hey piggybank... Not a chance! Although, I think we've all felt that way somewhere along our journey here....I know I sure have! It sounds like you do have the grounds for a pretty solid case against Sears. However, IMHO, you're probably going to need to get them in writing. In my experience, no court will take your word about a verbal dispute with Sears over the phone--Sears can and will simply deny it. IMHO, when dealing with OC's it is a MUST to first send them a formal dispute of account information in writing (certified mail, RRR). The reasoning behind this is based on the FCRA and You send the dispute (can use one of the simple sample letters found here at CNet) and wait about a week after you get the RRR(green card) back proving Sears got your letter, then check your credit reports to see if Sears has notified them that the account information is in dispute (as per FCRA above). If not (it won't be) you have them on a blatant violation and $1000 right there and could file suit based on that alone. The next step is (again) disputing with the CRA's after Sears 30 days for investigation is up. The reason being that Sears now KNOWS (written proof) that the account info they are providing is wrong and if they should verify that incorrect information again with the CRA's that's a MAJOR violation of the FCRA and worth at least another $1000. As for Experian not marking the account as in dispute, that's probably not going to carry much weight in court of law. They did investigate once and they are going to say that meets their requirements under the FCRA. You're probably going to need quite a bit more against them before taking that to court, IMHO. And it may be kind of tricky to get them to reinvestigate this account again as they are quick to label multiple disputes of the same account as 'frivilous'. Another useful tip is that if you live in one of these states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin then state laws essentially apply FDCPA laws to original creditors which means that you can also use the method of requesting legal validation for the account from Sears--an easy way to rack up a quick violation from them. I live in AR and the validation letter I sent to Sears was the only one that they really responded to. Not directly to me, but they sure did lots of tinkering with my reports. They never responded directly to me so I got them on another big violation right there. Hope this might help you in some way. Sounds like you're indeed on the right track, but this can take a loooong time. I'm well over a year into my dispute with them, but I can at least see a light at the end of the tunnel now (not an oncoming train for once!) If anyone else has advice as to how crowmom should best proceed, please add to/correct this. I know from experience what has worked for me, but I'm still learning all the time......
hey piggybank... My ordeal is really kind of a strange one in that the account never went to collections. It had a few lates, but was paid in full to Sears more than 3-1/2 years ago. Sears just never reported the entire balance as being paid, leaving a monthly past due balance haunting me. When I started disputing with them, they did mark the account as paid, but re-aged the account to 2003 and left 3 years of a false past due balance history that really trashed my credit scores. I've been much too nice in dealing with them as I have a well documented case (including receipts proving account was paid in full in 2000, proof of accts being re-aged, etc). All I ever wanted was for Sears to accurately report the account--kinda like the law says they are supposed to! LOL Well, no such luck, so we're going to court next month. They have contacted me once talking settlement--but just wanted to know what I felt was wrong with the accounts as reported. I told them to review my correspondences with them and to not waste my time unless they were REALLY ready to talk settlement. We'll see.
hey piggybank... ok, now i'm sorta confused. I've studied the cases that pertain to suing original creditors (as furnishers of information) especially the ones that deal with sears and experian. From what i gather, i cannot sue based solely on them not reporting the TL as in dispute. I mean i CAN, but it looks like the sears/experian monster is on to things like this, and i will either lose or the case will be thrown out. sears knows they can have the suit dismissed because technically consumers cant use 'not reporting as in dispute' as a cause of action. Here's the thread that made me come to this conclusion: http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...php?s=&threadid=44161&perpage=20&pagenumber=1 maybe i should start a new thread about this. I want to know what 'cause of action' i should use. This is for my husband btw. They listed him as authorized user, when he wasn't. then after we got a letter from sears saying his name had been removed, we used this as proof that the TL should be removed. Equifax and TU took it right off. Experian said the letter wasnt 'sufficient proof' and they would have to 'contact the original creditor'. Experian has until the 7th of aug to complete their investigation. I guess what i really want to know is what 'cause of action' could DH use in a suit against sears? I just don't want to go about this incorrectly and shoot myself in the foot, lol.
update and question... Got a letter from Experian today. Even after sending them a letter from Sears PROVING my husbands name should not be on this account, they didn't remove it from his report. letter from Sears to us: "As you requested, we have removed your name from the above listed account as of XX/XX/XXXX. The credit information on this account will no longer be sent to credit bureaus in your name." Letter from Experian to us: "If you wish to have your name permanently removed as an authorized user on this account you will need to notify the credit grantor." HELLO? EARTH TO EXPERIAN? I DID THAT ALREADY AND SENT YOU PROOF!!! ARGHH!! I guess i should be happy? I'm thinking this is the proof i needed to go to court. the question is...do i sue sears? or experian? or both?
Re: update and question... ok so now i get a call from Sears saying they will accept my settlement offer! how nice of them! they told me this was a REALLY good deal. however, I know they just want to take my money and apply it towards the balance and screw me. I told the woman that the only way i will agree to settle is if they send me the settlement in writing, and send a copy of the UDF form saying they'll remove all derogatory remarks from my reports. after being put on hold forever, here was her reply: "Ma'am, if you mean that you want us to have this account removed from, like, trans union and those things, that will take, like, MONTHS." i of course told her how wrong she was, and to get her manager on the phone. the manager told me that she didnt have the authority to send those things to me. so i said 'get someone who can' and she told me there wouldnt be anyone there with that authority until monday. the only thing she knew was that in my 'notes' there was an approval for my settlement offer. (yea, right) here's the kicker: she asked me when i'd be able to pay the settlement. i told her i wasnt sure because i was borrowing the money, and i thought probably within 2 weeks. she said i had to pay before the next billing date (only a few days away) or the settlement offer would 'disappear' (lol). She said in order to 'hold' the offer past the billing date i could pay a regular monthly payment. I think this sounds like bullcrap. What should i do at this point? wait until monday and see if what they fax me is sufficient to settle? and if they fax me a copy of the UDF form (i'm not holding my breath) what exactly am i looking for on there? thanks.
Re: update and question... don't do anything... wait'em out and let the court deal with it. infact - tell them to take you to court - cause you arn't paying them a dime. they will change their tune real fast then settle for $500 in 2 payments of $250 each
Re: Re: update and question... if i wait, it'll go to collections (probably RMA) and i really dont want that. I don't even want to go to court! (i will if i have to tho) I just want to throw some money at this and have them delete. Here's the irony: If this TL would just come off DHs Experian, he could get a re-fi on our house and we'd pay sears every dime they want. (in exchange for deletion of course, lol) but as long as it remains, he can't get the loan. believe me, i'd like nothing more than to only pay them 500 bucks, but from what i've read about sears, that will never happen. anyone else care to chime in about this? does anyone else have any advice on if/who i should sue? I'm thinking i could write an ITS to both Experian and Sears and give them 15 (?) days to contact me, and hope for the best.
newest update and question... UPDATE: The TL finally came off DHs Exp report, and we got the re-fi. Problem is, now that I'm ready to pay Sears, they are being A$$E$ again. I don't believe I owe them what they say I owe them, so I offered a settlement. They accepted! (over the phone--i know, stupid move) But at least they did send me a fax stating that they had accepted my offer. So I sent them a letter basically saying: "thank you for accepting my settlement offer. Before I send the money, please send me proof that the account will be removed from my credit bureau records." I got a letter saying "we cannot accept your settlement offer. call us. we want to help you." (puh-leez) I have decided that I am not paying this. ever. I don't care what happens. I don't really want to put any more details, but I am certain that they cannot get anything out of me no matter what they do. I mean, they were perfectly happy accepting my money (way more than they should/could get) until I ask for deletion. Then they suddenly wont accept. They are the most spiteful, vindictive, awful company. I have sent a letter back to them, but what i want to know is this: when this goes to collection, and the collector violates my rights, can i go after sears? or will i have to go after the CA (which i think is RMA?) I don't mind waiting the 7 yrs for it to fall off, but I'd like to know what i can do after this goes to collection as far as getting the original sears TL removed. Also, this was supposed to go to collection already (don't want to say exactly when). Does sears HAVE to send this to collection at some point or can they just keep it forever? I almost want it to go to collections! I am so sick of dealing with these jerks.
