Ok this is quite strange and I was waiting to dispute with CA's after I tackled some of the negatives on my CR's but this agency just seems to be begging for trouble. Once I sent in disputes with the CRA's I started to get letters from CA's regarding collection acounts that are on my CR's. Like I stated, I wasn't going to send validation letters to the CA's just yet. I got a letter for collection from Associated Recovery Sytems dated Jan. 03 for collection amount of $674.44 from Account Rep Tish Hughes. Ok, I get letter #2 dated Jan. 04 for collection amount of $674.86 (up $.32 cents in one day I guess they charged me for postage) from same Account Rep. Ok, I get letter #3 dated Jan. 21 for collection amount of $681.94 (up $7.08) from new Account Rep Michael Collymore. This is for a Charged Off Cap One Account, the account number is the same on all three letters but I don't understand why the amount has changed twice? Someone please steer me in the right direction. I was trying to do things in a way where I would not overwhelm myself and a way that I would keep up with all of my disputes and dates etc. But maybe I should tackle this company right now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I would really like to get a letter out today if someone could just assist me with which letter I should go with. Please.
Sounds like interest to me. You've really got two issues here most likely. Not only will you want the collection trade line removed, you will also probably want the Cap1 trade line removed. So it's a bit more complicated. Dunno if Cap1 will do deletions as part of a settlement, but likely someone else here does. Anyway, I'd say start the validation process with the collection agency. Look in the Sample Letters section for ideas on what to write. They'll have to stop collection activity while they're validating, which gives you some breathing room. Further, if they can't or don't validate, or they continue with collection activity, you've got ammunition against them. Cheers, and best of luck with this. -- cnswift
Hi, I don't know if I can be of any help but I am getting ready to send out the "debt validation" from the sample letters section. I have 2 charged off accounts that I am dealing with....I had posted earlier wondering if I should send them directly to the attorney or collection agency first...I'm still not sure. It sounds like from your post that you started with the Credit Reporting Agencies for validation....? fjh
Egads, what attorney? fjh, if you are being sued I recommend you speak to a qualified attorney about this. If they're not suing you yet, or are not about to sue you, send the validation letter to the Collection Agency. Generally, these letters are sent to the collection agency first, as it's considered best form to dispute the accuracy of the debt within 30 days of being notified of said debt. However, the law is very clear that taking longer than 30 days to send the letter does not mean you accept the debt as valid. If the collection account is already pretty old(1-2 years or more), I would recommend trying to dispute with the CRA first and see if the thing just falls off. If not, then go to the trouble of sending CRRR validation letters. -- cnswift
You send validation to collection agency, and dispute with the credit bureau. Fjh, Who is reporting these on your credit report? If it's the collection agency I would send them one, but if an attorney is contacting you I would send them one as well. However, an attorney and a collection agency can not BOTH own the debt. Only one person can legally (someone correct me if I'm wrong) "own" the debt, so they both can't be dunning you and reporting for it.
Actually my disputes are in process with all 3 CRA's. So do I just send out the validation letter to the CA?
Everyone is different and my way may not be *correct* but this is what I do. I send validation to the collection agency FIRST, once I get green card back I then dispute online with the CRA. Then if the CA can't validate the debt, legally they can't confirm the listing is yours when contacted by the CRA. If they do and don't have proof, that is a violation as well as if they fail to make notation of the account being disputed, another violation. I have had more luck doing it this way, because the CA either 1. doesn't have proof and ignores the CRA or 2. they just tell CRA to delete.
Thank you Christi for your advice. I hate to seem stupid but since my disputes with the CRA's are alrealdy in process, should I send validation to the CA and then re-send dispute to CRA even though dispute is already in process? Sorry to seem so lost but I just want to make sure I understand thoroughly before I put these letters in the mail.
Christi, one more thing, I did not send the validation letter to the CA first because they did not start sending me letters until I disputed with the CRA's (first mistake I think). So did I totally screw this up already?
I would go ahead and get the validations mailed out. I would not send another dispute to the CRA yet, so they can't claim you are being frivolous. They have 30 days to do the investigation. If they come back verified, request a procedural description of how they verified the information and keep it. If the collection agency doesn't respond by 30 days after they sign the green card get the estoppel letter out to them.
No you didnt' screw up!! And they might or might not be sending as a result of the dispute. I have noticed that every year around January-March I get ALOT of settlement offers, I think they are trying to make a buck before tax time or something. In fact my mother got one yesterday and we were freaking out it said something about an account owing $14K. She has NEVER had an account that high. They were willing to settle at 50%. We started digging through paperwork and what the deal is, is that her and my Dad (died 12 yrs ago) both had seperate accounts with some Visa Company. These were charged off about 1991. The totals together were about $8K and the rest was interest they added. Well she was trying to figure out how to pay them and I explained to her it's been TOO long to report it, SOL is way passed, they are just trying to make some money. Unfortunately some people would find a way to pay it, not realizing they can't report it on your credit and it is too old to collect on.
