FTC = Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/ Responsible for enforcing FDCPA and FCRA, on-line copies of which you may find on their site.
Might I be able to use the following to my advantage? I contacted First Premier directly to find out about the original deliquent date and last payment, etc. I was told because it is a charge off, they do not have the records and I needed to contact the collection agency. Then I told her I did contact teh collection agency which also told me they do not have the information. She put me on hold, conferred with a supervisor, and then she tried the 2002 date, (which strangely coincides with the date my mortgage company paid the debt). She stated that it went 150 days past due December 2002. So, I asked how that was possible when I stopped paying on the account during 2000 - 150 days would have less than a year past 2000, worst case scenario would have been during 2001. I also mentioned that Equifax had the last activity date during Feb 2000. So, then she put me back on hold and then she came back with a date of August 2000 as the "account suspended date". When, the creidt reporting agency shows a date of last activity in February 2000?????
The Aug. 2000 "suspended" date may be when they charged it off, which would normally be about 180 days after it went delinquent. That places the original date of delinquency in Feb. 2000, which appears to agree with their date of latest activity. Note that their "we don't have that" line turned into they actually did have it. OCs routinely say they don't have information after selling accounts, when it may still be in their systems, or they may have the original documents in storage. In fact, in disputing with any subsequent CA, the CA would have had to obtain the account information, including original date of delinquency, from the original creditor to comply with FDCPA. The OC has nothing to gain from any further effort on debt they have sold, and may charge later purchasers of that debt for the costs of researching or pulling those records. With the OC showing some sort of activity around the time the account was paid, it is even possible that the CA you paid was collecting for them on the account, or that the CA you paid inquired at that time to the OC on the account. Some information flow appears to have been triggered by your payment or attempted payment. Who does the new owner of the debt say they bought it from, the OC, or the CA? Equifax was probably given the correct original date of delinquency when the account was first reported as delinquent, at which point the records would have been relatively current and up to date. Whether the CA really didn't have the original date of delinquency is questionable. Under FCRA, they are required to report it to the CRA within 90 days of placing any negative TL, so they probably obtain it along with the other data on the account in electronic form. They may have been playing games with you to avoid acknowledging that the debt was past SOL, which would undermine their ability to collect by implying they could sue.
So what you are saying is that their pass the buck method is going to work against them if I file a dispute against both? Or you think the dispute will force them to get their ducks in a row and provide me with proper information. The providian card which was in 1999 was about the same time as the First Premier...which is the one I am going back and forth with right now.
I'm also worried that doing all this stirring up will cause my FICO to drop. I'm up to 647, 659 and 674 with these debts on here. But I have ot do somethign because before closing these debts will need to be taken care of, and since they are paid, at least I don't want to have to re-pay them. I'm also concerned that the checks issued were never cashed for whatever reason. What recourse would I have then? I was not hte party that issue teh checks, the mortgagor was. But, I never checked to make sure they had been cashed since I was told they would handle it. BTW... I really appreciate your help and info.
What I am saying is that you can't trust anything said verbally by a party trying to collect money from you.
What if the mortgager never issued any checks? Then they may have money that is yours. Where did they put it? Did it originally come out of the loan? Was it shown on a HUD form or escrow document as being paid? Did they apply it to your account? Did they turn it over to the state, claiming they couldn't locate you? Did it just disappear and end up in their bank account? If you paying these debts thru them was part of the terms of obtaining the mortgage, and they failed to do so, what liability would they have? Those are questions for your attorney, but first see if they can produce the checks, since if they can you don't even have to go down that path. The one JDB's suggestion that the checks were not cashed, either before or after the account was sold to them, is pure speculation, based on no information, but deliberately chosen to maintain their claim to continue collection. It is interesting that she would claim the checks would not have been cashed, implying that your liability remains including subsequent accumulated interest, and not that the seller might have cashed them, either before or after selling the debt, which could be a sticky situation for both debt seller and buyer. As you can see, collection of accounts already paid, whether "accidental" or deliberate, often succeeds when the alleged debtor is in a position such as you are now, seeking a mortgage, and the risk to not paying a debt you don't owe exceeds the cost of paying it.
The mortgagor included it in teh "disbursement" section of the settlement form for the loan as individual items. Paramount "the mortgage writer" have also provided copies of the "fronts" of the checks to me which are in my posession. Paramount and myself are waiting on only the backs to show that they have been cashed.
Then to date you can presumably show that they made them out, to what party, for how much, and that you are out that much money. The backs of the checks will tell.
Regarding another comment you made....what would happen if the mortgage company didn't pay and did not return the money to me under the premise that they couldn't find me? 6 months after I closed, they refunded money to me. They overpaid one of the mortgages and I didn't even know about it. 6 months later when they were issued the refund on the overpayment, they immediately issued a check to me. I received the check and a letter in the mail saying that what was actually owed was less than what they paid, and here is your money. So, do I think the mortgagor would keep money for checks that were not cashed? No. And, I have been advised, that they have a system in place, that if the checks were not cashed, they would have notified me. That never happened. There was a total of 5 accounts which were paid off. Two mortgages, AMX, and these two problematic accounts. Amx was a collection and shows resolved. The other two were obviously paid (and even one over paid).
That puts them in a sticky position, since presumably they know where you are because of the lien they hold on the property, and because you are making payments to them. Also, money or other property held by companies, that belongs to a resident of the state is generally required to be forwarded to the state if the company cannot locate the owner, typically after 1 year. That is why, if you have an inactive bank account, you may get a letter from your bank requesting you to acknowledge that the account is yours, otherwise it will be sent to the state, who will hold it until you claim it.
I knew about the "can't find owner" but in this situation, they obviously could find me - because they had already done so. So, I sit here frustrated wanting to be able to move forward, but I can't until I get a copy of the backs of the cashed checks. Isn't there something I can start with at this point?
Are the copies of the front of the checks copies made before they were sent out, or electronic copies made by their bank after paying on them? If the checks were processed, they would likely have the MICR coded check amount added and showing on the front, usually in the lower right corner. It is generally in cents, with no decimal point, in the squarish MICR font. That would tell you that someone was paid, probably the party named on the pay to the order line, and the copy of the back when you get it will show what banks processed it, when, and what company name and account number it was originally deposited in.
Looks like the last time I paid anythign to either company was December 8th, 1999. (That's when the checks cleared my bank).
Unless of course you paid the whole thing off via your mortgage company. Either way, their collection options appear limited. What is your state's SOL on revolving credit accounts?
Verifying my lawyer's claim of 4 years...Suze Orman. But, as you said that is only the legal amount of time they can file a lawsuit to collect.
BTW...when I see this under an account reporting only by one credit reporting bureau what does it mean? Election of remedy â?? reported by subscriber. Debt included in or discharged through Bankruptcy Chapter 13. This was for Sears.
Did you declare bankruptcy? Sears (the subscriber to the CRA) is reporting that you did. Not sure what "election of remedy" means. Ask the CRA. "Chapter 13" bankruptcy generally means a plan was approved by the court to pay back some of the amounts due creditors over a period of time. Chapter 7 bankruptcy would have paid whatever the debtor could have currently pay to creditors, and wiped out the remaining.
