Hi! First off, it's great to be here, and thank you for putting this wealth of information out there! A little background, I have some OLD collection accounts (credit cards - 3 of them) that I would like to get taken care of. For the first time in about 5 years, I am in a position to start fixing things. I called the OC's to make sure I had the correct contact information for the CA (they were bought by the CA). I contacted the CA's, and asked that they send me written documentation of the debt and the amount owed, and also updated my phone and address with them. This has all been in the past two weeks. First question: Two days ago, I had a CA call my parent's home, where I haven't lived in 10 years, and speak with my brother who happened to be staying there. The conversation went like this: CA "Is Dave there?" Brother "no, he doesn't live here anymore" CA "is there a way to get a hold of him?" Brother "no, but if you want you can leave a message" CA "sure. [gave name, company and number]" Brother "can i ask what this is regarding?" CA "its regarding a settlement, but I cannot release any more info" Brother "ok. ill give him the message." Today I get a message on my phone stating that "you must call me today by 5pm, or I will contact your place of employment." Now, if I have been studying correctly, the guy should not have stated that it was regarding a settlement, and he should not have given my brother a message to give to me. Is this correct?? What about threatening to contact my employer??? Second question: Another CA offered to fax me information, so I agreed, with the stipulation that they would be faxing it into my place of employment with other people in it, so they would need to call me before faxing and stay on the line to verify the fax came directly to me. They agreed. 2 days went by with no phone call. I called them yesterday and the guy told me they had sent 2 faxes and they were confirmed as being received. They were letters explaining amounts due and that they were a collection agency. It seems to me that this is also not legal, exposing my personal information to third parties. Am I right? My original goal was to pay them all in full, since I do owe them the money, but I am pretty ticked off at this point and may look other directions. Thanks for any clarification you can give me. Dave
In actuality, you do not owe "THEM" nearly as much as what they're likely purporting. Insofar as these accounts were purchased, it is not like you are paying the original party to whom the debt was owed. Instead, you are paying a party which literally purchased the debt from the original creditor for a few cents on the dollar. Depending on your jurisdiction, the amount alleged owed, and whether the account is time barred, I would request validation from these debt purchasers. If my presumption is correct, you likely had a few cards with Providian, HSBC, and perhaps, a small Chase product. Assuming arguendo that I am correct, the debt purchasers will not be able to provide you validation. More importantly, they will not likely mark the account tradeline appearing on your report as being disputed. I would most certainly dispute the account tradelines through the credit reporting agencies as well. Pinpoint specific inaccuracies such as the status, the type, and dates. You will probably achieve deletion with a few attempts. If not, I still would not pay it (unless it is live and of a sufficient amount to prompt a civil action) but I will leave that to your discretion.
I am not very good at this...i should have been more detailed with the original request. The first CA is ARS (Citibank) with a balance of $2200. This was charged off and the DLA is 05/02 The other one is Arrow Financial for a First Premier Card balance of $790. This was also charged off and the DLA is 09/02. I have 1 other, but they are being very amicable and are working with me. I am mainly looking for reaffirmation that I have read posts correctly and that what these two CA's did was not legal. I realize that these accounts are past the SOL for FL (4 yrs for CC's). Unfortunately, I am on a very short time table as I am need to get a mortgage in the next 30 or so days and the collection accounts must be taken care of (settled or paid...). If I can submit some sort of dispute due to their actions, the lender may go for that, but I haven't read up on this subject just yet. Thanks again.
Most of us have been in your situation. I commend your effort to pay off these debts. However, if you want them REMOVED from your report, which will up your FICO debt validate! If you don't know how..no better place to learn. Then if you still need help...ask! AND DEFINITELY INCLUDE A CLAUSE IN YOUR LETTER THAT THEY ARE NOT TO CONTACT YOU IN ANY MANNER OTHER THAN IN WRITING unless you enjoy the relentless calls that will now continue to mount from these collectors.
