DoctorDan Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 The abbreviated backstory is I have a Direct TV collection on my credit report even though I've never had Direct TV. Someone I was renting my guest house to some time back had it and I guess skipped out on the bill. From what I understand, he put it in my name even though I never got asked, consented to it, or even knew he was going to do it. I certainly didn't sign for anything. I've disputed it with the credit reporting places and they keep saying it's mine.This guy that lives next door to me and I were talking about it a few weeks back when I was trying to take down the satellite dish off my guest house. He says he had a big identity theft thing and knows all about dealing with this sort of thing, offers to help. Later that evening, he comes by and hands me a letter. Says to mail it to the place reporting the collection and then to re-dispute with the credit reporting places and that if they say it's mine again to run down to the courthouse to file suits against each of them individually. Said he'd help me fill out the forms and after I filed them everybody would back down, get rid of the bad info and pay me off. Said if I had any questions to come to this creditinfocenter place and look up his blog stuff outlining how it works but I can't find any blog entries from him when I did a search on Zanathos.So is this guy telling me the truth or is he just blowing smoke? Seems a little too simple to where it just takes a 'magic letter' and filling out a couple of forms. I don't want to do anything that might get me in some kind of trouble and I'm not sure about the guy obviously. I don't see any blog entries here he said I'd find. He doesn't appear to work as it seems like he's going on a vacation every other week. I don't have any idea where he got his money from but my oldest son says he's some kind of famous computer hacker so I can take a pretty good guess that it might not have been entirely legally. All he says when you ask what he does is consultant, which seems intentionally vague. Nobody in the neighborhood really knows him other than he treats his place like a boarding house for his friends while he's out of town doing whatever it is he's doing. He seems like a nice guy but for all I know I'll end up behind bars if I listen to him. That's the last thing I need over some company trying to say I owe them 200 dollars. So do I mail this thing or is it bad? It basically says mail me a contract I signed or else go to hell. I showed it to our house counsel at the hospital but he said he didn't know enough about credit matters to comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montanatim Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I don't know what your "letter" says, but the info you seek is in the identity theft threads. The first sticky at the top is a good place to start. Do file a police report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Xanathos was a fixture here a while back. He does know his stuff. Spell his username right and you'll get all his info. And welcome aboard.BTW he goes on vacation a lot because he sued the crap out of all the credit bureaus and won a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divemedic Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 It works. I fixed my credit and got 5 figures worth of money from companies who broke the law.Xan got more than that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rella5 Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 reading this whole exchange gave me goose bumps. Hollywood has never made a movie as good as real life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimber6337 Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 OMGosh I haven't talked to Xan in forever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 No offense to Xan - but he does exaggerate things sometimes, so what he said was probably an oversimplification. So the answer is part smoke, part fact. Plus, the info he posted here is now couple of years old and things could have changed. The debt collection industry is getting smarter.He did provide valuable information while he was here - so I am really not dissing him. The methods he posted do work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorDan Posted March 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Providing update of resolution on this matter:I went ahead and sent the letter to this collection company and then sent disputes to the credit bureaus again. All but one person stated my neighbor was a reliable source of help, and a guy who never says 10 words to anyone and has what he has doesn't strike me as the type to exaggerate things. They all said the item belonged to me within 3 days of my dispute. So I rang him, told him about their response, told him about my posting here and what not. He told me where to get court forms and what to put in them, who to send them to for serving and the like and coached me a bit on what to say when the company called. He stated nothing had changed in the last couple of years and knew how it would play out (and had some truly 'choice' words for user 'Admin' - seems to be some heavy bad blood there, which explains the accusation of exaggeration).The collection company in question called about a week later. After a 15 minute conversation with them we reached an agreement for deletion of the inaccurate information from my credit bureau portfolios as well as compensatory damages of $1,000. It was surprisingly painless.That's it. Hope this helps someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 I think 21 days to settlement is a new record. Usually takes me 45 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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