I WON!!! *doing endzone dance*

Well folks, after a year-and-a-half long battle over a debt I refused to pay - I finally beat the system.

I felt it necessary to share with the community here at creditnet since it was here where I first found out that I didn't have to be the victim.

To give you a brief run down, it started with a few hundred dollar hospital bill I receive back in Dec. of 2001. *IMPORTANT* I didn't discover creditnet until the bill was newly sent to a collection agency. My credit rating was at the mercy of my ignorance. But instead, with the help of the creditnet community, I was able to deliver a 9th inning come-from-behind grand slam (return receipt of course .

So I leapt into action:

I sent out all the letters certified return receipt:
1.) May 2002 dispute validity of the debt
2.) Aug 2002 dispute validity again, demand validation in 30 days, threat to sue
3.) Sep 2002 estoppel letter, 15 days to respond, threaten to sue again
4.) Oct 2002 payday letter to inform CA of violations, offer compromise to pay bill on my behalf in lieu of my suing.
5.) Oct 2002 payday letter informing Original Creditor of violations by CA in attempts to collect on their behalf, informing Original Creditor of liability for said violations, offer compromise that CA pay bill on my behalf in lieu of my suing.

So what were the violations? Well, let me tell you, some CAs are so darn sloppy it's embarrassing. And this one was a winner. You can follow along above with the corresponding aforementioned letters.

1.) Failure to validate debt within 30 days.
2.) Then, *the biggie* these clowns put a negative trade line in my credit report despite not validating, and...
3.) Failure to list alleged debt as "in dispute" with the credit reporting agencies.
4.) Continuing collection activity after receiving a written demand to validate said debt and failure to provide validation for said debt. These fellas just continued sending overdue bill letters and calling my house as if I never sent a stitch of correspondence *sheesh* (return receipt, of course .
5.) Further attempts at telephone contact made after written demand received that all further correspondence be sent only in writing.

And there were a few others, but those were the biggies. Well, guess what? When I sent out the payday letter to the CA, that negative trade line quietly was removed entirely from my (3) credit reports. Then, the bill was shipped back to the Original Creditor (hospital), who then proceeded to send overdue bill letters all over again without missing a single beat!?

Well, my life got busy with the birth of my son and I sort of let things grow stale for months. I figured I'd get back to squaring this whole mess someday. (And as a side-note, I didn't even know the CA had removed the negative trade line!). So two days ago, after getting fed up with yet another overdue bill letter from the hospital, I decided it was high time to settle this thing.

My first step was to check my credit reports from the big three agencies and contest the negative trade line. To my surprise, it had disappeared! Without so much as a how-do-you-do, the pitbull CA had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. All that was left was a showdown at high-noon with the hospital.

I called them up yesterday and spoke to a woman in the billing department. She tried to strong arm me, but I'm a VERY assertive, quiet intelligent, and well spoken individual. I pounded the table with the return receipt letters, and violations, stressing the hospitals' liability for the CA's actions under THE LAW OF AGENCY. Things looked even bleaker in light of the CA removing the negative trade line and throwing the debt back to the hospital like some hot potato. I said, "look, we're waaay past the issue of a simple overdue bill. Perhaps you need to consult your legal counsel regarding these violations." Lastly, I said I'd fax over my last correspondence for her convenience/review (my payday letter I'd sent in Oct 2002.) She said she'd review the situation and call me back.

Well, today we spoke, and in a flash she blurted out, "I've zeroed out the balance and I've sent that to you by mail. I apologize for the inconvenience." I said, "I appreciate it." And that was that. I hung up the phone and the crowd went wild.

When I started this journey, I had three negative trade lines.

1.) The hospital bill

2.) A $50 pager I never returned to the issuing company - at the advice of creditnet, I contested it - and the company wasn't even in business anymore to verify it. And like some ghost that still haunted my credit report, I exercised that demon with ease.

3.) I used to run a fairly large business that utilized a merchant account. One for VISA/MASTERCARD and the other AMERICAN EXPRESS. And by just a sheer mix-up with AMERICAN EXPRESS over a customer who contested a charge that I later successfully secured, I ended up with a vicious $1200 no pay on my credit report.) I contested - they verified - but it was set to drop off in Dec 2003. Guess what? When I checked my credit report over the hospital bill two days ago, it had vanished without a trace.

So not a single negative trade line!! In that time, I've also contested 14 different addresses listed for me and narrowed it to just my current one. Contested all but "self-employed" under employment info. Contested 8 different variances of my name to just one. And paid off all my credit card balances.

Today, my credit score is 770. It's so clean, you could eat off it. I owe it to the community at creditnet. I'll be buying my first home in the next couple of months, so thanks a million. I've gone from an ignorant victim to a savvy, attacking pitbull. I could have paid the bill no problem, but I sincerely did this whole shebang to learn better how the system worked. I learned a wealth of information, and anybody with questions that I could assist, I'm more than happy to.

Have a great day!

Cheers,
Richie Rich

 

Here's my experience regarding the payday letter...

A week after sending the payday letter to the CA, I received a phone call from some higher-up there who proceeded to pseudo-apologize and say how he could work things out. But it was a message on my answering machine and then I accidentally ERASED it!!?? Up till that point, the CA had also NEVER acknowledged my correspondence, since the entire operation is basically just a computer spitting out notices until a human being finally takes notice.

I returned the call and left a message with the CA but never again heard back. It might have helped if I simply knew the name of the person who called me. But in the end, despite no acknowledgement from the CA, they did drop the negative trade line.

Also after speaking with the Original Creditor two days ago, I pointed out how the CA sent the debt back to them and didn't want anything to do with it anymore. She said, "Yes, we took it back." Since I was heated, I replied, "Well, it's my understanding that they SENT it back." But y'know, the more thought I give it now that this whole mess is over, the more I think perhaps it could have been my payday letter to the <I>Original Creditor</i> that also set things in motion. After all, the CA has a lucractive contract with the Original Creditor. One phone call from the hospital and the CA would likely scramble to make things right.

So bottom line - both payday letters are crucial - since your goal is to inform both the right hand <i>and</i> the left hand. You never know which one wears the pants in the relationship.

 

[copyrighted material removed by Creditnet]

 

sorry butch. i see that you're a veteran to these boards. i'm certain you know what a payday letter is, but probably by another name. didn't mean to explain it like you were a newbie.