I just began my credit repair journey and I was following the steps that I have read. Delete old addresses with Credit Bureau's...etc. I moved when I went into financial hell, so I have never received a letter from the 5 creditors that I owe. Until now. I am worried. Midland has 2 accounts ( Credit One -c/o $751 now Midland is saying $934 and T-mobile c/o $2400) Midland sent me a settlement letter dated the day after I updated address info for the credit one card. -Dang they are fast- My SOL on Credit One isn't for about 5 months. How do I drag this out to get past SOL if possible? or should I just make payment arrangements because all that I have read about Midland has been horrible. Any advice for the second account listed with Midland for Tmobile is welcome as well. Thank you.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. How did you update this?
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. I updated address info/deleted old address on the CRA websites. My sentence ran all together so it appears as if I updated my information for the Credit One card which is incorrect.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. I would proceed by sending a validation letter, this is in fact the first communication that you received. To determine how likely they are to sue, you want to weigh the amount, how far the CA is from you (even a lawyer in another state, has to hire a lawyer in your state to file and appear in court), and how old the account is. But they can't do anything until they OBTAIN and MAIL the validation that they now would request from the Original Creditor, and depending on the age of the account that could be a herculean task. If they try to continue to collect, I would prepare a draft ITS with a suit for $1,000.00 of damages for violating the FDCPA, and that should get their attention. If you file the suit, they'd be in the untenable position of paying you more than they could even think about collecting. Not a good business strategy for a CA.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. Websites.................websites...........websites.......................does anyone really read things. I have stated numerous times there are reasons to dispute,verify,challenge,obtain, and update things through the mail ONLY. In any case that is neither hear nor there at this point what damage is done is done and now to try and move past that. JAM237 is very much correct and I agree with him that a verification is in order. I want to add that whenever this letter gets written there are things that need to get written letting them know this is in dispute. I suggest useing a letter something like this. Your Name 123 Your Street Address Your City, ST 01234 ABC Collections 123 NotOnYourLife Ave Chicago, IL Date: _________ CM#____________ Re: Acct # XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX To Whom It May Concern: This letter is being sent to you in response to your attached letter. (If you have nothing in writing use the phrase "recent communication) This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed. Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), I have the right to request validation of the debt you say I owe you. I am requesting proof that I am indeed the party you are asking to pay this debt, and there is some contractual obligation which is binding on me to pay this debt. Your legal staff will agree that compliance with this request is required under the laws of (State name) and Federal Statutes. In addition to the questionnaire below, please attach copies of: Agreement with your client that grants you the authority to collect on this alleged debt,or proof of acquisition by purchase or assignment. Agreement that bears the signature of the alleged debtor wherein he or she agreed to pay the creditor. Please also be advised that this letter is not only a formal dispute, but a request that you cease and desist any and all collection activities. Your receipt of this letter will be considered as having granted consent to the taping of any and all telephone calls to me at my home or business by you or your agents or assigns I require compliance with the terms and conditions of this letter within 30 days. or a complete withdrawal, in writing, of any claim. In the event of noncompliance, I reserve the right to file charges and/or complaints with appropriate County, State & Federal authorities ,the BBB and State Bar associations for violations of the FDCPA, FCRA, and Federal and State statutes on fraudulent extortion . I also hereby reserve my right to take private civil action against you to recover damages. Sincerely, Your Name(PRINT OR TYPE DO NOT SIGN) ------------------------------------------- Debt Validation Form Questionnaire to be returned : Account #: ____________________ Original Creditor's Name: _________________________________ Name of Debtor: ______________________________________ Address of Debtor: ___________________________________ Balance of Account: __________________________________ Date you acquired this debt: _________________________ This Debt was: assigned ___purchased___ Please indicated any credit bureaus to which you have reported on this account: Experian ______ Equifax ______ TransUnion _____
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. Websites.................websites...........websites.......................does anyone really read things. I have stated numerous times there are reasons to dispute,verify,challenge,obtain, and update things through the mail ONLY. In any case that is neither hear nor there at this point what damage is done is done and now to try and move past that. JAM237 is very much correct and I agree with him that a verification is in order. I want to add that whenever this letter gets written there are things that need to get written letting them know this is in dispute. I suggest useing a letter something like this. Your Name 123 Your Street Address Your City, ST 01234 ABC Collections 123 NotOnYourLife Ave Chicago, IL Date: _________ CM#____________ Re: Acct # XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX To Whom It May Concern: This letter is being sent to you in response to your attached letter. (If you have nothing in writing use the phrase "recent communication) This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed. Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), I have the right to request validation of the debt you say I owe you. I am requesting proof that I am indeed the party you are asking to pay this debt, and there is some contractual obligation which is binding on me to pay this debt. Your legal staff will agree that compliance with this request is required under the laws of (State name) and Federal Statutes. In addition to the questionnaire below, please attach copies of: Agreement with your client that grants you the authority to collect on this alleged debt,or proof of acquisition by purchase or assignment. Agreement that bears the signature of the alleged debtor wherein he or she agreed to pay the creditor. Please also be advised that this letter is not only a formal dispute, but a request that you cease and desist any and all collection activities. Your receipt of this letter will be considered as having granted consent to the taping of any and all telephone calls to me at my home or business by you or your agents or assigns I require compliance with the terms and conditions of this letter within 30 days. or a complete withdrawal, in writing, of any claim. In the event of noncompliance, I reserve the right to file charges and/or complaints with appropriate County, State & Federal authorities ,the BBB and State Bar associations for violations of the FDCPA, FCRA, and Federal and State statutes on fraudulent extortion . I also hereby reserve my right to take private civil action against you to recover damages. Sincerely, Your Name(PRINT OR TYPE DO NOT SIGN) ------------------------------------------- Debt Validation Form Questionnaire to be returned : Account #: ____________________ Original Creditor's Name: _________________________________ Name of Debtor: ______________________________________ Address of Debtor: ___________________________________ Balance of Account: __________________________________ Date you acquired this debt: _________________________ This Debt was: assigned ___purchased___ Please indicated any credit bureaus to which you have reported on this account: Experian ______ Equifax ______ TransUnion _____
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. I thank you both for responding Jam237 and MechanicW. Mechanicw, to my credit I put alot of reading and retaining information from this board and others and while I did see repeatedly not to dispute anything on a CRA's website only in letter form. I did see a few times that deleting old addresses online would be okay. I am getting tons of information from different sources and doing the best I can to not step on the bombs in the minefield. From now on, it will only be letter form!!! Thanks again
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. CRA's love for disputes to be done online as your limited to disputing their way. Following their steps and figuring out how ur disputes fit into a their pre determined category the way they want it. I see many people even on here that say it's ok or even encourage others to use the online disputes. For people whom are truely serious about disputing and have gotten quite good at it over the years they will tell u like I have that disputing thru the mail is your best option.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. The awakening of this CA had nothing to do with your personal info being updated online. There is no online trigger in this case. While there has and seemingly always be a debate on what to use online disputes for (if any), and what not to use for; for YEARS (and counting) consumers have disputed old addresses/names/etc under personal info on their reports online, and with much success. Disputing personal information has nothing to do with a dispute against a trade line. And please do not use the sample letters verbatim as they are over-posted here. Read the FCRA, read the FDCPA, and at the very least modify those letters enough so that you're not labeled as a credit-repairer.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. Mindcrime: The CA could have had a notation that they are looking to locate the consumer. You may not see the notation based on the CR source, but it's a standard notation that some CAs use. Any update/activity then triggers sending 'above the fold' info to the DF.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. Thanks for the heads up jam. Wasn't aware of this. IMPE I was able to shake at least one CA by doing this (dropping old addresses), that combined with limited info they had on me made for a quick deletion. Just so I'm clear though, disputing old addresses via mail or online would have triggered this?
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. Any update would trigger notification *IF* the DF labels the tradeline as being that the data furnisher is attempting to locate the consumer. So, if you do an inquiry, get a new credit line (most likely a correct address), update addresses, anything that would facilitate a data furnisher reaching an unreachable consumer, could result in an update. The goal here is to turn that into an unintended positive.
Re: I deleted all old addresses--- that awoke Midland immediately, help with a plan.. Thanks, I just wanted to be clear that simply because the consumer dispute old addresses online, the online dispute wasn't the trigger, rather just the dispute itself. Yes indeed.
