Turumbar Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Is it legal for a collection company to pull your credit without your approval? 3 CA pulled my credit last month (I do have accounts in collection with them) and I never authorized them to do so. Is this some kind of Violation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzle1979 Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Is it legal for a collection company to pull your credit without your approval? 3 CA pulled my credit last month (I do have accounts in collection with them) and I never authorized them to do so. Is this some kind of Violation?Depending on what the collection account is for, yes they can pull your credit report. The theory is that they are trying to look for you. If they contact you, reply in writing. If not, you may continue to get inquiries because they will continue to check your credit and look for new addresses to find you at.Amerikaner is an expert WA resident, he can help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingfor700 Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have another version of this. I had a CA pull my report for an account that is past the SOL. Is this allowed? Because of their pull I was advised to wait another 3 months before I get my mortgage. Grrr... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insomniac Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 The theory is that they are trying to look for you.Of course, they're also trying to peek into your financial situation as much as possible to discover other credit, any assets, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgip2000 Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 What happenes when you have a FA on your CR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Is it legal for a collection company to pull your credit without your approval? 3 CA pulled my credit last month (I do have accounts in collection with them) and I never authorized them to do so. Is this some kind of Violation?Hello fellow Washingtonian!Yes it's legal for them to pull your report...because the account they are collecting on was a credit transaction (credit card, auto loan, etc) right? Most likely. The FCRA allows pulls without the consumer's knowledge for the "...review or collection of an account..."The cool thing about being a Washingtonian (besides the weather, scenery, and awesome professional sports teams) is this: WA State Consumer Protection Act - Chapter 19.86 RCW. There are more stringent standards for collection agencies to follow, and if they don't, you can sue them for $2K per violation. To put that in perspective, the FDCPA allows only $1K per lawsuit. Are your CAs licensed to collect in WA? Check out the link in my siggy to find out. Is your collection notice itemized, form the original creditor to the point it is now? It has to be! (RCW 19.16.250)...Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turumbar Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Thats another thing, they have never sent me anything trying to collect on these. They're almost over SOL and i'm trying to wait it out. Bunch of turds, they'll probably just sell em or re-age it.My girlfriend does have a collection with VRM, who are not licensed in WA. What do she do then? Do you just tell them to screw off? That would be sweet.I'll look around, see what I can find. You guys all kick some serious butt, don't want to waist any of your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andbowd Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 thanks I got this same problem with themm.AB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Thats another thing, they have never sent me anything trying to collect on these. They're almost over SOL and i'm trying to wait it out. Bunch of turds, they'll probably just sell em or re-age it.My girlfriend does have a collection with VRM, who are not licensed in WA. What do she do then? Do you just tell them to screw off? That would be sweet.I'll look around, see what I can find. You guys all kick some serious butt, don't want to waist any of your time.You're going to want to make 10000% sure that they are, in fact, not licenced. But once you do find out that they're not, perhaps it would be good ammo for an AG complaint? Our AG isn't the best, but their office responds to me within a week or so...which isn't too bad. If it does get to the point of her suing them, they can be forced to return ALL monies received from WA residents during the tiems they didn't have a licence, according to RCW 19.16.430:RCW 19.16.430Violations — Operating agency without a license — Penalty — Return of fees or compensation. (1) Any person who knowingly operates as a collection agency or out-of-state collection agency without a license or knowingly aids and abets such violation is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year or both. (2) Any person who operates as a collection agency or out-of-state collection agency in the state of Washington without a valid license issued pursuant to this chapter shall not charge or receive any fee or compensation on any moneys received or collected while operating without a license or on any moneys received or collected while operating with a license but received or collected as a result of his or its acts as a collection agency or out-of-state collection agency while not licensed hereunder. All such moneys collected or received shall be forthwith returned to the owners of the accounts on which the moneys were paid.[1994 c 195 § 10; 1973 1st ex.s.Additionally, check this part out:RCW 19.16.450Violation of RCW 19.16.250 — Additional penalty. If an act or practice in violation of RCW 19.16.250 is committed by a licensee or an employee of a licensee in the collection of a claim, neither the licensee, the customer of the licensee, nor any other person who may thereafter legally seek to collect on such claim shall ever be allowed to recover any interest, service charge, attorneys' fees, collection costs, delinquency charge, or any other fees or charges otherwise legally chargeable to the debtor on such claim: PROVIDED, That any person asserting the claim may nevertheless recover from the debtor the amount of the original claim or obligation.And this is your ace in the hole:Any person who is injured in his or her business or property by a violation of RCW 19.86.020, 19.86.030, 19.86.040, 19.86.050, or 19.86.060, or any person so injured because he or she refuses to accede to a proposal for an arrangement which, if consummated, would be in violation of RCW 19.86.030, 19.86.040, 19.86.050, or 19.86.060, may bring a civil action in the superior court to enjoin further violations, to recover the actual damages sustained by him or her, or both, together with the costs of the suit, including a reasonable attorney's fee, and the court may in its discretion, increase the award of damages to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages sustained: PROVIDED, That such increased damage award for violation of RCW 19.86.020 may not exceed ten thousand dollars: PROVIDED FURTHER, That such person may bring a civil action in the district court to recover his or her actual damages, except for damages which exceed the amount specified in RCW 3.66.020, and the costs of the suit, including reasonable attorney's fees. The district court may, in its discretion, increase the award of damages to an amount not more than three times the actual damages sustained, but such increased damage award shall not exceed the amount specified in RCW 3.66.020. For the purpose of this section, "person" shall include the counties, municipalities, and all political subdivisions of this state. Whenever the state of Washington is injured, directly or indirectly, by reason of a violation of RCW 19.86.030, 19.86.040, 19.86.050, or 19.86.060, it may sue therefor in the superior court to recover the actual damages sustained by it, whether direct or indirect, and to recover the costs of the suit including a reasonable attorney's fee.RCW 19.86.020 is the statute they've violated by violating RCW 19.16.110 (not having licence)Cool eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 I have another version of this. I had a CA pull my report for an account that is past the SOL. Is this allowed? Because of their pull I was advised to wait another 3 months before I get my mortgage. Grrr...A debt being past the SOL does not (in most statess) mean that the account isn't "owed" or that the creditor can't continue to try and collect (such as looking at your credit report to see where you live, gage your financial situation, etc).All the debt being past SOL means is that you have an affirmative defense if they sue you.Also as I understand it, having mortgage lenders pulling your credit often triggers CAs to start pulling as well because they know if you are looking for a mortgage they may get you to pay them just to get them to leave you alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingfor700 Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 OKay, I get the fact that they can always pull my credit for an SOL account, but does that give them PP to pull it. I had 3 different collection agencies pull it 3 different months in a round. It almost makes it better just to pay the dang thing off. I know, I know...don't do that. But that was the biggest problem on my credit report - "The number of inquiries on the consumers credit file has adversely affected the credit score." Is there any way to stop all the madness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Is it legal for a collection company to pull your credit without your approval?Collections DOES give them Permissable Purpose. Being past the SOL does NOT change that. If the account is beyond the reporting period it cannot be pasted to your reports, but the inquiry is not illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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