I'm having problems with NCO Fin/99. I had an electric bill from 2001 that went to collections. It originally went delinquent 7/2001. I paid this account on 4/28/06 thru NCO epayments as I was told to by Niagara Mohawk (I had called them to get the account number and balance) I called Niagara Mohawk a week later and was told they received the payment on 5/2/06 and they would notify the collection agency. It was assigned to Mecantile Adjustment Bureau, Bank of America (which is NCO incognito, the address is the same) and NCO. Mecantile is showing account as "paid after charge off" but the NCO is still showing "UNPAID" plus the date of status is showing 11/2005 which makes it look like a more recent collection. What steps should I take to fix this? I disputed it on experian but it came back "verified". Can I take legal action against NCO for re-aging and reporting false information the the credit bureaus ? Thanks in advance for any help Skip
Is it showing a balance, and UNPAID? If they are claiming that "Merchantile" is handling it, then the NCO might show $0, and sold. Neither item should show as having an unpaid balance. If it is erroneous, and you disputed it, and they verified it, it appears to me that you can take legal action for reporting erroneously. Their excuse at this point would probably be "bona fide error", or "the correction was in the works" after they quickly fix it on getting your summons. Get your documentation in order to show the payment was made. Get your CRA dispute investigation results and paper copies of your credit reports to show that the error is still there. Also get letters from Niagara and Merchantile to confirm that they are showing paid. Although you believe Merchantile and NCO are one and the same, they have represented that they are different entities. You can't be expected to know who is who. You saw an error on your reports, and you disputed thru the CRA, as allowed by law, in order to get it corrected. It is their job to maintain systems to report accurately, including handling disputes thru CRAs. You are just a stupid consumer. You shouldn't have to unwind corporate shell games to assert your rights. (I am not an attorney. The above is my understanding from reading FCRA.)
Bank of America (when did they become a collection agency) Management Adjustment Bureau and NCO Financial Systems 100 Constitution Ave. Upper Darby, PA 19082 There must be a whole clan of collection agencies in that building .... hmm.... or is it just NCO under various names .... hmmm ......
If they are in fact all NCO, then one hand has no business not knowing that the other hand was paid. If NCO assigned the account to Mercantile for collection and you paid Mercantile, then NCO should be aware their agent was paid, and Mercantile was responsible for notifying them. If they are different unrelated entities, and Mercantile owns the debt, then NCO has no business verifying as "unpaid" an account they are no longer own or have the right to collect. They should be showing it as sold, with $0 balance. If the debt is paid, and they are reporting it as unpaid after a dispute thru the CRA, they are collecting on an already paid debt and misrepresenting the legal status of the debt. Have you talked to an attorney that handles FDCPA and FCRA violations?
I talked to the collections supervisor at Niagara Mohawk on Friday.Told him the situation. He said he would send me a statement that account is paid. (in fact I overpaid $1.00) LOL He said to send copied to NCO. He also told me it was sent to Mercantile in 4/2003, and they were paid. So NCO had to come sometime after that. And from what he told me, they have no claim anymore. Here's my credit report entries ......... On my EQ report the entry is : Bank Of America ..... date assigned 8/2005 ..... original creditor Niagara Mohawk .... Balance owed $212 On my TU report the entry is : Mercantile Adjustment Bureau ..... date placed for collection 6/2003 ..original creditor Niagara Mohawk ..... balance $0 ..... payment after charge-off NCO Financial ..... date place for collection 8/2005 .... original creditor Niagara Mohawk ..... Balance $212 On my EX report the entry is : NCO FIN/99 ..... date opened 8/2005 ....original creditor Niagara Mohawk balance due $212 I'm about ready to yank my hair out with this situation .... i have two years and 6 months before this falls off reports but I'm looking to try to buy a house within the next year and this is hurting me big time. Flusterated in PA
Never, ever wake a sleeping lion. You've been tip toeing past him for 5 years, what made you suddenly wake him? You only had 2 more years and it would have fallen off your report legally. Now your account is re-aged which is legal because, after all, you brought unnecessary attention to it. Luckily for you, the original date of the delinquency is still on your account. That is what you will refer to when you contact the CA's in 2 years and ask them to remove this neg. As for now you're stuck with it.
