This is my first post. Ok here I go. I have a charge-off acoount on my cr from mellon bank(which is not a company anymore) now apart of citi-financial for 7000. This acccount has been charged-off since 1997 and will come off my cr next year. The collections agent is also on my cr for the amount of 7000 dollars. They have been reporting the account since 98. I disputed the collections account to the cra and it came back verified. I then called the Ca and they told me the account was now 10k but the last reported debt on my cr was 7k as of Feb 2003. They offered to settle tge account for 4500. I started looking at websites like this one and found out that setttling is not good. I called back and go them to delete this from my cr from 5k(with a faxed letter to do so). After learning the validation process i sent them a validation letter because the account is so old, the oc is closed down, and they would not send me an invoice stating how they came up with the 10k. Did I do the right thing??? Here is a copy of my letter To whom it may concern: This letter is being sent to you in response to recent telephone conversation between collections lady and myself on February 10, 2003 and the notice sent to me on February 11, 2003. I also faxed a copy of this letter to your office today Feb. 24 2003. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested. This is NOT a request for â??verificationâ? or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you. Also please provide me a complete accounting printout to the debt in question including a itemized statement with the principal balance, interest rate (APR), and how you calculated the amount you say I owe to your company and collection cost or fees. At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureauâ??s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you and your client for the following: · Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act · Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act · Defamation of Character If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist. Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated. If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately. I would also like to request, in writing, that no further telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices continue to attempt telephone communication with me it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter. It would be advisable that you and your client assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.. Best Regards Robert Was this ok? Should I dispute with the cra too? Should I dispute the oc since it is closed down? Any info will be helpful Rob
One of the reasons many people dispute accounts WHILE validating is to catch the CA violating either the FDCPA or FCRA. You see, if they continue to report this account without Valdiation then they have violated the law. In addition if the CA's dont have the CRA's mark the account as "in dispute" then they once again violated your rights and the law. there are more violations as well. If the CA continues to try to collect on this debt during the validation process they have YET again violated the law. The important thing to remember is to keep records of everything. Also check your reports periodically and make copies in case you want to sue.
There are many thoughts on this. I did the "not mine" since I am disputing the acct with the CA as well
