I just officially joined the board and this is my first post, so I apologize in advance for any protocal mistakes I make and for this being so long. I really need advice and I have searched this board for information but haven't found anything specific to my problem. I moved here to the USA several months ago (I'm not American) I lived in the USA before for a few years about 4-5 years ago. I applied for credit when I recently moved here, was declined, and ultimately received my credit reports which all showed an American Express account that was profit loss write off,charged off to bad debt. When I lived here before, I did have an American Express account which I closed prior to moving back to my country and it was paid completly and I owed no more money. The American Express accounts listed on my reports were not the same account number as my old account and the dates of opening/closing were completely different from the account I had. So I disputed the account with each credit bureau as "not my account." I received the updated reports and each report showed this account as "verified with no change" however, the dates of last activity/date closed had all changed and moved forward by at least 1 year, each report a different month and year. The comments changed from "profit and loss write off" to "closed by credit grantor" "charge off account cancelled by credit grantor" I began writing American Express for information about this account, disputing it, and requesting proof it is mine and my debt. In all, I have written 5 letters in the past 4 months and none of my letters have been acknowledged. This past Friday, I received 2 separate letters from American Express. One stated they had received my recent request and will research the account and contact me upon resolution. The second stated that my dispute had been acknowledged by the O/A Special Research Department and listed my original account number (!!!) along with the following details: Anniversary Date: January 1995 Present Balance: $$$$ Status: Charged off/Closed, 11/95 Today I received a very thick envelope from American Express. The letter stated that their records indicated the account was cancelled in May 1996, due to the time that has elapsed, a copy of the contract is not available. merchants are only required to keep their records for one year, so they are unable to contact them to support the charges billed on the account, American Express is not actively pursuing the account balance, but it will continue to show on all records until paid in full. And they enclosed copies of statements from 7/95 - 5/96, and a card account activity transcript from 6/96 - 4/2002 showing deliquency charges for every month. According to the statements, I had a payment due 2/96 and did not pay. The following 3 statements show deliquency charges each month and past due balances. I do not know what to do. I do not agree that the account I had with American Express had a balance that I didn't pay. But I do not know how to prove that. I do not know what my options are. I will appreciate any help you can give me. Please help!
Being that this is very old, can you provide bank statements,s cancelled checks from where you paid them. Can you order copies from the bank? The burden is on you to prove that you paid in full before the actions they claim took place.
No, I don't have any bank records from back then and do not live anywhere near where I lived at that time. I do not even remember what the name of my bank was. So are you saying that unless I have this type of information to provide them proof that they are wrong, I am out of luck? What should my next move be without this information?
Burden of proof is on THEM to prove to you that you HAD a balance that was open.. if they can't prove it, then remove that negative tradeline
Do you know about the 7 year rule? All charged off or collection accounts will be removed from your credit reports at the 7 years from the date the account became delinquent. But I think that Amex won't remove you from their black list until the debt is paid or you can proof that the account was not yours.
Thank you for your replies. Because they have statements that show a balance due 2/96, and then the next statements showing no payment and past due balance with late charges, wouldn't that be considered "proof" on their part that there is a balance due? I have read about the 7 year rule and if I understand correctly, it would come off 7 years from date of original deliquency, which according to the statements I got today was 2/96.....7 years would be 2/2003. I don't want to wait until next year for this to disappear and would much rather try to get this straightened out so I can begin to establish good credit here in the USA. The other problem is that according to the credit bureaus, the date of last activity are different. I don't want to take a chance that this could remain for longer. One bureau shows it was charged off 3-2001, another 1-1997, and the third bureau 6-1996. Any more ideas of what to do? Thank you very much.
sorry, somehow the following didn't register: "I received the updated reports and each report showed this account as "verified with no change" however, the dates of last activity/date closed had all changed and moved forward by at least 1 year, each report a different month and year. The comments changed from "profit and loss write off" to "closed by credit grantor" "charge off account cancelled by credit grantor" I began writing American Express for information about this account, disputing it, and requesting proof it is mine and my debt. In all, I have written 5 letters in the past 4 months and none of my letters have been acknowledged." They certainly haven't provided you proof as requested, did you mail letters to them certified with a return receipt? Sassy
i'm sorry, i wrote that a bit confusing. American Express had not acknowledged any of the 5 letters I have sent thim in the past 4 months.....until Friday I received 2 and yesterday I received the big envelope with the statement copies, the letter, and the card account activity transcript. Fridays letters stated receipt of my resent correspondance and that my dispute was acknowledged by the o/a special research department and upon resolution i would be notified. The timing seems very strange to me that after months of writing and receiving no response, I receive all of this information from them within a few days. I have sent everything certified mail and know that they received my letters. I continued to dispute with the credit bureaus and it was verified each time, but as I said in my original post the dates of activity changed every time. These are violations, correct? they also never put a dispute comment with the account. My problem now is that I don't have any proof of not owing them the money that they say I do. I don't have any bank records, none of my own statement copies, nothing. And I just read on another post that the original creditor is not required to validate accounts? I would think that what they have supplied me with is validation, correct? I just don't know what to do. I feel trapped and I don't know if I have more options. It is much easier in Spain and we don't have a system such as this. This is a mess. Thank you all for your help.
Uh I thought burden of proof is on the plaintiff to prove their case. Sounds like if this went to court it would be a he said she said case.
So what do I do? that is why I feel trapped! They say there's a balance on the account, I say there isn't! But I have no records of my own for proof. Do I have any options available other than to pay and live with it? It just doesn't seem very fair to me!
It is much easier in Spain and we don't have a system such as this. This is a mess. Thank you all for your help. ====================== Hain't we the lucky ones? They don't need it there and we sure don't need it here.
