Just curious, hope Lizardking, Psychdoc, and Christi read this. I've been away for a few months. Sooo busy with new position. Anyway, this is very clear cut. This is the one tradeline I thought would be easy to remove because the CA has been so helpful and great to work with. (can you believe that???) A collection account was put on EQ by the CA in error. I called CA back in November. They verified that I had indeed paid original creditor in full and that account should never have gone to collection. They sent a request to delete to EQ. Nothing came off report. CA sent request to EQ in December. Nada. January comes, CA sends data tape to EQ requesting deletion. EQ still refuses, keeps verifying every time. Feb. CA sends one last deletion request. EQ ignores, keeps verifying. CA sends me copies of letters requesting deletion. I fax them personally with letter telling them, 'here is the proof, delete immediately". They put it through 30 day investig, comes back verified. This time I sent a very detailed letter from supervisor of CA saying they had placed the acct in error, please delete. I took this letter and faxed it to EQ with an Intent to Sue and gave them a settlement for deletion and a cash amount. If they don't get back with me withing required time that I gave them, I am moving forward with lawsuit and will sue for 5 figures. I have already contacted a lawyer who has gone to court against CRA's. They have ignored no less than 6 deletion requests. I want this over with. I work 12 - 14 hour days and I've put off refinancing my house since Nov. because of this crap. To those who have walked the settlement road, what should I expect now??
I think you are getting a hard time from EQ is because your demand for money. Ususally with a letter from the creditor stating they have place in error the information comes off the credit report easioly and quickly. Cr do not pay out money for errors, in general but will delete. do you really want money or the deleltion? Eventually they will remove but are tryin gto figure out what deletion menas for a pay out to you. I think this is what is hapening . NAyone else?
Sorry, I must not have been clear in my letter. Over the past 6 months the collection agency has been sending them requests for deletion and Equifax has willfully refused to remove the account. It boggles myself and the collection agency. We are stumped as to why they are dragging out something that should be simple and should have been taken care of after the first request from the CA. I have only recently sent the intent to sue with request for deletion and cash settlement because after 6 months and 6 requests they have not willfully complied with their duties under the FCRA. Let me know if I still sound confusing. Thanks.
You were clear anesthesia, Hang tough and collect your money -- that wasn't an error, that was plain negligence and breach of their responsibility. TY for sharing, explains unfathomable verifications! Sassy
shoot sorry for clicking before thinking, LOL, meant to tell you to repost with lizard, doc and christi in the message thread to be sure they see it if you want responses from them. or a new message with their names directing them to this thread. Sassy
This will be a baptism by fire I suppose. Like I used to tell the hubby when we were in Desert Storm together "the fire that melts the ice is the same fire that makes the steel strong." Referring of course to all of us who were in the same boat, yet some people cracked and others became more determined. I am of the latter persuasion. I will let everyone know how it goes.
Anesthesia...I don't know about anyone else...but this is not one I would settle without money. This is also one that I would probably have an attorney handle. Its worth enough, IMHO, to not want to take a chance on blowing it by going pro se. EQ has no defense that I can see if it has been six months. That being said...you've only outlined the barest details of the situation. Its hard to say based on just a few facts...but those facts do seem very beneficial in your favor. If I were in your shoes, I would put settling right out of my mind at this point and lawyer up! Good luck with it! L
I doubt I can be of much help to you -- when I brought my 3 successful small claims suits against the 3 CRAs, my goal was strictly to settle for deletions. Unlike Christi, for example, who apparently succeeded in getting cash from all three, I didn't get (or ask for) a dime. Again, my goals were different. I wanted to clean up my credit so that I'd ultimately qualify for a good mortgage rate. Hopefully Christi will weigh in here with some help for you! Doc
well, I already sent the Lizardking Intent to Sue with an attached out of court settlement. If they do not contact me by the time I have set for them, I will move forward with the lawsuit. I'm surprisingly calm about it. I have the full cooperation of the CA, they don't want any part of being attached to the suit so they are being very helpful. I have a papertrail that dates back to December. I was just curious as to whether anyone's experience has shown that EQ only settles out of court if a suit is actually filed, or if they prefer to avoid a suit altogether and have settled under that circumstance.
Talk to a lawyer about taking this on contigency. You have actual damages (the difference in refi rates between Nov and now) as well as possible punitive damages.
The reason Christi won money was due to several things: 1. Great complaint written 2. she asked David Szwak to act as atty of record. He made several calls on her behalf. The bureaus are very aware of his abilities. If you have a mortage issue, you're going to need professionals. You need someone to testify as to the current rate vs. What you could have gotten otherwise. These are actually pretty hefty damages. But you'd have to go ahead and get the higher mortgage rate to use that as your damages... potential damages don't count. Perhaps it's better to apply for small, local credit to use as damages. If you want to talk with David, he's one of the best fcra attys in the nation. If he's not licensed in your state, he'll work with a local lawyer on your behalf and he'll act as atty of record. Talk with him about working on contingency. As per damages: most people have "little" offenses in comparison and receive 1k or under from Equifax and TU... 2-3k from Experian... he will likely tell you to apply now for local credit and get denied (a local rep can be subpeona'd to court)... As per the mortgage, if this is really your only issue, a good mortgage broker can use the letter and the ca verification and get you the same rate as if the item isn't even on the report... You may have been waiting for no reason. They can do rapid rescoring and close the loan with the docs you have. But I do agree, Equifax needs a hit on the head. But again, you will want to go ahead and get denied or get a higher rate for actual damages (while the item is still on the report). You likely won't be too successful in a lawsuit without actual damages (see the Cousin v TU appeal for reasons) www.bjslaw.com As per whether or not Equifax will go to court, I've seen the cases here (and offline) go about 50/50. With the CA stating it's Equifax, they may be more likely to settle but with them, who knows I would think it's a pretty slam dunk, though.
Thanks, Marie. I sent an email to David. Basically, my problem is that I graduated from an expensive university a few years ago, had credit scores over 800 and had never owned a home before. As soon as we relocated back to my home state, we went through a rinky-dink independent mortgage broker in our po-dunk state. They said because of my student loans, our debt ratio was too high and that there was no way we could get a prime mortgage, only sub-prime. We got stuck in the mid-double-digits for an interest rate. (If I only knew then what I know now) My credit cards have a lower interest rate than my mortgage! I've paid on this mortgage for almost 3 years with not one late-pay. Anyway, the only mortgage damages I could possible have would be the difference in what I'm paying now and what I could've been paying had I been able to refinance. What a nightmare.
