Last year I paid NCO and wrote them a letter:March 20, 2000 NCO Financial Services PO Box 7602 Fort Washington, PA 19034 Dear Sir or Madam: Recently I sent you a payment of $165 in the form of a personal check. The check number is 1021. Your acceptance and cashing of the check signifies that my debt is paid in full, and you will contact the relevant credit bureaus and collection agencies to delete any collection accounts or other derogatory credit. I appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter. Thank you. Sincerely, Erica I'm sending them this letter today: NCO Financial Services PO Box 7602 Fort Washington PA 19034 To Whom It May Concern: Per my letter dated March 20, 2000, you are responsible for updating my credit profile with all consumer-reporting agencies. As of this time, you have not fulfilled this requirement. I assume that you are familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its contents. Under this act, reporting inaccurate information is illegal, and I am well within my rights as a consumer to file suit for defamation, violating the FCRA, and any damages that I have incurred as a result of your inaccurate reporting. I will be checking my consumer credit report on April 1, 2001, and I expect that the entry will be deleted. Thank you for your time, Erica Do you think that I've got them in a violation of the FCRA??? Erica
The question is: did you send the check along with the first letter or afterwards? I think you need to send the letter with the check with the condition that IF they cash this check, then they are under the obligation to do such and such things.. and need to sign a document and mail that back to you. If you send this return receipt requested, you know that they received it, cashed your check and if they haven't fallen through on what you say in your letter, I think you get them more for than just violating the FCRA.. if you sent it after the fact, I'm not sure what your case would be..
I would check your local statutes before taking any legal action if you placed a "conditional endorsement" on the check such as "Cashing this instrument constitutes payment in full". Many states have passed laws which invalidate these endorsements. As for the letter, even if they signed for it, they will have selective amnesia and say they never received it. Always get agreements in writing, signed by the agency FIRST before paying. Once you pay, they could care less.
