My wife has a charged-off CC account that she settled in 1999 for less than the amount owed... That account is being reported on all 3 CRA's as: CREDITOR SETTLED FOR LESS THAN AMOUNT DUE PAID ELECTION OF REMEDY CHARGE-OFF 12-98 Status is COLL/P&L and MOP is R-9 She also has another account (Acct name unknown) that is being reported to equifax only - listed as: COLLECTION ACCOUNT / CN: (CREDITOR MENTIONED ABOVE) UNPAID Status is COLL/P&L, and MOP is U-9 When my wife called to ask about the second account, they said that it would show up as an unpaid collection until she paid the difference between the original debt and the "settled-for" amount. Is this disputable? Can they legally list the same debt twice, even after they "settle"? What is the best course of action to pursue here? From what I've read, she should dispute with EXP as "not mine"? Any help/opinions are appreciated. Thanks, -Dan
No - they're different numbers. The "settled" account is the CC number - the "unpaid collection" account is a shorter number.
Do you have any documentation from the OC that shows they accepted your offer of "settling the account" for less than what was owed? Even if you do not, the fact that the OC account is listed as "settled" and "paid" should be enough proof the account is closed and over with. You could simply dispute the CA account with the CRA as "duplicate" account. Or, you could send a validation request to the CA, since you've settled the account with the OC they (the CA) won't be able to come up with anything close to validation, and hopefully follow the law, cave in, and delete.
Unfortunately, there's no documentation on our end... that will change, though... Which do you think would be most effective (faster), a validation letter to the CA (which apparently is also the OC - Cross Country Bank), or disputing with the CRA? Thanks! -Dan
Okay, so the CA is actually an inhouse CA for CCB? Not sure which would be faster, however, going the validation route would show the CA you know the system and they need to get their act straight. Just be sure to keep hard copies of your report(s) showing that the account was considered "settled" by CCB and paid. Hopefully someone will help me out here, but the way I see it (as I said above) how can a CA (especially an inhouse) attempt to collect on a debt that the OC is reporting as paid? In any event, you'll be using that paid status on the OC account to your advantage if the CA doesn't cooperate and delete the collection account.
Can someone can help me to double-check my plan for accuracy, since I've never done this before? Here's the situation: My wife had a CC charged-off in 1998 and settled in 1999. This is showing up on her report as "Creditor settled for less than amount due" - acct. status is "paid". A second account is also appearing - but listed as "Account Unknown", and with a different acct. number - but references the same creditor as above (same contact information). My wife called to inquire about it, and the rep told her that it would show up as an unpaid collection until she paid the difference between the original amount due and the amount she settled for. The original account is reported on all 3 CRA's, but the unpaid collection is only on Experian. Here's my plan: Have her dispute the collection account as "not mine" with EXP, and see what the results are. I don't know how they would be able to prove it... If it doesn't get removed that way, then request validation with Cross-Country Bank, and send them a copy of the credit report showing that the original account is "paid" and "settled for amount less..." If they don't respond, then start the nutcase series, estoppel, lawsuit. This unpaid collection account is listed as the most detrimental thing on her credit report, and is keeping her in the 590-620 range on all her scores, so I think there are actual damages that can be proved if it came to that. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems like a fraudulent business practice to report an account twice - I think they're just trying to screw her by reporting the account name as "Account Unknown" with a different acct number than her original account. I'm a proponent of "honey first - if that doesn't work, then deluge them with vinegar" - so the first validation letter will be pretty tame. Does this sound like a good plan? Anyone have ideas/suggestions? I want to get started with this soon. Thanks for your help with this, everyone! -Dan
