Paid off an old account upon the terms - IN WRITING - that the account would be deleted upon my payment. Wrote a nice little paragraph on the cashier's check as well, to the tune of "Cashing this check construes acceptance of the following terms: blah blah blah". Now OC is reporting "bad debt, collection & skip" on this account, but showing zero balance. Do I have any recourse here? I tried covering all my bases here w/ the letter and the verbage on the cashier's check (sent CRRR as well). Does anyone have any suggestions, please or is my goose cooked?
The restrictive endorsement read "This check is tendered in accordance with (OC name) and (my name)'s agreement that acct. #XXX be considered paid in full and any record of said account be deleted from all credit bureaus records." I didn't even know my state (MI) had laws governing restrictive endorsements - here I thought I did all my homework.
Let me put another kink in it - hopefully one of the legal beagles can answer. Is it the state's laws for the check writer or the check casher (assuming the OC isn't in Michigan as well)?
You have a written agreement to delete upon final payment. You made the final payment, they didn't delete. A legally enforceable contract consists of three parts - an offer, an acceptance and exchange of something of value (a consideration). Your contract constitutes an offer and an acceptance - payment is the consideration. I would sue them for Breach of Contract.
While your checking - you might check both. Hopefully someone here knows the answer. I've heard some of this stuff on this website is wrong, but here's a start http://www.carreonandassociates.com/accord-satisfaction-restrictive-endorsement.htm
Thanks for your help, guys, I'll check further into the restrictive endorsement laws and keep the board posted on any results I find. I found the carreon & assoc. site before I did the endorsement and just went whole hog - didn't double check or anything!
Wanted to update - since this thread, I've sent a nasty letter to the OC, CMRRR. No response from them BUT the account is dropping off of my credit reports - TU first, now Equifax. Who knows what'll happen w/ Exp. Probably nothing, as usual. Thanks all who responded to my initial post on this subject! Lainie
How about leaning in Experian to delete it? Provide them a copy of the written agreement for payment in exchange for dismissal. If they don't delete (which they most like won't) sue them both--the OC for breach and Experian for tortious interference with a contract.
I like Kickman's ideas-- sue them all. Yes, one of the problems with restrictive endorsements is that they're not binding in a lot of states. I don't know if it's the payor or payee's state that applies, and haven't done a lot of research on it. I do know, however that many people do this and think it relieves them of the debt, only to be surprised later to find that it doesn't.
i'd be leary about sending anything to the CRA that says that you are paying the debt in order to get it deleted...to the CRA that might look like proof that the debt is yours..and by law, they are supposed to report accurate info..so the best that could happen is they'd update the CL to show that you paid it. pressure the CA, see if they are bonded in your state, etc, etc..breach of contract all that stuff.
I don't know quite how to proceed in getting this deleted off Experian yet - I've got some thinking to do on that one.
By law, the CRAs aren't required to report anything. The FCRA only places restrictions on what they can report and how long, it doesn't require them to report anything. Most of their legal reason to report things comes from agreements with creditors.
Update: So I paid off this old account, zero balance, etc. Yet I noticed that at the end of October they pulled a hard (Exp) on me. So I sent them a non-PP letter, demanding deletion of the inquiry PLUS the $1000 due me by law. They signed for the letter Dec. 1. Thus far, the account itself has been deleted off Experian (the only CRA that's still reporting this old chestnut), but the inquiry remains. I'll wait and see what happens when the 30 days I gave them is up.
If the account was paid in full, regardless of any restrictive endorsement terms, then after payment there was no longer any PP. Issues of restrictive endorsement don't even enter into the picture unless your restrictive endorsement was for less than what they asked for. How much time passed between your payment and their inquiry?
I also had a settlement agreement in writing with a CA. They didn't hold up their end, I called them on it, and they "forgave" the remaining payments to the tune of about $500. Keep pushing on this. Point out they didn't hold up their end, and now they face legal repercussions because of this. Also mention you have this agreement in writing. If they don't come around, they're really setting themselves up for a nice lawsuit for breach of contract.
