Thanks for the info guys. Paid cash for the entire amount of my car, but haven't gotten the loan yet to an unforseen setback. I have 60 days to get the loan, however, and plan to do that soon. A few questions. I called Northland Group today, a collection agency that holds a Paypal account of mine. I have been in back and forth correspondence with them, and the basically keep sending me the same settlement offer of 1/4 the amount that I owe. Thats great, but it doesn't state the additional terms I want regarding an NDA agreement. So I spoke with a lady who was probably the most helpful of anyone I have talked to at a collection agency. How much of what she says is true, I don't know, and thats where I'm looking for clarification. She was in the dark about why I wanted the NDA, so I explained it to her, and she says the credit agency wouldn't contact them, they would contact the parent company, LNVN Funding...once I paid off the debt, it would be updated as settled and closed, and they wouldn't have anything else to do with it, and so the NDA would do no good. ??? Kinda confused me, and now I don't know where to continue...she offered to put me on the line with quality assurance but I thought I would clarify things with you guys first. Do I need to get LNVN to sign this NDA? Also, she said that the important thing was that I paid off the debt, regardless of whether it was updated as settled, paid, etc. She claims her sister settled around $25k worth of debt without paying it in full or getting updated that way, and was able to buy a house a month later. She claims lenders want to see you have no open debt, and thats whats important, and from her experience this is true because of the paperwork she often faxes to lenders when they request this information when someone is looking for a house, etc. Also, lastly, the debt validation letter I was using in the sample letters section is not working more times than it is. I tried it with a Capital One account that Northland had and all they did was mark it as cease and desist and send it out of their office. This has happened several other times when I've sent this letter, and every time I have to start over to figure out where the debt is moved to. Any suggestions? Thank you
Regarding Northland, who is actually reporting the debt on your credit reports? You want the NDA signed with the party that actually reports the status of your debt to the CRAs. Some creditors simply will not sign an NDA, but it's always worth pushing for it in my opinion until you're 100% sure it's impossible to accomplish. Also, simply paying off the debt won't help improve your FICO scores. Lenders will obviously prefer to see a "paid" collection as opposed to an unpaid one, but if your FICO scores are still in the tank then you probably won't be getting approved for a mortgage.
Quick question. I just got a loan out against the car I recently purchased, which I plan on paying on for a year. I also just got another secured card. In addition, I asked my Dad to add me as an AU to a credit card of his, which he agreed to and actually did 2. I'm worried this might be overkill and I've heard from various sources that too many lines of credit may actually be detrimental rather than beneficial. I haven't seen a change on my credit reports yet and I'm wondering if I should tell him to cancel me as an AU on one of the cards. Thanks
I wouldn't worry about canceling the additional AU account. I also wouldn't apply for any new credit for awhile. Just focus on making all your payments on time and building more positive payment history with what you have for now.
A DV LTR can make the CA go away for good; and if the CA violates the FDCPA THAT'S money they could wind up owing you.
Does the consumer lose any footing if they don't do it in that order? Does it nullify the FDCPA if they offer PFD first?
Okay, IF i had the OC as Citibank, the next Collection agency is ECMC, and now a New CA (A.C.T) is claiming ECMC is their client and they are out to collect the debt for them .... I sent a DV LTR to the last company is the chain (A.C.T), but what should i be doing to get ECMC and Citi bank off my credit report since A.C.T is not reporting on my credit report (yet) but the last companies are? BTW super useful thread!
If you dispute the Citibank account with the CB, they might not respond since they no longer have an interest in the debt. I would send a DV letter to ECMC as well. I think junk debt buyers fall under the same legal requirements a CA would.
You can try a dispute through the CB against Citibank, but as far as them not responding -- it's not likely that it would be due to their being a lack of interest in the account because it was sold to a JDB, and I'm speaking from personal experience with the OC --> JDB --> CA. Correct, a JDB is governed by the FDCPA.
i'm trying to cut costs for doing this credit repair. So when doing something like disputing through the CB on that Citi account. Should that be something i just do online? In general when do you guys see it worth the $6 to CMRRR Correspondence to CB/CA/OC/JBD.. (or whatever else acronym there is out there LOL)
I send an online fax, the online dispute only allows you to dispute a limited number of details, so it doesn't allow you the flexibility to have a complex dispute handled in a way that would be consistent with case law such as Johnson v. MBNA.
Equifax allows for a statement in an online dispute (although the EQ website shows a error at the end , never lets you actually submit it, then tells you to fill out a form and email/mail it in.) So, having not been in "complex" situation myself, i'm not sure what could/should be said that an online dispute could not handle (Johnson vs MBNA , just said she disputed making a statement that she "WAS NEVER A SIGNER ON ACCOUNT. WAS AN AUTHORIZED USER.") I think since EQ online disputes allows for a statement, any such statement would carry the same weight as in the Johnson case...yes?..no? I thought the process was (and absolutely feel free to correct me here) --> "not mine dispute" sent to CRA (online / LTR) ---> if verified, send letter to CA/OC requesting payment info or account history since they DID verify ALL information being reported accurately. (how else would i know the account history and "30-60-90 day late payments" they verified were right...IF they are verifying it does in FACT belong to me) ---> if they cannot provide proof then mail that response into the CRA and request the tradeline to be deleted since the CA/OC said EVERYTHING was valid yet they are unable to provide any proof. or ---> if they do actually provide account history/payment history. Then look into making "cosmetic disputes" to fix late payment or account balances that don't match up with the OC/CA information sent to me... I'm not seeing where validation/disputes with the CRA might be complex upfront (in that first request)... and before my head goes spinning looking for reasons why it might be, please let me know of a complex example or why this a,b,c steps i'm thinking maybe wrong. Thanks!
But the only rub with the online dispute, should there be a need to litigate, unfortunately you don't have proof that they received the online dispute; and what that online dispute said. I will tell you the CRA's council will send a blanket denial of EVERYTHING except their company's name, more than likely.
so CMRRR for them too??? This is going to get costly! I think i'd take your advice and get an e-fax account.
You want to make sure that everything is trackable. I had 5 letters of dispute to TU, and now that their attorney's are on the record as arguing that they never received any of them, I can slam them with the copies of the faxes that they received.
