Hi everyone, I've been on this site for about a year now, and the original problem that brought me here seems to have come back. I guess I need some advice. Someone stole my identity when I was in college, got a cell phone, and the account has gone to collection. Nothing has happened since, and that was 5 years ago. I have found this collection account on my Equifax credit report twice. It is not reported with TU or EX. Each time, I requested that Equifax remove it because it wasn't mine, and they did. Except for one phone call that I know was ill-advised, I have not contacted the CA. But today, I received a message from the CA on my home phone. I have not called them. How should I best proceed from here? I haven't checked my Equifax report since last year (when I last had this removed), so I don't know whether or not they re-reported the debt to the CRA. I assume they did. And by the way, are they allowed the re-report the same debt, if it was already removed? I have not sent any cease and desist or validation letters to the CA because I didn't want to get into all that. The one time I called the CA, they wanted me to go into a fraud disputing process that placed a lot of burden on me to prove that the debt wasn't mine, including filing a police report and getting proof of where I lived at the time. Should I even consider doing this? Please advise, or let me know if you need any further info from me. This is not what I needed at the end of an already-stressful week! Thanks.
Just to clarify--what I really need is a strategy to deal with the CA so that they don't keep calling, and, ideally, get them to stop reporting this collection account to Equifax. How should I start?
If you disputed through the CRA, and it was removed, then if the CA attempts to put it back on, it should require a specific certification by the CA, as opposed to their routine tape posting. In addition, the CRA should have sent you a notice that it was reinserted with in 5 days. Since it was removed the last time, either the CA did not respond to your CRA dispute, or some of your identifying info didn't match, and it was removed. You should file a police report in any case of identity theft, but don't get your legal advice from your opponent the CA. They often present claiming identity theft in a manner that appears like the burden of proof is on you and if you don't meet whatever they claim they want, then you owe it. Somehow you are responsible for investigating this, with no assistance or information from them. NO. It is the responsibility of the police to investigate, if they choose to, but you can file a police report with whatever information you know, and passing the threshold of filing a police report gives you certain rights under law. It is in their interest to get you to NOT file a police report, and to pay it yourself as the path of least resistance. After all, if it is identity theft, they will never get paid by the true culprit, and their asset, the debt, which if they are trying to collect after 5 years they probably own, will become worthless. For that matter, you may not even have enough information to know whether it was identity theft, or whether the CA has simply misidentified you as someone else. What specific information have they given you about the account, and what identifying information was used to open it? If you file a police report, it gives you certain rights under FACTA, as well as some state laws, to actually obtain account information that could help you determine to what extent your identity is compromised (or if the CA is BSing you and just trying to collect on anyone with a similar name to yours, which some have been known to do.) You may thing that paying them for a debt you do not owe will make this problem go away, but you will then be stuck with a collection account on your CR which by paying you have admitted is yours, some other CA might even still come after you for the same account, since you still have no real information about the actual acount, and whoever did this once could do it again, and you are no better prepared to deal with it the second time.
If you disputed through the CRA, and it was removed, then if the CA attempts to put it back on, the CRA should require a specific certification by the CA, as opposed to their routine tape posting. In addition, the CRA should have sent you a notice that it was reinserted within 5 days of reinsertion. Since it was removed the last time, either the CA did not respond to your CRA dispute, or some of your identifying info didn't match, and it was removed. Pull your credit reports, dispute with any CRAs showing it, and dispute with the CA, also requesting validation of the debt. Include in your dispute that you have already notified them that the account was not yours, and when. File a police report if the information you know so far points to identity theft. You should file a police report in any case of identity theft, but don't get your legal advice from your opponent the CA. They often present claiming identity theft in a manner that appears like the burden of proof is on you and if you don't meet whatever they claim they want, then you owe it. Somehow you are responsible for investigating this, with no assistance or information from them. NO. It is the responsibility of the police to investigate, if they choose to, but you can file a police report with whatever information you know, and passing the threshold of filing a police report gives you certain rights under law. It is in their interest to get you to NOT file a police report, and to pay it yourself as the path of least resistance. After all, if it is identity theft, they will never get paid by the true culprit, and their asset, the debt, which if they are trying to collect after 5 years they probably own, will become worthless. For that matter, you may not even have enough information to know whether it was identity theft, or whether the CA has simply misidentified you as someone else. What specific information have they given you about the account, and what identifying information was used to open it? If you file a police report, it gives you certain rights under FACTA, as well as some state laws, to actually obtain account information that could help you determine to what extent your identity is compromised (or if the CA is BSing you and just trying to collect on anyone with a similar name to yours, which some have been known to do.) You may thing that paying them for a debt you do not owe will make this problem go away, but you will then be stuck with a collection account on your CR which by paying you will appear to have admitted is yours, some other CA might even still come after you for the same account, since you still have no real information about the actual acount, and whoever did this once could do it again, and you are no better prepared to deal with it the second time. It is in your interest to force the issue, with paper trails to police, CA, and CRA, otherwise the account could show up again, possibly when you are trying to finance a home and delay would cost you. If after filing the police report, the CA does not cooperate in both providing all information on the account and ensuring it never appears again, you can start making FTC and AG complaints against them.
Note that 5 years ago, when this account was originally opened, you didn't even have the legal rights you have today to deal with a theft of your identity. The FACTA changes to FCRA that require the CA to cooperate with the police and the ID theft victim, and require the CRAs to completely remove CR information resulting from such theft, only went into law at the end of 2003. Even whether the police had to take an ID theft complaint, and which police, was even unclear. You are damaged by the crime where you are. File your theft report with your police.
Also file an FTC ID theft complaint. Create the paper trail showing the account for what it is: a crime committed against you, not a debt you owe.
