Some good news today, a phone bill came back verified today from a collection agency. Funny thing is I called them (the collection agency) and they told me they never got a call and the account is CLOSEDwith them. Experian just "verified" this on the 3rd. I had the collection agency send me a fax confirming this. What should be my next step? They (Experian OBVIOUSLY did not really verify this.
Well, just stop and think about it for a minute. Experian had to have gotten that account to report on from somewhere, didn't they? They didn't just invent it out of thin air. Especially if you owed the account. So the collection agency had to have had their mitts in that little pie somewhere along the line. I'd demand the collection agency validate the account and when they come back and say it isn't yours, then I would make them tell you how that account got on your record and that Experian verified it and therefore it must be true. Tell the collection agency you can't believe that a big company like Experian with the reputation they have to protect would go around telling lies, and if they don't agree that Experian is telling the truth about them then they had better provide you proof that Experian is lying to you. Tell them that if you don't have their proof that Experian is lying in 10 days time you are going to turn this matter over to your attorney with a demand for immediate action against them. That is going to put somebody in a whole lot of hot water because if the collection agency proves they didn't make that report then you got Experian and if they can't prove it then you got them for failing to validate within 30 days. You ought to be able to wrap somebody up in that one.
Bill- They did have the account at one time. However, they have not had it since early 2000. The collection company sent me a letter that stated such. This collection company kept very good records. They had a listing of all contacts with me, dates and times. The collection agency as I said, faxed a letter that it would be removed. That is my point. Experian did not validate this. When I asked for proof of what they did, they claimed they don't provide that info, only that it was verified.
they probably used the online computer system. Although, if the account isn't in the collection company's system I wonder what they could verify. ask for description of procedures. call the collection companya and verify no contact and no account on file. get it in writing. then you really have them with documents
