I'm new & confused. I was told to start a new thread if I wanted my questions answered so I hope this is what they meant. I have an ok credit score (690), but have several paid medical collection accounts from a motor vehicle accident. The other driver's insurance was suppossed to pay, but waited until we went to court so some of the bills went to collection, but were paid shortly thereafter. I also have a paid charge off from AmEx (small business corp card). The charges weren't mine & I disputed, but got tired of fighting with the call center in India, so I just let it go. I finally paid it with the understanding that the account would be removed from my credit report. I did not get that in writing, but I have the women's name that said it. Those pesky items are keeping my otherwise perfect credit (personal loans, mortgages, auto loans, etc. & no lates back to 1974) at around 690. The medical collections are for $20, $50 & $115. The AmEx charge off is $375, original charge only $125, I ended up paying the full amount with all of their stupid late fees. I disputed these with the CRA's on line & by mail with letters of explanation, but none of this worked. If I go to the nutcase letters who do I send them to the original creditor or the collection agency? These entries don't reflect my payment history or my credit habits & I want them gone. The AmEx charge off is from them, although I dealt with 2 separate collection agencies & was actually told 2 times that the original charge had been reversed & the late fees removed, only to have collection agencies start back up months, almost a year later saying they had no record of that happening. So frustrating!!! What is 623? I understand it's sort of validation from agencies that can be used only after you've disputed with the CRA & the account has been verified? Tell me what to do. These things don't belong on my report & since I already disputed them on line & by mail & they continue to come back as 'verified' I want the most proven method to get them off. Thanks
I don't think I did this right? I can't figure out how to move it up the list or bold the title. What's sticky?
"sticky" threads always stay at the top of the list, and only the site can make a thread sticky. Also, everytime a message is added to a thread it moves it to the top (of the non sticky threads) and appears bold to those who have not read it. If you post a comment, you won't see it bold because you've already seen it. Hope that helps...
Thanks, it did. There's a lot of credit lingo on this forum, but just as much 'forum' lingo. I thought I was well rounded until I got here ! Hope someone answers my question soon.
I have the same question, bigred. Just in case no one pipes in with some specific advice, I'll share my plan of attack with you, and maybe we can figure it out based on what I've already read and what we are able to suss out here. (1) Send a Validation Letter to the Collection Agency (CA) requesting validation of the debt. Usually, a CA will send the debt back to the Original Creditor (OC) upon receiving a request for validation. They may not even have the debt anymore if it's already paid. If they are unable to verify fully within 30 days, the tradeline must be deleted. (2) 10 days later, send a Validation Letter to the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). If the CA has sent the debt(s) back to the OC, then they will be unable to verify when contacted by the CRA, and the CRA will be required to delete the tradeline if they can't verifiy within 30 days. (3) If the items are deleted and then later verified and resinserted, the CRA must notify you in writing, or they are in violation of federal law. Do ALL disputes by certified mail, and treat those green cards like gold. Use them to create a paper trail by sending copies of all previous correspondence with each new letter. If the CA / CRAs haven't responded correctly by the time you get to your 3rd letter, begin preparing an Intent to Sue (ITS) letter, backed up with all of your documentation. You can offer to settle for a monetary amount and/or deletion of the trade lines in question. My questions are: If everything comes back verified (correctly) by both the CA and the CRA, what then? And if you're attempting validation from the OC, and it comes through correctly, what other tactics can be used? Since the accounts are already paid, the "pay for deletion" technique won't work.... any thoughts?
I am a little confused myself... Also, why send the CA a letter on a paid debt first? I don't get that part. Would not the CRA have to contact them on an initial verification letter then provide you with up to date contact information on the CA IF they reply???
First of all, if you haven't already, get copies of your reports from each of the CRAs. Do NOT get the online 3-in-1 reports. They don't show exactly how everything is reported by each agencey. You need to know exactly who is reporting what. Then you will dispute any inaccurate items with the CRA--dates, amounts, etc. Once you have your reports with more specific information we can help you. A validation letter is used on an unpaid collection to make them prove it's yours. If you've already paid it, you've validated that it's yours.
