Wanted to check with the forum about best way to proceed, starting with my small items first. These come from my Experian report. 1. The first one is from the city in which I live, for an amount under $100. It says it's been reported since 2006, and is scheduled to drop off in summer 2012. Item is listed as, "government." I generally recall this was a mistaken water bill, which arose in my old place, after I moved in 2006. May also have been the fact I missed a bill during the move, because at that time the city did bi-monthly billing. 2. Several small charges from Progressive Management Systems, each under $100. Each references a hospital. One line lists them as far back as September 2006, scheduled to drop off next year. There are a few of these from Progressive Management system. The oldest is May 2005, scheduled to drop off July 2011. So, advice. Should I validate these debts first, and then proceed with the next step? I think I'll do it in writing, return receipt requested, instead of the online challenge. One other question: now that I've gotten my free credit reports, do I now need to pay for access to monitor my reports as I begin this process, so that I can record dates and check for FCRA and FDCPA violations? Any tips or advice on either dealing with these types of items is greatly appreciated.
Are all of these negative marks you're referencing listed as collections on your credit reports? Have you disputed any through the CRAs yet? It's a good idea to start off with a DV letter to protect your rights under the FDCPA. As you mentioned, send it CMRRR and start keeping detailed records of all your communication. And yes, if you're going to be really diving into this, it may be worth it to utilize a credit monitoring service so you can keep up to date any changes that occur.
