Disputing a TL on my credit report from Midland

[spacemandave]

Hi all.  I have been a lurker for years and want to start off thanking everyone for the great resource they have been in the past.

I have an item on my CR which is from a JDB (Midland).  This is an old debt that is past the SOL in TX, so I'm not afraid of waking up sleeping dogs.  I would like to try to get this off my CR.  Midland has purchased the debt and is reporting it with adding junk fees and interest.  I'm planning on attacking this in the following manner:

1) Dispute the entry with the CRA's.  I will do this on the grounds of the amount.  Am I correct that absent a judgment, Midland is not allowed to add fees and interest on the account?  I fully expect that this will be verified.

Now comes my question: Can I treat Midland as an OC for a 623 dispute?  If they refuse to change the owed amount back to the purchased amount, do I have an FCRA violation?

Midland is not actively attempting to collect on this debt.  I am expecting the result of this being a 1099-C.  If they 1099-C me for an amount greater than the original debt that they purchased, do I have a FDCPA violation?

 

This debt is due to roll off my CR in Aug of 2014,
 

 

[nascar]

Under certain circumstances, a debt collector can continue to add fees and interest as provided in the underlying agreement. Midland, however, customarily adds fees and interest as a matter of course, not based upon the underlying agreement. Reason being, they often don't have the underlying agreement and therefore have no way of knowing what type of fees and interest are authorized.

 

With respect to a 623 dispute, there is no requirement that the dispute be limited to the original creditor. The statute allows you to dispute directly to the "data furnisher," whomever that may be.

 

Finally, you're much better off sticking with FDCPA rather than FCRA. You must take certain steps in a certain sequence in order to establish an FCRA claim and they are much harder to win than FDCPA. If Midland is providing incorrect credit information to anyone, including credit reporting agencies, they are violating the FDCPA. You don't need the FCRA nail them for credit report violations.

[spacemandave]

Thanks for the quick response nascar. 

 

Just for my education, is the FCRA aimed at the CRA's rather than the source of the information?

[BV80]

Thanks for the quick response nascar. 

 

Just for my education, is the FCRA aimed at the CRA's rather than the source of the information?

 

@spacemandave

 

The FCRA is aimed at both CRAs and furnishers of information.   A number of the sections in the act are geared just to CRAs while some are geared toward the furnishers.  For instance, 1681s-2( outlines what a furnisher must do if that furnisher receives notice from a CRA that a consumer has disputed information.  If the furnisher doesn't comply with that section, you can sue the furnisher under that section.

 

Just a note: If you read the 623 method at the top of the page, it's specified that the first time you dispute inaccurate information, that dispute should be made with the CRAs.  The reason for that is because of the language in 1682s-2(.   As I stated, that section specifies that the first time a furnisher is notified about a dispute, that notification MUST come from the credit reporting agency.   The FCRA states that a consumer has a private right of action against a furnisher under that section.

 

1681s-2(a) allows you to dispute information directly with the furnisher.  That's ok as long as your dispute directly with the furnisher is not the first time the furnisher knew of your dispute.  The reason is because we have no private right of action under 1681s-2(a).  If you dispute directly with the furnisher without having disputed first with the CRAs, you can't sue the furnisher if they don't correct the information or delete the entry.