Sister Outsider

I went through this credit repair journey with success, mostly thanks to this board. I bought a home a year and a half ago! Last month, a new collection appeared on my credit report. My former landlord kept my deposit of $950, charged me another $1600 for damages, and sent me to collections. I didn't get notice of the debt, from either the landlord or the collection agency. The landlord may have sent me certified mail, but when I bought the home, I wasn't living there and never picked up the letter from the post office (my bad). So the landlord's charges are bogus. I can't definitely prove it, but I CAN prove she is charging me for at least some damage from the previous tenants. She offered to lower the charges by $300, making it $1300. While I could pay, I don't feel like I owe this. So.....I want this off my credit. I am willing to pay her 40percent just to get this off my report, even though it is bogus. I believe if we went to court, it could go either way, depending on who the judge believes (but no way it would go completely in her favor, I could probably argue/present evidence to make a LOT go away.) Please help me consider options: 1. Pay the collection, sue the landlord (that way, she couldn't countersue me and make me end up with a judgement). 2. Send her a pay-for-delete (or pulling back from collections). I would offer to pay 40 percent in order to have her pull this from collections and make it go away. She said that if anything is collected, she only gets 40 percent anyway. 3. ??? I'm leaning for option 2 and haven't been able to find a sample letter that fits. Please help!

Yay! I just got an email from my consumer attorney: He looked over Santander's paperwork and is going to file a class action against them for the problems in my deficiency computation letter. He said the notice of the sale, etc. doesn't meet the statute, is confusing, and there are $500 statutory damages. Times that by how many Idaho consumers, and we've got ourselves a class action. I guess I'm going to be the first consumer. One of his friends from a consumer attorney group is going to join with him in bringing the lawsuit up. He's already done many like it.

Thanks @lionhunter I'm closing on my Barbie dream house in 2 weeks. I never thought I'd get there!

www.globaldebtregistry.com

This is my method, I've had a lot of success removing paid tradelines. Dispute with the 3 credit bureaus. Wait, dispute again for a different reason. Dispute again. Most of the time, if they're paid, the creditor doesn't want to hassle with keeping it on your credit report. That being said, you should give yourself at least a year to clean things up and buy a home. In my opinion.

Santander is reporting my date of last payment as 7/2014. THIS IS WHEN IT WAS SOLD TO A JUNK DEBT BUYER. My actual last payment to them was 4/2010. The JDB even says so on their paperwork. Isn't this re-aging?? I'm closing on a home loan this month.

Looks like you need to do some more reading. Negative information can stay on your report for 7.5 years (most), bankruptcy up to 10 years. Re. the ability to sue/garnish wages is a separate issue called Statute of Limitations (or SOL). Look up the SOL in your state, I believe it is 6 years in Minnesota. Anytime you make a payment or payment agreement or arrangement, you start over the SOL. The charge-off will probably stay for 7 years or so.

These are my Credit Karma scores, slowly rising by doing the things on this site, DV new collections letters and zombie debt, disputing bad TL's, 623 disputes, paying all of my bills on time, and opening up some secured cards. I have had lots and lots of removals, and have a long ways to go. I hope to buy a house sometime in the next year or so. CK Scores by month Nov 510 Dec 534 Jan 549 Feb 567 Mar 567 Apr 571 May 571 Jun 580 Jul 594 Aug 606 I know they are just credit karma fakos, but along with the other credit monitoring I do, the general trend is up. I just found out good news today that I have been hired for a National Health Service Corps position and they will pay $60,000 of my student loans for 2 years of service. (And it's renewable if I want to pay off the rest, which is $20,000). Things are looking up. The stuff on this site works, but it takes patience and persistence.

If they had it, why didn't they just send it? I think it's funny that I asked for it, then they sold it a few days later.

I sent Santander a version of WhyChat's letter. They didn't give any of the notices required by UCC laws to claim a deficiency for the car they repossessed and sold. So I sent the letter and a few days later, they sold the debt to Cascade. I guess I wait for letters and dispute. Any advise??

@lionhunter Thanks for your speedy response They had two accounts listed, I disputed both as "Not mine", one was removed. In my letter, I asked them to investigate the accuracy of the entire tradeline and provide me with "a complete timeline of payment activity and dates for this account from its inception to date, and proof of the validity of information you have erroneously provided to Experian, Equifax, and Transunion regarding this account." The account was allegedly open 1/2008 and the printout they sent me starts 11/2008 and has no charges or original balance. I called the OC today and asked what documentation they have of the account. They said it is all "in storage", so I have to send another letter to request more specific validation. They did say the account was for a furniture purchase financed by American General before the company was sold to Springleaf. This is my first 623's and I've read all of the links below.

I disputed a TL with the big 3, all came back verified. I sent OC Springleaf (formerly American General Financial) a 623 requesting an investigation. They sent back a letter saying: Dear Sister Outsider, Thank you for your recent correspondence. You requested a complete pay and activity on your account. Please see the enclosures for the requested documentation. As you did not include what specific information you were seeing on your report, I trust that this will answer your concerns. Please be advised that your account has been sold to Resurgent Capital Services. You may contact them at the following address and phone number for any further inquires. Sincerely, Customer Communications Coordinator Springleaf The statement they sent me made no sense. It listed "debits" and "broken promises." There was no balance or original charges. The date of the statement didn't match the date this account opened. I have no idea what to do next. I've searched the forums and have not been able to find much (I'm sure it is there, I just can't find it.)

Let me guess....Santander?

I would check the credit report and see what the damage is. The game plan will be determined by what's on the CR, if it has been that long, there might not be anything negative on the credit reports.

The medical collection is already PAID. I disputed, now it is being reported as an installment account.