Amount owed decreased on CR but I didn't make a payment.

[TexanNCali]

Hi All,

 

I have started my road to credit repair. After sending out my first round of disputes, I am happy to report that a few negatives have come off. However, I noticed that a collection balance from Southwest Credit Systems has decreased from $766 to $466 as I received an updated credit report showing the removal of an unrelated dispute. I have not attempted to dispute the Southwest Credit Systems collection. I now have 2 EQ CR's - one from Nov. and an updated one from Dec. showing a decrease in the balance. I have not made a payment. The CA is reporting the wrong amount. This account is also showing the wrong OC.

 

The OC is listed as Cingular Wireless but my account was with AT&T. To my knowledge, Cingular did merge with AT&T but all payments and contracts were with AT&T. I called AT&T to inquire about this collection because I thought the account had been paid in full. I was told that I owed $300 for an early cancellation fee. Previously, I was told the cancellation fee would be waived because I only activated 1 of the 2 lines. Since then AT&T allowed Sprint to port the number associated with this account to their network. I assumed everything was ok. Apparently, they didn't waive the fee after all. AT&T claims that the account has not been sold to Southwest Credit Systems. Maybe Southwest Credit Systems is collecting on behalf of AT&T?

 

I asked AT&T to send an invoice for the amount owed but have not received it. My question is should I dispute the balance as reporting incorrectly since the amount is changing from month to month? Do I pay AT&T or Southwest? Should I dispute the original creditor as inaccurate? Or both? I know the balance Southwest Credit Systems claims I owe is inaccurate but I'm not sure if I have enough evidence with the 2 EQ CR's showing a fluctuation in the balance. I am still within the SOL for this collection. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I know that before I pay anything I need to arrange a PFD and insure everything is in writing.

 

Thanks

[admin]

You've disputed the accounts with the credit bureaus, yes?  It's time to send a new one.  The order of disputes should be "not mine", "never late", "account balance wrong", "original creditor wrong", "date of last activity is wrong", "date account was opened is wrong".

 

You should also try the 623 method (link at the top of the page).  

[TexanNCali]

I have not disputed this account so I will start there. Thanks