I send DV letter to RMA-JAX on 4/24. Green Card says they received 4/28. The account was immediately listed as "CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROGRESS". On 5/5, I received a disconnect notice for my bellsouth service if I didn't pay the past due bill. I received nothing that even resembled validation. It was even an old bill with the charges....just a disconnect notice. Today 5/18/03, I pulled a new report. It is now listed like this: Account Number: 3403XXXX Acct Type: Collection Account Acct Status: Open Monthly Payment: N/A Date Open: Jan, 2003 Balance: $754 Terms: N/A High Balance: N/A Limit: N/A Past Due: N/A Remarks: N/A Checked Payment Status: Checked Now my questions: What exactly is "checked" and is this a violation since I have received no validation? 30 days won't be up until 5/28, so should I wait and see what I receive from them before I send off a violation letter? Thanks for the help. BigDawg
1: The notice of termination of service, it's from BellSouth not RMA-JAX. If RMA is the group that you sent the validation notice to I don't think that BellSouth broke the law. I'm sure thou, that RMA will commit a few violations. 2: Did you send a dispute to the CRA after the validation request was sent to RMA? If so, and they verified to the CRA then they just violated. 3: Your credit report showed the file updated to "CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROGRESS" which is what it is supposed to be updated to when you dispute to a CA. The fact that they then had it noted back to "Checked" would imply that the investigation is in progress. Having said that, they're again in violation for not sending you the validation information, but marking on your credit report that they've checked the validity of the tradeline. I would probably do a two pronged attack. First the CA is violating the law, and is not returning a response to you with proof of the validity. You have a copy of your credit report showing that they've indicated you dispute the validity of it, and another copy showing that they've checked and verified that. If they don't get the proof to you before the 30 days expire, I'd consider an estoppel. Is this debt really not yours? Can you make arrangements with the original creditor to make payments to pay off the balance? From your original post I got the impression that it is a very recent delinquancy, so it would be well within the SOL. Utilities are notorious for quickly filing suit for a chargeoff, and negotiating a settlement with payments requiring that they call back the account from the collection agency. If you start making arrangements with the original creditor while stockpiling the ammo, you can have your cake and eat it too. File a suit against RMA, get $1,000, use it to pay BellSouth in full hopefully for deletion of any tradeline by BellSouth. Just a thought. ChrisB
Thanks for the reply. I searched the board last night and discovered that "checked" seems to be CA lingo for "verified". It would appear that have committed a violation, but since the 30 days is not up..I will hold tight for now. I expect they will send me a copy of the original bill, which according to everything I have read, does not approach the level of validation required by law, although I haven't seen anyone address what is actually required of a utility company. Will let you know what happens...again thanks for the reply.
I was told "CHECKED" means the CA or CRA checked the computer to "SEE" if it was there...NOT TO SEE IF IT WAS YOURS OR THAT IT WAS A VALID DEBT... If you disputed that an account was NEVER LATE and they "CHECKED" and found out NO LATES APPEAR...FINE.
It's hard to find an answer on what IS acceptable for validation, but several items point out what is NOT acceptable. Probably an original signed contract and all the statements from the first instance of a balance to the charge off date would be deemed true validation. I would consider anything less than that incomplete. By the fact that they updated back to the CRA after marking it in dispute a clean and clear violation and would not give them the benefit of several attempts to get validation. Estoppel with 15 days to clear it off your credit report, then file suit.
mpbrowni Are you talking about a CA and OC both here? Your post is a bit confusing so makes it hard to respond for you. THE END ** *** ** LB 59
Estoppel with 15 days to clear it off your credit report, then file suit. chrisb= =============Rite on
Sorry my post is confusing. RMA is the CA that is collecting for Bellsouth. When I sent validation letter to RMA, I received a reply from Bellsouth. Bellsouth sent a disconnection notice for my current phone service. I have received nothing from RMA, but thirty days is not up yet...will be on 5/28. I have estoppel ready to send on the 28th. Thanks for the replies.
