What's the difference between an Assignee and a Factoring Company account?

[brokemommy]

I have some collection accounts listed with ARROW and on Trans Union it states "Factoring company account". The First Premier accounts are listed as "Transferred or sold" with zero balances. However, on Equifax they are being listed as charged off each with an outstanding balance and the Arrow is being listed as "Assignee of First Premier".

I don't know how they are reporting on Experian, because I'm still fighting with those people to fix my report because no one is able to pull my report anymore (this is in another thread.)

I have disputed all of the accounts and both Trans Union and Equifax are coming back as "verified" or "already verified". How can this be? I'm assuming that I have a couple of violations here. The accounts are out of SOL for NC.

What is the difference in assignee and factoring company accounts?

Thanks!

[willingtocope]

In the business world, a "factor" is a company that buys good receivables at a discount from another company, and then collects on those accounts. The key word here is "good" recevables...accounts that the factor can reasonably expect to be paid for at some point in the future.

Technically, when someone buys debts from another company that are already in default, they're not a factor, they're a junk debt buyer. However, one of the software packages that some CAs use to report to the CRAs doesn't make a distinction. Therefore, you might see a JDB listed as a "factoring account" on your reports. No big deal...no problem.

In the legal world, an "assignee" is a junk debt buyer...but, sometimes CAs use that in the sense of "I've been assigned to collect this debt under contract with the OC". Again, no big deal.

If the debts have been sold, then the OC should list them as "sold to another lender" with a $0 balance. If they're not listed that way on all three reports, then obviously someones in error...but...I don't think you have any "violations" to sue over. Even if they were all listed correctly, they'll still be bad marks.

[direred]

A "factoring company" typically handles cash flow problems in the service provider (e.g. a dentist who needs to sell receivables to pay for equipment).

[brokemommy]

Thanks for the reply- I guess I will dispute them again, since they are reporting differently on each report.