I have an old Orchard Bank (household bank) acct that is being reported as a P&L Writeoff with balance still due. I paid the balance on it YEARS ago and jsut now realized that the acct is being reported inaccurately. I called their 'recovery' dept only to be told that they have no record of the acct at all! The guy i spoke with tried to pull it up with my SSN and the old acct number but there was no record of the acct at all. When I explained to him that it is being reported on all 3 CRAs he said to dispute it. Well I did dispute it with EQ and they said that they received validation from OC. The guy then asked me "How did they do that?!" LOL I told him I didn't know. So now what do I do next? Do I send a letter to the OC or do I send letters to the CRAs telling them to send me proof? I do have a CURRENT acct (in good standing) with Household so maybe they aren't looking at the acct numbers and are verifying my CURRENT acct not the old acct? I did print off validation letters for the CRAs then I typed this letter to the OC; My Name Address City, State Zip Household Bank Credit Bureau Reporting P.O. Box 19360 Portland, OR 97280 RE: Acct # XXXXXXXXXXXX July 17, 2002 Dear Sir or Madam: I am writing in regards to the above-mentioned account. I have phoned your offices regarding this account only to find out that there is no record of it. Yet all 3 credit-reporting agencies are reporting this account as a Profit & Loss Write-off with a balance due. I am deeply concerned as to why I have such a horrible mark on my credit reports. I have disputed this account with the credit bureaus only to be informed that you have submitted to them accurate information regarding this account. Iâ??m puzzled as to how you can submit information to the bureaus when you cannot furnish that same information to me, the consumer. I do have a current account with your institution that is in good standing. My thought is that you might be providing the credit agencies with the wrong account information (the current account as opposed to the disputed acct.). I would like this mark to be deleted from my file seeing as you cannot provide proof that this acct truly exists. Please forward copies of all correspondence with credit reporting agencies to my address listed above so that I may have record that this matter has been handled in a professional, timely manner. As per the FCRA you have thirty (30) days to address my concerns and take action on this issue. Thank you, My name ANY help would be greatly apreciated! Also, I'm quite shocked that the guy at the collections dept told me they have no record! LOL He made my job SO much easier! I did ask him for a letter so that I can give it to the CRAs but he said they don't have any letters like that (?UDF?) (I did specifically ask for a UDF but he told me to write a letter to the addy above) THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
"I have disputed this account with the credit bureaus only to be informed that you have submitted to them accurate information regarding this account." Don't you mean IN-accurate information?
What EQ says is 'This creditor has verified to Equifax that this account has not been closed. Additional information has been provided from the original source regarding this item. See enclosed credit file. WTF?! I read that to the rep I spoke to and he said "How did they do that? We don't have the account, it's been deleted" So now what?! Send letter to HHD Bank or to CRAs? I was thinking CRAs but what if I get back what EQ sent me? The guy at collections told me to fax over my CRs to them but I'm not doing that! HELLLLOOOOO! I'm not THAT stupid (pretty stupid but not THAT bad! lol). ?? Thanks Butch (I think you were tongue-in-cheek there lol)
Did you try to get something in writing from the rep? If you get a letter/email or fax from this rep sdtating that the account does not exist in their records, you could use it in the next dispute. Maybe then the CRAs would do a better job of investigating.
Sending a letter (I assume you meant a procedure request letter) to the CRA won't help. They'll just send back a generic form with the OC's name and address and maybe if you're lucky, a phone number. Useless. I suggest you re-contact the agency you already spoke to, ask them for a letter that asks for deletion for this account. Even if the letter just says something like "We (the CA) have no record of account #12345, please remove from atlmom's records. Then have them send you a copy, and one to the CRA. Once you receive it, fax it to EQ as well, and at that point, they should delete.
Don't know why he couldn't just give me a letter?? If they are showing that they don't have the account how is that going to hurt them to give me a letter?? *SIGH* just makes it a little more difficult then it should be! lol
How can he say "we don't have any letters like that". Duh. Write one up then. You might just need to raise the bar here and make the same request, but in writing, sent CRRR. They cannot just report something to the CRA's and then not be able to back it up with proof. And where there is no proof, there is no reporting of that account.
So the letter above that I pasted would be ok? or is it too harsh? I don't want to tick them off, they've been REALLY nice to me, but if they can't find the acct then I don't want the R9 reporting like it is! Thanks!
Not harsh at all. Good letter. You won't be ticking them off because all you're asking for is either proof of the account (which we know they cannot provide) and in the absence of it, deletion of what they're reporting to the CRA. Fact is, they're violating the FCRA: And you could be asking for money for your trouble, but a simple deletion will do. § 623. Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies [15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2] (a) Duty of furnishers of information to provide accurate information. (1) Prohibition. (A) Reporting information with actual knowledge of errors. A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or consciously avoids knowing that the information is inaccurate. (B) Reporting information after notice and confirmation of errors. A person shall not furnish information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if (i) the person has been notified by the consumer, at the address specified by the person for such notices, that specific information is inaccurate; and (ii) the information is, in fact, inaccurate. (C) No address requirement. A person who clearly and conspicuously specifies to the consumer an address for notices referred to in subparagraph (B) shall not be subject to subparagraph (A); however, nothing in subparagraph (B) shall require a person to specify such an address. (2) Duty to correct and update information. A person who (A) regularly and in the ordinary course of business furnishes information to one or more consumer reporting agencies about the person's transactions or experiences with any consumer; and (B) has furnished to a consumer reporting agency information that the person determines is not complete or accurate, shall promptly notify the consumer reporting agency of that determination and provide to the agency any corrections to that information, or any additional information, that is necessary to make the information provided by the person to the agency complete and accurate, and shall not thereafter furnish to the agency any of the information that remains not complete or accurate. (3) Duty to provide notice of dispute. If the completeness or accuracy of any information furnished by any person to any consumer reporting agency is disputed to such person by a consumer, the person may not furnish the information to any consumer reporting agency without notice that such information is disputed by the consumer.
Kinda (not same) similar thing happened with me an oc. oc would not send me a letter. But I was able to get the phone number and the extn of the rep babe who I talked to. Then I called Experian and gave them that phone number and ext. Account was deleted in next 2-3 weeks. I am not sure (don't know, don't care) if they actually called. Try that, it might work.
