Received a letter in the mail today from a collection agency which states that I owe money to MCI ($2000+). I've never used MCI long distance. The agency says it's set to put this on my credit report. These charges supposedly go back to 1998. My actual carrier doesn't keep records back that far so I can't prove my innocence that way. Any ideas? I've worked so hard to clean up my credit, I'll be devasted to have this on my report and there's no way I can afford to pay it off.
MAKE THEM PROVE IT!!! Even if you NEVER had MCI...your current LONG DISTANCE bill would be of NO value because many people have TWO OR MORE phone lines...
I have heard that they only have to have your name and address to put something on your credit report. How likely is it that they will have your ss#? I would use that to my advantage...
ketchikan, Could you have been "SLAMMED" where they switch you without your knowledge? If not, it sounds like ID fraud to me? Could someone have used your SS# to open an account with MCI? Maybe an old roommate or something? I would send the appropriate C&D letters, and call MCI immediately. I would then investigate what address the # was assigned to...chances are they won't have a signature cause you don't need one for LD service usually. Something is fishy if they have your name and SS#...otherwise I would say someone mistyped a digit on the SS# or had a duplicate name...but having BOTH are tell tale signs of some other mishap. -Peace, Dave
I am having the same problem here. We lived at a house down the road from the house the phone service was at. They want us to send proof of where we lived in Dec 96/Jan 97. 3 proofs for each month. Give me a break. I do have something from the courts with my address on it from Dec 96 and I ordered old bank statements for those months. I have asked for advice on how to deal with this on the board, but no one replied so I really can't help you. Let me know how things turn out, I will do the same.
I don't see where your carriers length of records have anything to do with this:Suppose you didn't even have a phone in 1998 and 1999?
lbrown is right. The responsibility lies w/ the collection agency to prove that it was you-not the other way around. Have you requested validation?
Here is what worked for me. First, do as everyone else said and send a letter for validation, that also tells them to remove the false and misleading information. At the bottom of the letter you are going to want to put a cc to your local utilities commision and your attorney generals office of your state. Next, contact the your utlilities commision office, tell them that your local carrier is telling you that their records only go back 2 years (this is bogus, they just store things on dead file after two years, it is still retrievable, believe me, I did it) and in order for the LD company to collect, they had to have had some type of business relationship documented, that could prove you owing anyone money. The Utilities commision can be very helpful sometimes. If the item is not removed within thiry days, I would call the attorney generals office and forward your correspondence to them concerning this matter. Tell them that they are ruining your credit, and that you have never done business with this carrier, demand that their client proves you owe them money (they dont have to do this, but I would state it in my letter). I would also dispute this with the CRA that is reporting the information. If the collector does not provide proof that there was some type of contract or commitment on your behalf, the CRA will need to block the information. This stuff takes a lot of persistance at times, dont get discouraged. Just keep asking questions....
