I'm dealing with NCO right now. Here's the story. They HAD three tradelines on my credit report. After sending a validation request almost a month ago, they deleted only one tradeline. I have received one letter from them saying that they didn't know what accounts I was talking about so I sent them a fax showing the account #'s from my credit report with the truncated XXXX at the end. I got another letter from them saying that they were not able to find the accts because the numbers were truncated. Yeah right! So they then called my home asking me to call them back which I did. The first lady said that she couldn't find a thing with my name on it in their system and hung up in my face. I called right back and the next lady told me that ALL the accounts they had for me were pulled by the OC for unknown reasons and that they don't have anything for me anymore. I asked why are they still listing this on my report and she said that I needed to contact the OC because "they cannot delete it until the OC says to do so". Go figure that one! So then I sent them this letter: Dear John Emmons, I received your correspondence dated 2/3/2004, in which you stated that you are unable to locate any information in your system in regard to me. In your initial letter that you mailed out to my residence, you stated that you would be glad to assist me, providing that I provide you with an account number referencing some account that I may have with NCO Financial Systems. I subsequently sent you another letter via fax with a truncated account number reference on it. In the last letter that you sent to me via postal mail, dated 2/3/2004, you state that the truncated account number that I sent to you is not enough information for you to go by. Mr.Emmons, I would have to wonder how NCO is able to report to the three credit reporting agencies information that they are having such a hard time furnishing me with. Surely it would seem a lot easier to furnish me with that information as opposed to three major credit reporting agencies. My original letter requested validation from NCO in regard to three separate tradelines that appeared on my credit report. Since that time, one tradeline has been deleted but yet two others remain. As you are no doubt aware of the damaging effects that inaccurate reporting can have on a person's credit file, I am appalled to see that NCO has continued to report this without providing me with validation. According to 15 USC 1692g, (b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector Mr. Emmons, clearly NCO is in violation of this statute as prescribed in the FDCPA. Consequently, NCO has now become liable to me for continuing to report this information to the Credit Reporting Agencies without validating with me, even though I have requested such validation. From 15 USC 1692k, (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this title with respect to any person is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of -- (1) any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure; (2) (A) in the case of any action by an individual, such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1,000 In addition to this, NCO has also violated the FCRA by failing to provide notice of disputes: [From the FCRA] (3) Duty to provide notice of dispute. If the completeness or accuracy of any information furnished by any person to any consumer reporting agency is disputed to such person by a consumer, the person may not furnish the information to any consumer reporting agency without notice that such information is disputed by the consumer. § 616. Civil liability for willful noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681n] (a) In general. Any person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this title with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of (1)(A) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; or (B) in the case of liability of a natural person for obtaining a consumer report under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or $1,000, whichever is greater; (2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow; and (3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court. It is my intention to bring legal action against NCO for their violations and to seek such damages as allowed by law. I am willing to settle out of court under the following conditions: 1.) NCO closes the account and deletes it from my credit report since it did not validate. 2.) $3500 in statutory damages under FDCPA and FCRA regulations. If I do not hear from your office within 7 business days via fax, I will assume that you are unwilling to settle out of court and I will proceed accordingly.
This is a factual summary that I am putting together to aid in my lawsuit against NCO that I will file this upcoming week in small claims court. Please tell me if I'm not doing this correctly. I will plug the correct dates in later: NCO Factual Summary of events leading to litigation. Date: Sent initial letter to NCO Financial Systems CMRRR requesting validation on three accounts that they had listed on my credit report. Date: Received initial letter from John Emmons at NCO stating that he would be willing to help me if I would send him more information (i.e., account number, SSN#). Date: Sent letter to NCO with truncated but legible account numbers exactly as it appears on my credit report since they said that they could not find any information on me in their database. These were for accounts listed on Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax reports. Date: Received letter in the mail from NCO stating that the truncated account number was not enough for them to go with and requested that I send them more information. Yet the accounts were still listed on my credit report. Date: Sent another fax stating that they should know what accounts I am talking about since they were the ones reporting the debt to the credit reporting agency. I made reference to the FDCPA and FCRA rules that they were violating and offered to settle this matter outside of litigation. Date: Received another letter from John Emmons at NCO stating that he would be willing to help me if I would send him more information (i.e., account number, SSN#) Date: 2/9/2004 Sent another letter to NCO asking them how they were able to repeatedly report and verify the information that they have on file with the credit reporting agencies but yet not able to provide me with validation on these debts. Once again I made reference to the FDCPA and FCRA violations that they were liable for and offered to settle out of court with them under certain conditions. Date: 2/10/2004 Received phone call from them to my home although I had sent them a cease and desist order in regard to phone calls until validation had been provided. The first lady that I spoke to hung up on me. I called right back stating that someone from their office called my home. The second lady was helpful and stated that all accounts they had for me were now back in the hands of the original creditor for â??unknown reasonsâ?. I asked â??why then are you still reporting to the CRA if you no longer have the account?â? She stated that they could not delete the accounts until the original creditor told them to; that I should contact the creditor and request that they contact NCO and have them delete the accounts from my credit report. This is an outright lie as the FCRA states that the one furnishing the information to the credit reporting agencies is responsible for updating or correcting this information. Date: 2/13/2004 Received a letter in the mail from John Emmons at NCO stating that he can not have information deleted from my credit report because he cannot find the referenced accounts in NCO Financial Systemâ??s database. Yet, NCO continues to have these tradelines listed on my credit report and has verified this information with the Credit Reporting Agencies. How can they verify this information if they truly know nothing about it. Date: 2/13/2004 Faxed a letter to NCO stating that I no longer wished to engage in this sort of behavior with them and that I would compile a factual summary of the events leading up to this date and proceed with litigation.
I started thinking of suing because I just got a letter in the mail from John Emmons stating that he cannot delete theinformation from the CRA because he cannot find it in his system. So I faxed him an exact copy and paste from my credit report to show him what I see on Privacy Guard everyday. He then said, "Your request for settlement for alleged FDCPA and FCRA violations at this time has been denied!" Can you believe the nerve of that guy? I'm gonna sue his rump for sure.
