I received a collection letter from Southwest Credit dated 12/07/2010 Sent a DV letter back, delivered 01/03/2011 (27 days) USPS Certified. So far they haven't responded or verified in any way. On 03/10/2011 I noticed the following apprear on all my Credit Reports: New Collection SOUTHWEST CREDIT SYSTEMS I [TransUnion] Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA reqs [Experian] Customer disputed account - reported by subscriber. [Equifax] Consumer disputes this account information ------------------------------------ Subject has not satisfied debt. From there on I keep getting alerts that a new collection is being placed: on 03/26/2011;04/02/2011. They keep changing the dates! This caused a 100 pt drop in my scores. Are they allowed to place this on my reports 3 months later? Are they allowed to keep updating it like this? Should I dispute with the Credit Bureaus?
I recall reading an FTC opinion stating that reporting to the CRAs was considered "further collection activity" and was thus barred after a DV is received. However, I don't believe this has been established by caselaw. I would dispute the listing with each CRA. I do believe that verifying the information to the CRA does constitute "further collection activity". Finally, those dates are probably "last modified" dates. They're not the "date of last activity / payment", and won't affect your SOL at all.
Thanks sparq. I thought I'd start a dispute with each CRA, I just want to be clear: are debt collectors supposed to validate within 30 days or there is no specific timeframe?
They don't have to respond at all, but if they can't validate the debt then they need to cease collection activities.
Thanks. I did a double-tap on this one: I filed a request for investigation with each bureau and also will mail the agency that they are violating the FDCPA by updating the status as it is considered a collection activity.
