Newbie Here.......

Is the CA trying to collect on the account? Are they reporting it? Have your requested validation?

 

Because of the amount at stake (purchase of a home, rate on mortgage over the life of the mortgage), talk to an attorney, NOW.

You want an attorney with experience dealing with FCRA and FDCPA cases, who will know how to use your documentation of the payment to force the CA to remove the collection quickly, or be willing to take action to recover your damages should they fail to act. Otherwise you will be stuck paying on the bill you don't owe, and also paying higher rates because of the effect on your credit.

Time is not in your favor if you will be closing on a mortgage, and the costs if you fail to get this removed will likely exceed attorney's fees. This is not something you should be doing yourself, since the CA will not take you seriously. Nor should you use an attorney who does not already have experience in this area. An attorney with experience in consumer debt collection violations will likely be willing to take this on contingency, since FDCPA allows for payment of attorneys fees beyond consumer actual or statutory damages.

Was this item on your reports before your first mortgage lender inquiry, or did it show up suddenly following that initial inquiry, such as when the lender pulled a tri-merged report?

 

Your attorney should also be able to advise you on how to handle the matter if your lender requires you to pay the account thru escrow as a condition of closing on the loan, in order to best preserve your claims against the CA. You don't want to be dealing with this issue at closing.

 

You are about to become a homeowner, with a valuable asset at stake, and no longer a renter living paycheck to paycheck. You can no longer afford to be penny wise and pound foolish.

If the CA just sits there, you lose. They think if they just do nothing, you will have to pay them, and there is no downside risk to their position. You have to make them want to act, knowing if they don't they will wish they had.

 

If it is showing as a collection account, you don't just want closed, you want no balance due. And if no balance is due, and no balance was paid in collection in the past, then it should not even show as a collection account. If you have a collection account balance due, your lender may require you to pay it before closing on your loan, whether you owe it or whether you have received any validation. In addition, if you have a collection account, and particularly an unpaid collection account showing, it will depress your scores and probably cost you higher interest.

Have you run this by your mortgage broker or lender to determine what effect it is likely to have on your loan?

What are your current FICO scores? Do you show any other negative accounts, including paid or unpaid collections, or lates?

Who is posting this account? Amex, or the CA, or both? What negative information are they posting associated with it? 30 day late, 60 day late, etc?
Did this account show up on your reports when you got your other 2 loans?

You are not likely to know any attorneys in a particular specialty until you have to deal with a problem requiring one. Just as you are unlikely to know a specialist MD until you need one. You may need to talk to several to find one you think can solve this. See: http://www.naca.net

BBB and FTC are unlikely to move fast enough, if at all, and with no effective options to deal with the damages this is likely to cause you. Your best hand is your complete records of the payment, repeated attempts to resolve with no results, ability to show damages, and a good attorney who can make clear you will use it to full effect.

"Every battle is won before it is ever fought" - Sun Tzu
And if it is clear to the CA they will lose the battle, they should choose not to fight it.


If this has been going on since 1998, then it is time to bring it to a head. Failing to do so will cost you the most right now, therefore you have the most to gain from forcing the issue now. In addition, should you be damaged, you have a limited time to recover your damages, or they are off scott-free with no liability.

 

So skip the credit department and write the legal dept. or better yet, see what happens when they are served with a summons.

As ontrack said, you might be better off with an attorney handling this for you. Sounds like you have a great FCRA case.

 

If you can prove you paid and closed the account more than seven years ago, there should be no record on your report. As ontrack and gib said, this is a clearcut case. Get a lawyer or send an intent to sue letter to AMEX's legal dept.