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Eight years ago, Advanta credit card debts were removed from my account after Advanta was dissolved by the FDIC. I still had a small business balance. A collection agency named Carson Smithfield sent me a letter last week saying that I was to pay them 20% of the amount due. Do they have an agreement with a defunct credit card company? I recently applied for a HELOC and Experian was consulted and they had a lot of inaccuracies on my credit report and I was denied. Now the dogs of Carson are on my tail. Any suggestions?

I've seen quite a few questions about Advanta, but I didn't see any like my situation where business credit card debt was sold to Carson Smithfield. We went through the closing of Advanta and the sudden increase in our interest rate like everyone else. We worked on paying it for years then started fighting the interest rate increase and did stop paying. We weren't getting anywhere then the account was charged off and sold to Carson Smithfield. We started paying the offered payment terms by Carson Smithfield, thinking we had no alternative. But recently I've started doing some research. As a part of my research I've realized that Carson Smithfield did not abide by Section 809 of 15 USC 1692g (a) sections (2), (3), (4), or (5). They provided the name of the creditor as Advanta, who hasn't existed and as far as my research goes the credit card debt is now actually owned by the FDIC, if that is incorrect please correct me. Subsections (3), (4), and (5) they simply did not provide those statements and I was left with the impression this was it pay this or be stuck forever. (I know I shouldn't have given up so easily.) I have also gone through and audited the account based on the actual account terms, not their jacked up ones, and found I've now over paid them several thousand dollars. I sent them a debt validation letter requesting: The agreement with the creditor that authorizes them to collect on the alleged debt, the agreement bearing my signature stating I have agreed to assume the debt, valid copies of the debt agreement stating the amount of the debt and interest charges, proof that the statute of limitations has not expired and complete history on the account all with an accounting of all interest charge changes, supported by account terms and additional charges being assessed. They responded with: "According to our files, you are currently paying under a settlement agreement on your Advanta Credit Cards account. In order to satisfy the settlement arrangement, Our records show you still owe a remaining amount of $xxxx.xx. Payment of this amount will prevent further collection activities." So not a response at all to my demand for debt validation. I'm hoping for others experiences or thoughts on dealing with Advanta / Carson Smithfield or those dealing with Advanta / Cardworks Serving.

Hi, In late 2010 I had a negative item appear on my credit reports from "Advanta Bank." Advanta Bank failed in 2009 and was shut down by the FDIC and State of Utah. They were heavily fined for deceptive and unfair business practices (ie. offering a 0% introductory interest rate and then rate jacking their customers to 38%). Advanta Bank ultimately declared bankruptcy. As far as I could determine, the FDIC was set up as a receiver for their deposits, and any debts owed were sold off to junk debt buyers. The former owners of Advanta have been individually sued for breach of fiduciary duty and other misconduct by the FDIC in relation to their ownership and management of Advanta. I disputed in writing to the three credit bureaus, providing proof from the FDIC that Advanta Bank no longer existed and could not be the reporting entity. I also disputed what was reported, because it was purely false and erroneous information. Equifax and TransUnion immediately deleted the info. Experian refused to delete the information and has continued to refuse my written disputes for the past four years. I have been turned down for credit as a result. I recently invoked arbitration over this and multiple other issues based upon the credit monitoring contract I have with Experian, which states clearly it covers FCRA disputes. I have yet to hear back on my arbitration demand, however, today I received in the mail a postcard advising me of the class action Michael Dreher v. Experian, specifically on this issue of Experian falsely reporting data from "Advanta Bank." The class action lawsuit properly states that the company known as "CardWorks Processing" is possibly the owner and reporting entity of past due debts emanating from the defunct Advanta Bank - but is reporting as "Advanta Bank" today and for the past four years as if they are the bank. Trying to resolve any reporting issue becomes a three ring circus and/or shell game between Experian, Advanta (which has no legal present address or contact) and CardWorks, making it impossible to correct incorrect negative information on Experian credit reports. If Experian were truly conducting meaningful investigations when consumers dispute as required by the FCRA, they would learn "Advanta Bank" is not reporting anything since 2009 or 2010 at the latest. Here's the class action lawsuit: http://www.advanta-experian.com/ http://www.buccidix.com/blog/experian-must-disclose-company-reporting-credit-report-debt.cfm http://www.cardworks.com/ When I eventually figured out the "Advanta Bank" address on my Experian report led to "Cardworks Processing" - I disputed in writing to "CardWorks Processing." I received a letter back with the name "Advanta Bank" rubber stamped at the top of the letter (not Advanta's original logo, but what appeared to be a rubber stamp pressed on an ink pad created for this purpose). What is interesting to me is Experian will do everything possible to avoid a class action, and uses arbitration clauses in their credit monitoring contracts to do just that. Now that a class action has made it to the trial stage, they are trying to lump me in with the class - to avoid the cost and expense of arbitration. My instincts tell me to opt out of the class action (which is a clearly spelled out option) and pursue my own individual case through arbitration or litigation if necessary, especially since my dispute has elements other than the Advanta issue. Any feedback on this issue is appreciated here. Please note I'm also posting this info for anyone else who has had a similar experience with Experian / Advanta. I think CardWorks Processing is committing fraud, violating the FCRA by knowingly reporting inaccurate information, and violating the FDCPA by misrepresenting the status of an alleged debt. I want to take legal action against them. If you agree, please feel free to post comments here or contact me via PM. Thank you.