How can I know if this is fraud, or a zombie debt?

[Afri-Tex]

Hi there,

 

I am new here and have just spent the last several hours reading through various searched topics and "newbie" posts trying to find the answer to my question.  I hope it is okay to post this here, and that this isn't one you've covered a LOT, but it didn't come up in my searches.

 

My (new) husband and I are still each recovering from the financial aftermath of our respective divorces - his in 2011 and mine in 2012. We are finally standing on two feet in our day to day finances and have decided to get to work on cleaning up our credit scores in order for us to buy a second car next year.

 

We're very new to this and signed up for CreditKarma.  I have made great strides in cleaning things up there and we've seen a small improvement in our scores already.

 

In going through the items listed under his collections we have found two entries with "opened" dates that just don't make sense:  

 

The first is a DirectTV entry through Convergent for $211 dated June 24, 2014 as a start date on EQ and TU.

I know for a fact that we did not have DirectTV in 2014 and I was about to file a dispute.  But my husband thinks he may have had a DirectTV account in his name during his previous marriage, but as his ex-wife moved out of their home and had all utilities disconnected/transferred we cannot be sure if this is related to that?  His ex has proven herself to be very skilled in the fraud department and their divorce was very tumultuous I am told.  So I wonder if it is possible that she transferred their DirectTV service to her new address, and, now that she is remarried and has moved, neglected to pay the final bill?  

 

We have the same issue with ATT through Enhanced Recovery Corp in the amount of $125 which shows an open date of Feb 28, 2014 on both EQ and TU.   We were living together at that time and I know for a fact that we never had ATT service in any capacity in 2014.  Again, my husband was not the person responsible for bill-paying in his previous marriage, but he thinks his ex wife had an ATT cellphone and since he was the breadwinner, all of their accounts were in his name.

 

My question is this... how can I tell if this is another of his ex's fraudulent games, or could this be a zombie debt that has been resurrected by a JDB?  

 

Then regarding next steps... I am assuming I need to send a Debt Validation letter to both Convergent and Enhanced Recovery asking them for all the details of these debts - I guess this is one way to see when/where/how these accounts came to be?

 

I appreciate all help/advice.  Thank you!!

[Afri-Tex]

Actually... I can't figure out how to delete this post, but I just found all the information I needed in the forum...  It really does pay to try phrasing your question multiple ways.