Creditor Name Change

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by Bebetter, Oct 15, 2016.

  1. Bebetter

    Bebetter New Member

    I'm in the process of trying to pay some old (but still within the statute of limitations for collections for my state) debts and clean up my credit, but I noticed on my Experian report that a Credit Union, that I had an old account with that went to collections, had changed their name. It happened between the time the account went to collections (about 3 years ago) and now. The C/U still reports this debt under their NEW name. My question is: Can that old account, under their old name, still be listed as an account under their new name?
     
  2. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    If the creditor's name changed, it should only be listed under the new name.

    An account could theoretically be listed three times.

    OC - Original Creditor
    CA1 - CA, JDB, or Attorney
    CA2 - Some CAs buy accounts but assign the account to another CA to collect.

    Each account could be listed on the CRA report.

    So, do you know that the company's name changed, or is it possible that they assigned the account for collection?
     
  3. Bebetter

    Bebetter New Member

    jam237, thanks for the reply. I dug a little deeper and found the credit union did in fact change its name well after the account had gone to collection, even though, to this day, I don't see on my CR where a CA ever took possession of the account, nor has a CA ever contacted me (by either phone, letter, or email) about that account. I intend to try to repay all the delinquent accounts on my CR, but if this is something that should not be on there to begin with, then I'd rather use the funds to put toward another account.
     
  4. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    If the OC is on the report twice, I would do the following.

    Send the OC a letter (to both names and addresses on the CRA reports) letting them know that they are reporting the same account twice, under both their old name and their new name.

    The second that I know that they received both letters, I would dispute both accounts with the CRAs as duplicate accounts. (The CRA dispute invokes the civil penalties for the dispute.)
     
  5. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    Welcome to Creditnet Bebetter! Love the user name by the way :)

    Jam's strategy sounds solid to me. The OC shouldn't be reporting under both names, and duplicate accounts are generally pretty easy to handle through a CRA dispute. Write the OC directly as Jam suggests, and then dispute both accounts through the CRAs. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
     
  6. Bebetter

    Bebetter New Member

    jam237 and JoshuaHeckathorn, thanks for your advice and the warm welcome! I'm really trying to live up to my username. I'll let you know how it goes, thanks again!!
     
  7. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    No problem at all. Keep working hard at it, and I'm sure good things will happen. Best of luck!
     

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