Can anybody help with a credit report question? (vanity)

Sept 11, 2003 | Me

[geaux]

Here's the situation. I ran a routine credit check on myself a couple of weeks ago and found that my old cell phone company had reported my account as a charge off or delinquent. The account number in the credit report did not match any account number on any old bills I had, and, as far as I knew, I had paid every single bill ever presented to me. I called the company, but did not get any help. They told me that they had made several failed attempts to contact me, and then turned the matter over to a collection agency who was also unable to locate me. I do not understand how this can be, as I regularly received bills at my address until I closed the account and paid them. How is it that they can find me to send bills between the years 1996 - 2002, but not find me after I close my account when they are about to report a delinquent item on my credit report? They had no explanation as to why the account number on the bills I had were different from the account number on the credit report.

So, I disputed the credit report; mailed (certified, return receipt requested) copies to all of the credit agencies and sent a copy to the company. I got a letter confirming the debt from someone in executive relations. I called her today and told her that I did not even know if the alleged debt was mine; it didn't match the account number in all of my bills. Further, if the debt was mine, how is it that they could send bills to me for so many years, but fail to notify me before destroying my credit history. She could confirm that there is a debt all day long, but how am I supposed to (a) know it's even mine when my records indicate otherwise and (b) pay something I don't even know about? The only way I discovered it was through my own efforts during a routine credit check. They knew where I lived when I had an account with them, but for some reason, think I disappeared when I closed the account. I told her I would pay it if the debt is mine, but I want them to notify the credit bureaus that it was their mistake that caused the delinquency, not anything I did. She told me that she cannot do that, and that my credit report will only reflect that I did pay the debt, just really late and after a collection agency wrote me off.

So that's my question. Can a company destroy my credit history when it's their fault that I was not made aware of a debt? They had my current address, but insisted on trying to contact me at my parents' house, where I have not lived for about fifteen years. Who can I talk to to get this corrected? Can I have this item removed from my credit report once I pay it off? I'm not satisfied that the debt is mine, but it's not worth the measly sum to have my credit history ruined; I'd just as soon pay it. Do I need file a claim with some sort of government agency or court? Should I name both the cell phone company and the collection agency? Do I need to get a lawyer and, if so, what kind? I disputed the item, the company told me to stuff it; is that as far as it goes? It just does not seem right that, through absolutely no fault of mine, a company can cause my credit rating to go from nearly perfect to the bottom 30% Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Call Clark Howard.

[geaux]

Good idea.

[annyokie]

Contact a supervisor at the phone company. Reiterate what you have stated here, nicely but firmly. Have you been dunned by these people? If so, and indeed the bill is not yours, you may add up to three paragraphs of explaination to your credit bureau.

This will not change your Beacon score, however.

If this bill in contention is indeed yours, then pay it and ask the company in question to credit you and reaffirm your good payment history. This will clear your account and reinstate your score.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. As I said before be nice but firm about your wishes.

Good luck!

[geaux]

What does "dunned" mean?

I was as nice as possible to the woman I spoke with today. She was really trying to help, I just don't think she knew what to do, or if there was anything she could do. I'll try to find a supervisor tomorrow. Like I said, I don't care about the money; I just want my name cleared.

Thanks for the advice.

[ScrtAccess]

1) Dispute the debt with the credit reporting agency. They are required to contact the company who then must provide proof the debt is yours. If they fail to do that the debt must be removed, although it can be re-reported by the company.

2) If you feel your rights under the fair debt collection practices act has been violated, you may file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission who has enforcement powers over this act. They will investigate.

3) File a complaint with your state collection agency board, usually at the state atty generals office. This generally gets their attention real quick.

4) If all else fails, you have the right to include a comment along with the entry on the credit report explaining yourself.

Good Luck

[Rain-maker]

File a protest with the credit reporting agency. If that fails, tell the collection agency your going to sue them for erroneously damaging your credit.

If any agency irreparably harms your credit rating thru false claims, any lawyer would love to sue the pants of the bums. It's an easy slamdunk.

[cody32127]

I have some background in this, Here is what I think you might need to try,.. Write the collection agency telling them you "Dispute the validity of the debt" (Exact wording) and you want any and all Information pertaining to this said debt, also you want to ask for a copy of the original contract as validation, now they will probably mail you a computer printout (their internal records) as proof.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH! If they do that you will need to write them back explaining that is not the records you asked for and you want full discloser and proof of this debt or you will turn this company in to the Federal Trade Commission the BBB, Consumer Affairs, and so on.

Here is the deal, Most companies don't keep records (Originals) because it is a huge pain in the ass.

This is normal, check this out,..from
http://fair-debt-collection.com/most-asked-questions.html

How must collectors verify a debt and who is supposed to mail the verification to me?

SITUATION: I received a computerized form called an "itemized statement of services rendered" from a collector. Upon closer examination, the form appeared to be from the collector's own computer rather than from the creditor that provided the services (I'm familiar with their invoices). I called the original creditor and discovered that only phone verification was provided to the collector, no written documents were ever requested.

Section 809(b) " Validation of the debt" requires that the debt collector obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer.

The principal purpose of this Section is to help consumers who have been mis-identified by the debt collector or who dispute the amount of the debt, it is important that the verification of the identity of the consumer and the amount of the debt be obtained directly from the creditor. Mere itemization of what the debt collector already has does not accomplish this purpose

More on this here,..http://fair-debt-collection.com/most-asked-questions.html

Try this FIRST STEP! Then feel free to write me back at mms1163@bellsouth.net and I will help you with the other steps, just too much to post. You can get this off but it will not happen tomorrow!! And paying it WILL NOT TAKE IT OFF!!!! Unless this is in writing from the collection agency.

[Fraulein]

It's now the case that when one credit bureau makes a change to your credit report, they must report that change to all of the other credit bureaus on your behalf. So you really only need to deal with one credit bureau.

Also, scrtaccess was right: Dispute the debt with the credit reporting agency. They are required to contact the company who then must provide proof the debt is yours.

They are required by law to investigate and respond to you within 30 days. They will send you a new copy of your credit report.

You can also fill out a TransUnion dispute form online. You'll immediately receive an email verification that they received your dispute claim. Again, they must respond to you within 30 days.

[annyokie]

Dunned is being contacted by a collection agency. I'm sure you were nice.

[geaux]

Ah; thanks. And no; no one ever called me, wrote to me, knocked on my door, sent me a telegram -- nothing. If they would have, I would have paid the bill. That's my complaint; how can they ruin my credit without ever making any sort of half-a*s effort to find me? They sent bills to my current residence, but when they want to tell me that they're about to ruin my credit, they can't find me?

[geaux]

WOW. Thank you so much. That's *exactly* what happened when I disputed the item; I received a computerized print out from the company.

Let me ask you this. Today, the cell phone company representative told me to mail a check to the collection agency. I told her that was the problem; I had no idea who was trying to collect this debt because no one ever called me. She put me on hold for several minutes, and then told me to mail it directly to her. She would make sure it would get to the right company. Should I call her back and get the name of the agency? Should I not mail the check at all? After reading your post, I'm starting to think there was definitely an error somewhere, and that I don't owe any money. Can I file complaints directly against the cell phone company if they fail to provide the name of the collection agency?

[geaux]

That's part of the problem. I don't know who the collection agency is; no one ever contacted me. I was just running a routine credit check and got this shocker. I had no idea I owed money to anyone. And I'm starting to wonder if I owe money to these cats.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

A letter from your attorney probably won't hurt. You do have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

[Jambe]

Caution! DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MONEY UNTIL IT IS PROVEN THE BILL IS YOURS!!!!

Otherwise you will never get resolution/satisfaction.

You can offer to pay the bill if it in fact is yours, but only after they acknowledge they screwed up in billing.

How much was the bill for? If it's the only outstanding item on your credit report, I'd say dispute the item and never pay it.

If you have never changed your address from the time your account was closed and you had a prompt payment record over the years you had the account I would not pay the bill.

It is highly possible, given that the account numbers are not yours, that the credit agency "tagged" you with the bill and didn't care if it was legally yours or not. They'll make you spend your time proving otherwise, or maybe get lucky and have you pay it!

Again, I would not pay the bill until AFTER you are 1) positive it's yours and 2) you get something is writing from them FIRST. If they won't do that, forget it.

[george wythe]

I had the same problem with a former cell company, and I solved the problem myself.

It will be a war of nerves, but you will prevail if you persevere.

First of all, do not pay the debt until you negotiate the following terms:

1. Send a certified letter, returned receipt requested to the debt collector asking them to cease and desist collecting your debt. (Under federal law, you are entitled to deal with the original party, not with a third party.) If you don't do this, the debt collector can keep screwing up your credit.

2. Negotiate payment of your account with a phone company supervisor; he must have authority to erase old debts. Don't waste your time with low-level employees. The negotiation must involve:

A. A one-time payment via certified check or money order.

B. A written promise from the phone company to clear up your credit report. (The phone company supervisor will claim they cannot lie to the credit bureaus, and therefore you're stuck with a bad report. BS. Ask the supervisor to stop reporting your account to the credit bureaus, i.e. no infortation is not lying.)

3. After you negotiate a fair deal with the phone company, mail the supervisor a letter where you promise to send moneys after you receive a signed written promise from the phone company to stop reporting your account after the debt has been paid. (I just asked them to sign a form I myself wrote where I promise to send the moneys if the phone company promise to stop reporting my account. The form had two signature lines, one signed by me and another blank to be signed by the phone company supervisor)

4. After you receive the signed form stating that the phone company has agreed to stop reporting your account to the credit bureaus, mail your money order immediately.

5. Mail a letter to all credit bureaus disputing the phone company bad report, and watch your credit bureau reports get cleaned up the following week.

What will happen if you pay the debt without negotiating a no-report-to-credit-bureaus deal with the phone company?

Your phone company will report to the credit bureaus that you paid your account late, and that negative entry will stay in your credit history for seven years after you pay.

On the other, if you just forget about the whole thing and do not pay anything, the bad credit report entry will fall off in less than six years, since the last time you failed to make a timely payment was 2002.

It's up to you.

You can win the war of nerves and have a clean credit report.

Or you can pay up now and get a bad credit report for seven years.

Or you can just not pay all, and live with the bad credit report for six years.

[annyokie]

If you have an original of your final billing from the phone company, you may copy it and forward it to them. Include your last check or e-pay and follow up with a letter and a phone call.

Dispute this with whomever is reporting you in arrears.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

It is highly possible, given that the account numbers are not yours, that the credit agency "tagged" you with the bill and didn't care if it was legally yours or not. They'll make you spend your time proving otherwise, or maybe get lucky and have you pay it!

Exactly why a letter from a lawyer may be helpful.

[MissInfraRed]

I feel your pain. I had almost the same exact thing happen to me just recently. I had a cell phone about 4 years ago that I always paid on time, never late, etc. I had the phone for a little over 2 years and then changed providers.

My credit has always been pretty good but I started to notice interest rates on my cards going through-the-roof. We are talking from 14% to 24% or higher! I called to find out why. They said I had a delinquent account on my credit report. That was news to me so I obtained a copy.

Apparently this cell phone company, which doesn't exist anymore, reported me delinquent about a year ago to Equifax and it has really messed things up. What is really strange is that the CC rates did not start going up until a few months ago. AND once one of them did it, they ALL started doing it. Something else that is strange, I get copies of my credit report once a year and this was not on the one from the year before. I had already changed companies by that time so that leads me to believe this is not my charge.

Does seem unfair for something like this to be able to cause such chaos in one's life - not to mention the amount of money lost in over-inflated interest charges!

I called all my credit card companies and explained my situation. Some of them were very understanding and reduced the interest immediately. Some were not so nice. All I can say is that when I do get this mess cleared up, they will no longer have my business.

I did as some of the other's have suggested here and disputed the charge with Equifax. I think by law they have to respond to you within 30 or 45 days - can't remember which. They responded the first time saying they could not verify the account number - but they did not remove the charge. I resubmitted the dispute with the account number *I think* they are looking for. I have not heard back from them yet but I do know if they can not prove the debt, it must be removed from your report.

The problem is, this takes time. In my case, I am living with the high interest rates until I can get a new copy of my report to the credit card companies. Once I do that, I plan to ask them to refund the interest but don't know if they will do that or not.

My advice, don't let this go too long or you may start to see problems like I am having.

Good Luck!

[geaux]

Ugh. How awful. I don't know much about this area of the law, but according to the regulations you are entitled to any actual damages and attorneys fees. I don’t know if increased interest rates qualifies as “actual damages,” but it might be worth talking to an attorney just to find out.