I feel really dumb. I let a measly $300 AT&T wireless account go into collection. I was temporarrily living in a different city and totally forgot about the account as I pay everything online. I stupidly sent the Collection agency (palisades in New Jersey) a check for the full amount in Feb. To the best of my knowledge, it was not on my report until they got my check, but it could have been a coincidence. The account currently shows as a collection and not a "paid" collection. I disputed with the big three in May and 2 "verified" the collection and one of the CB's deleted it. I'm not sure what to do. Hell I'd offer palisades a couple hundred cash if they would delete the darn thing. I've been doing much better until this stupid mistake. Any suggestions on what I should do? Should I even think about contacting them?
Not a legal eagle, and can't quote the statues, but I can see what's wrong from being messy..haha. You paid them, they didn't update the report to paid collection. You don't want that, cause paid collection is just as bad as an unpaid one. I dunno about the part about it didn't show up until you paid...that can be answered by tha experts here too.... You disputed, they verified, and it still didn't update to the correct status. I know you can use this to get it deleted, but I don't know the statues..but it's something about accurate reporting, etc.. Even if this didn't help much, it should get ya started in the right direction!
You already paid them the $300 they claim was due. If you keep paying them for their "mistakes", they will keep making them.
Can you show damages from their erroneous reporting? Have you been turned down for credit recently, or been notified of an increase in interest rates on another account?
Did you request and get an adverse action notice from the CC company that turned you down, indicating that they made their decision based on information from a credit reporting agency, and indicating which one? Did you request a paper copy of your report from that agency? Have you requested confirmation from ATT that the account is paid? You could sue for violations of FCRA and statutory and real damages. They might prefer to settle for deletion rather than pay cash. You might want to run this by an attorney in your state with FCRA experience. Many will take a look at it for a free consult. Whether he takes it or not, it might be worth the feedback. See: www.naca.net.
