sjmp Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Since April 07 I have been sending certified letters to a large collection agency asking them to please verify the debt. I specifically and repeatedly have asked for ALL of the charges that have lead to this debt amount. What do I do now. I have contact the gov with letters asking them to help. I have send the three credit reporting agenct letters with copies and asked them for help. They said it was verified but would not provide any details. This collection agecny refuses to respond since they have tripled the balance on this debt since it was closed by the original creditor. What can I do to get this taken care of? Thanks,SJMP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetscarbie Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Maybe it's time to file some complaints with the BBB and AG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Since April 07 I have been sending certified letters to a large collection agency asking them to please verify the debt. I specifically and repeatedly have asked for ALL of the charges that have lead to this debt amount. What do I do now. I have contact the gov with letters asking them to help. I have send the three credit reporting agenct letters with copies and asked them for help. They said it was verified but would not provide any details. This collection agecny refuses to respond since they have tripled the balance on this debt since it was closed by the original creditor. What can I do to get this taken care of? Thanks,SJMPA lot more info would be helpful such as...What exactly are you trying to accomplish...what does getting it "take care of" mean for you?Is this collection agency actively trying to collect?Is the debt within SOL?Is it your debt?Is there somethign actually incorrect/wrong with what is being reported to teh bureaus?Is it the CA, the OC or both who are reporting?Has the CA sent you nothing at all or have they sent "something" but not the specific informarion you've requested?When did you send your initial DV (meaning, was it timely)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmp Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 A lot more info would be helpful such as...What exactly are you trying to accomplish...what does getting it "take care of" mean for you? Iwant to resolve it. I dont know if its valid or not. I have asked for information and recieved notthingIs this collection agency actively trying to collect? No. They never got in touch with me, when I saw it on my credit report I initiated contact with themIs the debt within SOL? Ilive in NY and it was charged off in 04 so yes its within SOLIs it your debt? No it is not. I asked them who the OC was.I called them and they said we cannot tell you anything go back to UnifundIs there somethign actually incorrect/wrong with what is being reported to teh bureaus? Yeah it is a 11k debt that I never had. I never even had a CC over 2k limit. Is it the CA, the OC or both who are reporting? Just the CAHas the CA sent you nothing at all or have they sent "something" but not the specific informarion you've requested? nothing at allWhen did you send your initial DV (meaning, was it timely)? I initiated the call. Got the information and sent them letter requesting validation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Putting aside the credit bureau issues for moment, understand that a collection agency is not required by law to ever actually try to collect from a debtor nor are they required to respond to a request for validation, whether it is timely or not.In your case, while you may well be able to successfully argue in court that your DV was timely, the CA is free to take the position that your DV was not – only a judge can say otherwise and make it stick.Had they chosen/eventually choose to respond at all, what the law requires for “validation” is very minimal – meaning that while it’s reasonable to ask for the information you see, they are not required to provide it.Also, while it may not be your debt, simply never having a CC with a credit limit in excess of $2K is not proof that it isn’t your debt…if you have/had any CCs which are now in default, the balance you legally owe could be many times more than the “credit limit” (even were it a “secured CC”).Continuing to hammer away with letters and complaints will probably be as fruitless as in the future as they have been in the past…short of filing a lawsuit, there isn’t a whole lot you can do. Should you choose to file a suit, you could get your questions answered through the discovery process.As far as your credit report goes, with enough effort you may be able to get the tradeline removed (of have enough violations to support a lawsuit on the basis of the FCRA) but that will not really deal with the underlying debt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmp Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Robert,How do I file a lawsuit. This company is based in Ohio. I am in NY. I do not have any outstanding debts. My entire credit history is in order. How come we have to respond to them, but they have no legal obligation to respond to us? This is actually rediculous. They can report us to the credit bureau's but we cannot get them to acknoledge our requests for information. So if this is not my CC and they have no proof or contract that I ever signed with the original OC - what should I do. Letters are fruitless. So what next?Thanks again. I do appreciated your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Well to be fair, we don't HAVE to respond to them either - we are always free to ignore them completely if we wish; which forces them to either give up or go to court.There are any number of folks on here who can direct you about filing a suite - I'm not one of them.My best advice woudl be to seek out an attorney who is familar with this kind of case and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovebug5 Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I agree with Robert 100%...And I think his response to this post is one of the most informative and straight-to-the-point responses I've read in a long time.Before you go diving head-first into the idea of filing a lawsuit, do your research. People have this idea that they can get lawsuit happy pretty easily, which isn't necessarily the case. In order to have a successful suit in court you need quite the paper trail of documentation to support your claim...That being said.Although the DV process has a tendency to give people the wrong idea about what can and cannot be done, there are other options available to you. If this CA is reporting information to your credit report, they are considered a "furnisher of information". Them being a "furnisher of information" to the CRA's gives you the option of using the FCRA to your benefit, and requesting an investigation into the account. Through the FCRA, they are required by law to either deliver investigation results to you within 30-days of receipt of your letter or notify you within 5-days of receipt of your letter that they are deeming your request frivolous and therefore not investigating. Read Section 623 of the FCRA, "Responsibilities of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agenicies". Pay particular attention to subsection (a)(8), which details your ability as a consumer to dispute information directly with the data furnisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahntara Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 sjmp: You get to choose which route to take with this. You can sue, dispute, DV, bang your head against the wall, request an investigation and probably a thousand other things.If you suspect this is not your debt, then send the documentation required by the FCRA 1681c-2, subsection 605B (reference 1681a, subsection 603(q) for the definition of, and reason for, a proper ID Theft report). Send this to all CRA's and the CA and be done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingifr Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 To the OP:Send thema summons for the FDCPA violation of continued collection activity without Validation of the Debt, and let them ignore THAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I don't belive there is an FDCPA violation.If a CA is already reporting something and you dispute it/request validation, at least if it's an untimely request, then all the CA really has to do is include the notation that the debt is disputed - they don't dont' have to remove the tradeline. I believe things change if the DV was sent timely and/or if they started reporting after receiveng the DV and they don't respond.There may or may not be an FCRA violation here.However, whatever violations may or may not exist, they are fairly meaningless unless the consumer takes it to court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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