Ok see if you can follow this. My grandmother had me as an Authorized user on a card she died in 2000 balance was around 6000. Asset Acceptance put it on my Equifax. I disputed as not mine, was removed from my equifax. Now Asset Acceptance has it on my Fathers Equifax (we have the same name) They say they have a (our name) as a responsible party??? Where do I start dad is pissed!!!
No surprise. You at least know who the responsible party actually was. You could have got it on your report based on a similar name alone. CAs and CRAs are not required to be competent or accurate unless you make them. With no liability, why should they be? Your dad will need to dispute with the CRAs, as well as request validation from Asset. Make clear this is not his account. He may need to force the issue.
For an authorized user, they will not have either a SSN, nor a signature, from an original application. For your dad, they will not even have any signatures on any charge slips, since he was not even an authorized user. How old were you when you last signed for a charge on the account, and when was that? Was the OC notified of the death of your grandmother, and how did they respond? Did the OC originally try to collect from either you or your dad, or is this CA the first to attempt collection from either of you? Even without an original contract, they probably know (or should know) they are trying to collect on an authorized user, and not a joint account party, since they don't have SSN information. They also already know the account holder is dead, since CRA information would show that. That is why they are trying to collect on you and your dad. They are already stumbling around trying to identify the party they are trying to collect from using address information, since with no SSN, they have no way to distinguish between you and your dad. If you can therefore presume that they know they are attempting to collect from a party not responsible for it, you may need to call this bluff, claiming FDCPA violation for willful misrepresentation of the status of the debt. Your father is not legally responsible, and they knew it when they placed the account on his credit report. (It's not your job to find excuses for their actions.)
The Last Activity was in 99 The "rep" I spoke to refereed me to their compliance department whose recording said to send a fax or letter I sent both stating the facts and referencing the FDCPA and Johnson v. MBNA Their reps are clueless she told me it was up to me to prove we didnt sign our names on the application as a joint account...tell me how do you prove you didnt sign anything??????LMAO
When she died, in dealing with the estate, did you or your dad notify the CC company that she had died? Did the CC company at that time try to collect from either of you, or claim that either of you were joint users? If not, their records may correctly show that the only responsible party was your grandmother. Get it in writing. Have you called them? Otherwise proceed down the path of forcing the matter into court, based on damages by the CA, and reporting of erroneous negative information. You already know they can't produce an application with your signature on it, and you can produce the death certificate.
When she died, did she have enough assets to pay her outstanding debts? Did she own any property that was then transferred to either of you by inheritance?
my fathers sister recieved everything after her death and they were notified she had little or no cash just her house which I believe in Florida is exempt from paying debt, I could be mistaken...either way...bottom line is it is not our responsibility legally dad will force the issue if they do not remove it, I think they are just out the estate has long been settled and discharged by the courts, also we are coming up on 6 years now.....I thought after 4 they couldnt sue....but who would they sue????
As long as you do nothing, they have nothing to lose trying to collect from either you or your dad. That is why you want to force it into court, with the possibility of damages, where they have little to win, particularly if it is past SOL, and they would have to retrieve old records, if they even can, which you already know will not show either your signature or your father's.
How would one initiate legal action after their 30 day period to validate is up? Is it a small claims thing, do we need to get a lawyer??? is there a website out there for info on this?? Thanks for all your good info/
The following strategy actually applies to your dad, presuming the account is currently off your reports, and is recently on his. They are not required to provide validation within 30 days, or ever. They ARE required to notify you of your rights to dispute the debt, and to request information on the debt and the original creditor in their first letter, and that if you fail to dispute within 30 days of receiving their first letter, they may assume the debt is valid, and continue collection. (This does NOT mean you can't later dispute, nor that if you fail to dispute, a court will assume it is valid.) To best preserve your rights, dispute it, in writing, CRRR, with the CA within 30 days of getting their first letter. They should not continue collection efforts, including verifying to a CRA, until they provide validation, since with you having disputed the debt, they cannot assume it is valid. A week or so after you verify they received your dispute, dispute thru the CRA, again in writing, CRRR. If the CA verifies the negative TL in reponse to the CRA dispute, and they have not sent you validation, they have continued collection efforts, a FDCPA violation. In addition, having disputed with the CRA, and with the CA, you undermine their claim that the erroneous TL is a bone fide error, or the CA's claim that they didn't make it, since they were on notice that it was there and that you disputed it. You don't just want them to remove it, only to put it back later or sell the account to another CA. You want to establish that there are damages for which they are liable, so that their likely counter offer to your damage claim is to permanently take the "debt" out of circulation. At this age, they probably bought the debt for pennies on the dollar, so its not worth defending much if there is no payoff for doing so. If the original account owner is deceased, and it is likely that no other party can be proved responsible, the account is a liability not an asset. In your dispute over the account, make clear this is not your account, you did not apply for, open, or use it, you are not liable for it, and you dispute the debt in its entirety. Also start determining and documenting damage if it is on your credit reports: Any increases in interest rates, or decreases in credit line (request an adverse action notice from any bank that does this, to determine the credit report pulled, and get a paper copy of that credit report). Pull you own credit reports, including FICO scores, to determine the effect this TL is having on your creditworthiness, etc.
The above may appear like a lot of work, since you thing they should just fix it in good faith. They have no reason to do so. Some fraction of consumers will need to refinance or obtain credit every year, and whether a debt is valid or not, if an unpaid TL is on their report when they have no time to force correction, the CA will likely get paid. In their minds, they don't know you are not the deadbeat; everyone else they deal with is. Therefore you must proceed, with full paper trail, in preparation for legal action, to best negotiate a settlement.
