I filed a complaint with an apartment complex that had a collection on me back in 1996. They had sent it to a local collection agency, but I was never notified and was unaware of the balance owed until I tried to get another apartment. I paid the balance owed directly to the original creditor...the apartment complex and was told that it would be deleted from all of the credit reports. I had not looked at my reports since then and have noticed that its still on TU and Equifax under collection accounts being reported from the CA as paid. Today I received a phone call from the apartment complex asking about my complaint. She stated that they had just recently purchased the property and couldn't find any records on me, but she said she would call the CA and would request that they remove the line from my credit reports.She was told by the CA that they would not delete the collection because they aren't the original owners of the property when they were hired. How should I handle this or do I have a leg to stand on? The property manager seems eager to help me, but is there anything she can do for me? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Validate asking for the lease. You are not sure if you actually owed this. You protected your credit and paid. Now you need to determine if you really owed this. You need the lease with your signature and an accounting of the final bill. If you have paid and shouldn't, demand an immediate refund plus deletion. If the original document can't be located, settle for immediate deletion. This worked for me.
I paid the amount owed to the original creditor, but the CA is reporting it paid. I was unaware of the collection agency until December. Can I bypass the CA and ask for deletion with the original creditor? I've notice that their name is on the tradeline along with the CA's.
I would still do validation with the CA. This is even better. Can the CA produce a lease? I doubt it.
