Hello, I'm a newbie and probably have some questions with obvious answers so please bare with me ;-) Today my husband went to the Sprint store to see about opening an account with them. They approved him, but further in the process came back and said that there were two delinquent accounts in his name that needed to be cleared before they could continue. They gave him the account numbers and the amounts he supposedly owed and told him to contact customer service to see what could be done. When he came home I pulled his credit reports and discovered that one account was only reported to trans union and had the exact dollar amount the customer service guy gave him, but it is listed as a joint account (my husband never had a joint account). The second amount I could not find on his reports but there was another listing for Sprint that was exactly $150 more than what the customer service guy told him on all three reports. Also, both accounts are in collections and neither of them have account numbers matching the ones given to me by Sprint. My questions are: 1. Is it a good idea to call and talk to Sprint directly or should I deal with the collection agencies? 2. What should I say to Sprint/the collection agencies to get the negative tradeline removed? 3. What sort of proof should I ask for from them to guarantee that they will remove the tradeline? 4. If the tradeline is listed under the name of a collection agency will Sprint be able to remove it from my husband's credit if I deal with them directly? Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
I'm admittedly not as well-versed in repairing credit or cleaning up erroneous credit report entries, but I think Joshua who's much more knowledgable than me will ask if you've contemplated contacting the "big three" credit reporting agencies yet. There's a possibility you might go farther with them, initially. If they do end up coming back "verified," you might want to consider offering the "offenders" a "pay for delete" deal, which you'll find lots of information about if you do a search (yes, I admit it's a cop-out, but I have next to no experience doing these myself). Barring that, I'd at least try to negotiate the removal of all the negative notations on these accounts at the very least so that the listed items are more "neutral" towards affecting your husband's credit scores.
Welcome to Creditnet! I would first try to determine if Sprint has charged off the debt and sold it to the CA, or if it's just been transferred for collection. If Sprint has sold the debt, they won't be willing to work with you when you call them, and you should see a charge off listed on your credit reports as well. If the debt has been sold, then you'll need to deal directly with the CA if you want to negotiate a PFD. Also, Sprint will not be able to do anything for you regarding the collection reported by the CA.
If the (alleged) debt was sold, then why would Sprint care if you pay/settle it or not? After all, if the debt was sold, then it would be a junk debt buyer or collection company getting paid, not Sprint. Also, who's to say that these (alleged) debts are legitimately owed by your husband and/or are not so old as to be out of SOL? Depending on the dollar amount, it may be best to just ignore the debts and find a different cellphone company instead.
If the debt was sold, why would Sprint retain a record of it in their system? And if I manage to settle with Sprint could I then deal with the CAs to get the tradelines removed on the ground that the information is now erroneous? Or will Sprint report to the CAs that I have paid the debt?
I just got off the phone with Sprint and they referred me to one of the two agencies listed on my husbands report. They also said they didn't know anything about the other agency. How can I get the tradeline of the CA that is not connected to Sprint remove? Also, Sprint said that they would take accept a full payment and clear it off their books, but that they had no control over how the CA reported. Could I pay Sprint and then contest the tradeline with the CA as being unfounded?
Whoa. Slow down there. Before you pay a penny, demand proof that the alleged debts are legitimate, ask for a breakdown of the charges (i.e. what the bill is for), and find out if the debt is out of SOL (if the debt is too old, you're not legally obligated to pay it). If the debt is really old, such as from the 1990's when Sprint used to offer landline long distance service, I wouldn't pay anything at all. Also, if the debt is more than 7 years old, then it CANNOT legally appear on your husband's credit reports, although some collection agencies (illegally) reset the date of first delinquency so they can keep an otherwise non-reportable debt on your credit report to coerce you into paying. Remember, the time to find out if the debt is/was legitimate and (assuming it is/was legitimate) to negotiate how it will appear on your credit report is BEFORE the money is paid, and of course be sure to get this in writing before you pay anything. Also, be aware that paying anything toward an alleged debt is viewed as proof that the debt is legitimate. In other words, once you pay anything at all, or even promise to pay anything at all, you have acknowledged that the debt is yours, and in some states this even resets the SOL if they can get a payment or partial payment out of you.
You're records can be seen by either billing or customer service by sprint. If your account was written off, then the rep can see the number of the collections agency in your account. I believe you can still talk to Sprint about it but it's a great debate as it was already forwarded to the collections agency. You can go ahead and get the number and try to ask if you can get a settlement. Also, should there be anything that can be discussed with sprint regarding charges you can talk to them as they can still provide a credit to your account.
