacting you if you tell them not to, in writing.

Here are some rules from the Federal Trade Commission involving debt collectors.

E-mail me with any scams you see, or "like" my ABC 15 Facebook page and tell me about them there.