Is it me or CA's dont beleive in FCRA 623 (a)(8)

[nolove4collections]

OK i sent out a letter to ACCB Collections in Dec 26 2007 asking for an Investigation in regards to a medical bill thats on my wifes credit report. The bill is $400. I sent this letter Certified Mail i got the green card back in the mail they got it and signed for it on Dec 27 2007. Here is what i wrote in my letter.

Nolove4collections

Palm Bay 32905

ACCB

975 Eyster Blvd

Rockledge, FL 32955

12/26/2007

RE Acct# 1123456789

To whom it may concern,

I’m sending this letter to your company because I’m asking for an investigation per FCRA 623(a)(8) “ABILITY OF CONSUMER TO DISPUTE INFORMATION DIRECTLY WITH FURNISHER.” The reason I’m disputing this account with your company is because this account does not belong to me. I disputed this account with Experian due to the fact that this account does not belong to me. On October 2006 your company verified this account with Experian. So since you feel this account belongs to me I am very curious as to what kinds of "records" you may have for this alleged account. Under the new FACTA laws, you are required to conduct an investigation on this account, and I am now requesting it. I am reprinting the legal text from the FCRA for your legal staff.

§ 623. (a)(8) ABILITY OF CONSUMER TO DISPUTE INFORMATION DIRECTLY WITH FURNISHER-

(A) IN GENERAL- The Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Commission shall jointly prescribe regulations that shall identify the circumstances under which a furnisher shall be required to reinvestigate a dispute concerning the accuracy of information contained in a consumer report on the consumer, based on a direct request of a consumer.

( CONSIDERATIONS- In prescribing regulations under subparagraph (A), the agencies shall weigh--

(i) the benefits to consumers with the costs on furnishers and the credit reporting system;

(ii) the impact on the overall accuracy and integrity of consumer reports of any such requirements;

(iii) whether direct contact by the consumer with the furnisher would likely result in the most expeditious resolution of any such dispute; and

(iv) The potential impact on the credit reporting process if credit repair organizations, as defined in section 403(3), including entities that would be a credit repair organization, but for section 403(3)((i), are able to circumvent the prohibition in subparagraph (G).

© APPLICABILITY- Subparagraphs (D) through (G) shall apply in any circumstance identified under the regulations promulgated under subparagraph (A).

(D) SUBMITTING A NOTICE OF DISPUTE- A consumer who seeks to dispute the accuracy of information shall provide a dispute notice directly to such person at the address specified by the person for such notices that--

(i) identifies the specific information that is being disputed;

(ii) explains the basis for the dispute; and

(iii) Includes all supporting documentation required by the furnisher to substantiate the basis of the dispute.

(E) DUTY OF PERSON AFTER RECEIVING NOTICE OF DISPUTE- After receiving a notice of dispute from a consumer pursuant to subparagraph (D), the person that provided the information in dispute to a consumer reporting agency shall--

(i) conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information;

(ii) review all relevant information provided by the consumer with the notice;

(iii) complete such person's investigation of the dispute and report the results of the investigation to the consumer before the expiration of the period under section 611(a)(1) within which a consumer reporting agency would be required to complete its action if the consumer had elected to dispute the information under that section; and

(iv) if the investigation finds that the information reported was inaccurate, promptly notify each consumer reporting agency to which the person furnished the inaccurate information of that determination and provide to the agency any correction to that information that is necessary to make the information provided by the person accurate.

(F) FRIVOLOUS OR IRRELEVANT DISPUTE-

(i) IN GENERAL- This paragraph shall not apply if the person receiving a notice of a dispute from a consumer reasonably determines that the dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, including--

(I) by reason of the failure of a consumer to provide sufficient information to investigate the disputed information; or

(II) the submission by a consumer of a dispute that is substantially the same as a dispute previously submitted by or for the consumer, either directly to the person or through a consumer reporting agency under subsection (, with respect to which the person has already performed the person's duties under this paragraph or subsection (, as applicable.

(ii) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION- Upon making any determination under clause (i) that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant, the person shall notify the consumer of such determination not later than 5 business days after making such determination, by mail or, if authorized by the consumer for that purpose, by any other means available to the person.

(iii) CONTENTS OF NOTICE- A notice under clause (ii) shall include--

(I) the reasons for the determination under clause (i); and

(II) Identification of any information required to investigate the disputed information, which may consist of a standardized form describing the general nature of such information.

and

§ 623. ( Duties of furnishers of information upon notice of dispute.

(1) In general. After receiving notice pursuant to section 611(a)(2) [§ 1681i] of a dispute with regard to the completeness or accuracy of any information provided by a person to a consumer reporting agency, the person shall

(A) conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information;

( review all relevant information provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to section 611(a)(2) [§ 1681i];

© report the results of the investigation to the consumer reporting agency;

(D) if the investigation finds that the information is incomplete or inaccurate, report those results to all other consumer reporting agencies to which the person furnished the information and that compile and maintain files on consumers on a nationwide basis; and

(E) if an item of information disputed by a consumer is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1), for purposes of reporting to a consumer reporting agency only, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation promptly--

(i) modify that item of information;

(ii) delete that item of information; or

(iii) Permanently block the reporting of that item of information.

I will seek legal action under § FCRA 623(7)( for violations of the FCRA if you do not comply and respond to me with the results of the investigation in 30 days. In order to clear up this matter, I would like to see, a payment history from the Original Creditor to see how you calculated what you say I owe or a contract from the Original Creditor with my signature. If you don't respond with the results of the investigation (as is required per the FCRA), I will assume you have no documentation and therefore you were negligent in providing the credit bureaus with accurate information. At this point, you would also be in violation of the FCRA merely for not responding within the 30-day period. I enclosed documentation of my Experian credit report for this alleged account you claim is mine. So you have 2 options. Option 1 you delete this account from my Experian report. Or option 2 prove that this account is mine. I sent this letter Certified Mail so I can keep track of all correspondence. I will give your company 30days from the date you receive my letter to respond.

Best Regards

Nolove4collections

Ok here is the thing the account is my wifes but i want to see if they have any records on this account wich i think they dont because this debt is like 4yrs old. Ive check my wifes Experian credit report everyday for any changes since they received my letter. It stills says on Experian that this account was verified on 2006 and remains unchanged. Everything still looks the same the only thing that changed is the status it says collections as of Jan 2008. So basically they not going to Investigate this account i havent even got a your dispute is Frivolous or Irrelivant letter. I havent got nothing back form ACCB they have less than 4days left. Do you guys think that they dont care about the $1,000 fine or there not aware of it. I have an collection attorney on standbye for this case. I know they have to respond in some way or another am i right.

[Rick9972]

Well to sum it up, the FCRA should be called "The Debt Collectors Protection Act". If you read the FCRA very carefully you will find that you have no private right of action for any violation of 623 except 623 b, and then you only have a right of action if you dispute through the CRA's and if you can prove they did not do a "reasonable" investigation.

FCRA also contains lang. that preempts most STate laws also.

So basically CA's are not overly concerned with the FCRA, it is really their best friend. FDCPA on the other hand is very useful.

[ShortBus]

I don't know I'd agree with that assessment. See Dornhecker v. Ameritech Corp..

the court explained that... Congress expressly intended the Act to coexist with state consumer protections laws.

Also... in that case, the court found that 623( is privately actionable partially because other provisions of the act provide for it.

Where are you getting the information that conflicts with my research? I'm interested in getting it right because I'm planning to take the FCRA baseball bat to AFNI shortly.

[Rick9972]

I don't know I'd agree with that assessment. See Dornhecker v. Ameritech Corp..

Also... in that case, the court found that 623( is privately actionable partially because other provisions of the act provide for it.

Where are you getting the information that conflicts with my research? I'm interested in getting it right because I'm planning to take the FCRA baseball bat to AFNI shortly.

Ok here is the three preemption parts of the FCRA:

§ 610. Conditions and form of disclosure to consumers [15 U.S.C. § 1681h]

(e) Limitation of liability. Except as provided in sections 616 and 617 [§§ 1681n and 1681o] of this title, no consumer may bring any action or proceeding in the nature of defamation, invasion of privacy, or negligence with respect to the reporting of information against any consumer reporting agency, any user of information, or any person who furnishes information to a consumer reporting agency, based on information disclosed pursuant to section 609, 610, or 615 [§§ 1681g, 1681h, or 1681m] of this title or based on information disclosed by a user of a consumer report to or for a consumer against whom the user has taken adverse action, based in whole or in part on the report, except as to false information furnished with malice or willful intent to injure such consumer.

§ 623. Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies [15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2]

© LIMITATION ON LIABILITY- Except as provided in section 621©(1)(, sections 616 and 617 do not apply to any violation of--

(1) subsection (a) of this section, including any regulations issued thereunder;

(2) subsection (e) of this section, except that nothing in this paragraph shall limit, expand, or otherwise affect liability under section 616 or 617, as applicable, for violations of subsection ( of this section; or

(3) subsection (e) of section 615.

(d) LIMITATION ON ENFORCEMENT- The provisions of law described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection © (other than with respect to the exception described in paragraph (2) of subsection ©) shall be enforced exclusively as provided under section 621 by the Federal agencies and officials and the State officials identified in section 621.

§ 625. Relation to State laws [15 U.S.C. § 1681t]

( General exceptions. No requirement or prohibition may be imposed under the laws of any State

(1) with respect to any subject matter regulated under

F) section 623 [§ 1681s-2], relating to the responsibilities of persons who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies,

As clearly shown 623 s-2b allows private right of action. If you read 623s-2b you will find that it only applies to disputes filed with the CRA. Thus your only private right of action is if a CA does not investigate a dispute you filed with the CRA. This section does not cover direct disputes.

As to State laws, up until recently the Federal courts have held that the FCRA completely preempted any State court claims. This belief is slowly changing as evidenced by the Case of Stafford vs Cross Country Bank. (here is a story about that ruling and contains a case that allows State claims under certian conditions) (Stafford vs Cross Country established the Temporal view of the FCRA preemptions)

http://www.infinitecredit.com/forums/attachments/credit-repair-forum/477d1164337977-fcra-actual-damages-caselaw-fcra-limits.pdf.

Also here is a opinion that does a pretty good job of explaining the jumbled mess FCRA is:

Nelski v. Ameritech

Not Reported in N.W.2d, 2004 WL 1460001

Mich.App.,2004.

June 29, 2004

Also look at Defense Eighteen in a opinion:

http://www.myfaircredit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8714&sid=a55935bf1faf84603d29698e0fe96567

[lovebug5]

Ay, Ay, Ay.

Y'all are going to make me pull out all of my law school books, ain't ya? LOL!

[ShortBus]

Excellent! Thanks for the resources.

However, wouldn't you interpret 610(e) to mean that furnishers are exempted from common law tortious claims but not action brought specifically under the FCRA?

[Rick9972]

Excellent! Thanks for the resources.

However, wouldn't you interpret 610(e) to mean that furnishers are exempted from common law tortious claims but not action brought specifically under the FCRA?

623s-2c1 exempts furnishers from action brought specifically under FCRA.

[nolove4collections]

623s-2c1 exempts furnishers from action brought specifically under FCRA.

So let me get this right. I cant sue ACCB collections for $1,000. I thought this was some kind of FCRA violation. Man im so confused now on this site it says you can dispute with the OC wich in my case its the CA since thats the only company furnshing this information on Experian. I know i did everything right. I just need to know now can i sue or not. I will post this question on the collections forums see what other people say. I so want to know this answer.

[Rick9972]

So let me get this right. I cant sue ACCB collections for $1,000. I thought this was some kind of FCRA violation. Man im so confused now on this site it says you can dispute with the OC wich in my case its the CA since thats the only company furnshing this information on Experian. I know i did everything right. I just need to know now can i sue or not. I will post this question on the collections forums see what other people say. I so want to know this answer.

Ok time for a "do over". As of right now you have nothing to sue over. If you want to know if the CA has access to your wife's records for this debt. Call the doctor's office and ask about the bill and ask for a statement. If they provide it, that means the CA has it also. *shrugs* YOu may get lucky and the info be gone now, but I have never heard of a Medical not being able to supply info.(Lord knows I have hoped so on more than one occassion. Almost all my negatives are medical)

A couple of words of advice. Consider suing as the last step in any process to repair your credit. Try anything and everything first. Secondly, CA's probably get a 100 letters per day, threatening legal action. They know what a legit threat is and is not, so next time know what you are talking about before you write a letter like the one you posted here.

Alot of us post our letters for comment prior to sending them, I would suggest that you do the same for a while. Credit Repair is not a short process you have embarked on, so do not be in a hurry, it will not help and will probably hurt you.

Read, learn and ask questions. Do not expect answers to your questions instantly, there are hundreds of people on these forums and each of us know a little about everything and most know alot about one area.

When you post a question, people try to answer to the best of their ability, sometimes the best of their ability is wrong. This comes about for many reasons the most common is that their experience/situation was slightly differant than yours and the rules were applied differantly. Any answer you get to your questions may not be the whole truth. Use the answers you get as a starting point for your own research, and reach your "own" conclusions.

These forums are not intended to fix your credit, they are intended to provide help for you to learn how to fix your own credit. You will do this by reading and researching the issues that effect you. The knowledge that you gain, will empower you for the rest of your life.

Good luck and we are here to help.