charge off's

As far as paid charge-offs go, you do not have much leverage for bargining with the creditor/collection agency.

You could start by simply disputing the charge-off accounts through the CRA's. Hopefully the OC will either not respond or not verify the account leading to a deletion.

With your DMB charge-off, is it showing as $0 balance on the DMB account? If a collection agency has purchased this debt from DMB, DMB no longer owns the debt and therefore cannot collect on it, nor can they list a balance. Is the CA that now holds the account actively attempting to collect on you? Is it a large debt? Within SOL?

 

Oh, so this is a paid collection account.

Well, you could first attempt to get it deleted by disputing it through the CRA's. Dispute as "not mine". Now if that does not work, you could (for the CA):

Send a validation request. You won't have to worry about being sued since the account is paid. And even though the account is paid, you still have a right to validation. Hopefully the CA will just look at it as too much work for a paid account, and delete the account with the CRA's. If they do not respond to you, nor do they delete, follow up with the estoppel by silence letter. What you want to do is build a paper trail of violations on their part. BTW, the CA is also obligated to place the collection account "in dispute" on your credit reports, and if they do not, that's another violation.

So in essence, you want to be able to send them a final letter (if they do not comply the 1st and 2nd time) outlining your proof of their violations of the FCRA and FDPCA, and you are giving them once last chance to delete the account before you sue them for said violations.

 

Charge offs can remain on your credit file for up to 7 years, the only way to try and remove a charge off is to dispute it with the credit bureaus, they will investigate your dispute and if the creditor does not respond within 30 days it will be removed from your file.

They may not be double listings. It is easy to see how such a listing of collection agencies that have all handled the same account could look like multiple accounts. However, future creditors are unlikely to see such listings this way.

When an unpaid collection account is sold, the agency that sold it usually reports the account as either "closed" or as a "charged-off" or even as "sold," denoting that they have finished with it. When the new agency opens the account, the dates of the new opening will follow with a new account number, starting a sequence.

If the account is sold more than once, the same closure notations will be issued, and a new account date started with another new account number. Potential creditors are normally quite familiar with collection agency sequences and realize that these kinds of listings are related to one original account.

Regards,
Alex

Free Credit Repair Help!
http://www.Creditinsiders.com

 

This is incorrect. Just because an account is sold to a collection agency, or a CA refers the account to another CA, the DOLA or "date of the new opening" as you call it will not change. If it did, the 7 year rule would be rendered useless. All a CA would have to do to keep an account on your credit report indefinately, would be to keep selling the account (or re-reporting it under a different name the same CA uses).

Again, incorrect. A creditor may be familar with unscrupulous acts such as continuously continuing to re-sell an account to create what is almost but not quite "duplicate" accounts, re-aging the DOLA is illegal, and that's just what creating a new "dates of the new opening" is.

 

Can you still send validation?

Yes, absolutely. It's just one of many rights you have under the FCRA and the FDCPA.

Probably will be harder to get a deletion from the CA. Especially since it was just paid, but it's worth a shot, like I said, since it's paid, they can't threaten you with anything, and hopefully if you keep disputing and requesting validation, they (the CA) will just get tired of you and delete.

 

Don't be.

What Alex is saying is basically this:

CA (collection agency) purchases account in 1/95. Attempts to collect for 4 years unsuccessfully. CA sells account to another CA in 1/99. Now this account should only have 3 years "life" left on your credit reports, ie: 1/95 7 years later-->1/02.

Now if the starting date as Alex called it starts over in 1/99 (remember it's 4 years later and the debt has been sold), the debt would/could now remain until 1/06. And who know how many other times this would happen, basically allowing the debt to stay on your credit potentially forever.

Here is an except from the FCRA:

§ 605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports [15 U.S.C. § 1681c]

(c) Running of reporting period.

(1) In general. The 7-year period referred to in paragraphs (4) and (6) ** of subsection (a) shall begin, with respect to any delinquent account that is placed for collection (internally or by referral to a third party, whichever is earlier), charged to profit and loss, or subjected to any similar action, upon the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the commencement of the delinquency which immediately preceded the collection activity, charge to profit and loss, or similar action.

 

Yes, send a validation letter to the CA, be sure to mail it CRRR (certified return receipt requested). Check your credit reports 5 days after the sign for the letter (date stamped on the green card). If the CA does not note the account as "in dispute" that's your first violation on them. Print out your report so you have proof they did not place the account "in dispute". If they do not respond to you, after 31 days send the estoppel letter, include with the estoppel a copy of proof of your first mailing, copy of validation letter, as well as a copy of the FTC opinion letter Wollman. I provided a link for you below:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/wollman.htm

This letter spells out what the FTC expects of the CA. So if the CA does respond by sending you a cheesy printout, this letter will confirm that such a printout is not considered validation, and hopefully the CA will not want to bother obtaining validation from the OC, and will merely drop the collection account from your reports.

As far as DMB goes, I suggest you first simply dispute it through the CRA as "not mine" and see where that takes you.