I was ready to send dispute letters, and in reading further I realized that I may be going about this the wrong way. Some of the listings I want to dispute are placed on our reports by collection agencies. None of them are paid, and I cannot afford to pay them. That is why they are there. They are mostly medical bills. I searched this site for "collection agencies" and I did not find any situations just like mine. I am already late for the things I need to do today, and there are several hundred more listings. I have written the letters saying "I do not know what this is, please check to be sure it is mine." I was hoping the collection agency would have to contact the original creditor to validate their listing, and that the original creditor would no longer have a record of my account. (I think some of them will, though). Now I am reading things that sound like I need to first deal with the original creditor, and then dispute it at the cra. I cannot negotiate any offers to pay these things. I just do not have any money. If I did, I would have paid them in the first place. Most of these are medical bills. If I need to contact the original creditor, but I know the only offer I could make them would be tiny payments over a long period of time, should I even bother? Two listings are for a hospital that I tried to make an agreement with for 2 1/2 years. They would not combine my accounts into one, and they refused my payment offer because it was too small. They wanted $100 per month, I offered $20. I have spent so many hours reading on this site the last few weeks that my family is ready to disown me! I hava been hogging the computer for weeks now! In short, I need to figure this out and get it done. I don't want to do it incorrectly, and waste my time or make things worse. I am exhausted from staying up half the night reading here. I thought I had learned a lot, but now I think I don't know what I am doing. I am disputing other items as well. Now I am totally unsure of what I am doing. I followed a linked posted previously to Michael Kielsky's site and he says to only dispute one item at a time. It seems like most of the posters here dispute several at a time. More confusion. I was hoping that at least some of my disputes would not be verified because somewhere along the line, someone just would not bother to check, or the 30 days would run out. Please HELP!!!! Terri
Hi Terri I just joined the board around May and I have gotten a lot of good tips from the board. First how old are these debts? Has the SOL run on these debts? Have you sent Validation letters? When you do send validation letters, I suggest sending a copy of the statute provision of the FDCPA which provides what the CA can and cannot do. Make sure they know you know your rights! You can find it at www.ftc.gov/ I would carefully read Michael's site, even just yesterday I found a really good tip. I know its hard, but you have to start somewhere. That's all I can add at this time, but maybe others on the board could give you some more indepth information. Cyprigirl
Terri I would agree with Copygirl. She is correct. Answer the questions she posted and go from there. I had several medical collections posted on my credit reports. The collection agent was NCO. The sol had expired, I reside in PA (SOL is 4 years). I sent them validation letters. The sent me a letter and told me they were removing the accounts from my credit reports. I don't think they can refuse any payment amount you send. You can pay them off and dispute later, that works sometimes. Most collection agencies want the money. After they receive it they won't bother verifying a debt. I would only deal with them via letters (certified return receipt only) you need to create a paper trail. I had success having a legit debt removed because the collection company couldn't verify the debt. I filed a complaint with the Attorney General of PA. The collection company sent them a letter stating they were going to remove the debt because they couldn't verify it. That is an option. First answer the questions that Copygirl posted. That is my two cents.
I have not sent any letters at all. I have been reading here trying to figure out what to do. I do not know the sol. I live in Ohio. How do I find out what it is? This is the time period in which the debt must be collected, correct? The debts range in age from 95 - 2000. The letters I have written (but not yet sent) dispute collection account by requesting verification that they are indeed mine. Should I just send them and wait to see what happens? Are validation letters sent to collection agencies after disputes fail? Thanks, Terri Just a thought, do you think checkers from the cra's read the posts here?
Terri, didn't I send you info on SOL in OH? or was it some other Terri? It is 15 yrs, they do not distinquish between written and open accounts. OH is the worst state for this sort of thing. You can keep asking, LOL, but it won't change it. All kinds of people read these boards. You would be surprised at the people who have credit problems. I got email 2 nights ago from a domain that would absolutely blow you away!! This person works in the credit industry, has a problem and probably doesn't dare post on any boards. However, I doubt the checkers from the CRA's read it, they most likely can't afford computers - they don't get paid much. breeze
Why can't they refuse? What happens if they do? ===================================== =================================
