I need some advice about a hard inquiry that was made to my TransUnion report in Dec 05 from Alliance One, a collection company. I'll explain the entire situation and see what you all have to say! A few years ago, I authorized a second line under my name for a friend because she couldn't get a cell phone without the outlandish deposit. The account responsibility was transferred from my name to hers as of August 3rd, 2005. The last billing period was August 6th, 2005, which Verizon told me was still under my name because the charges made on the account were done before the account responsibility handoff took place. Even though this account was under my responsibility, the bill was mailed to my friend's address and her home phone number (which she ended up disconnecting earlier in 2005 to use the cell phone exclusively) was listed as the contact on the account. The account ended up being charged off in December, 2005 because of the past due balance on the account that remained before she had the account signed over. Verizon told me they couldn't transfer this balance to the account (which had the same phone #, etc) under my friend Cari's name for legal reasons. They told me notices of the past due balance were sent to her house the 6th of each month starting in September, 05 and running through December, 05, however my friend said she never received anything. I found out about this when I saw an inquiry from Alliance One on Dec 22, 2005 and they called me the following day about the past due balance (which I had no idea was ever past due!) and I paid it immediately. I verbally asked on the phone twice before paying off the bill if it was report to my CR's and was told it woulnd't because I paid it off right away. I told the Verizon recovery department what the associate from Alliance One told me and she told me that she was sorry I had been misinformed, but the rep. from Alliance One is hired to collect on Verizon's behalf and had no ability to speak on behalf of Verizon. I mentioned taking it to court and the lady stated I would have no way of winning because the Alliance One rep, regardless of what was said, told me information that wasn't directly coming from Verizon as a company. The chargeoff, which is listed as Verizon Wireless/Great hit my reports on Monday of this week. I called Verizon and an account manager was asked if the charge-off could be removed and I was told it couldn't because the account was still my responsibility even though my friend got all the mail for that specific account number, which I totally understand. I then asked them why they couldn't have referenced my own cell phone number and contact information at my address and listed phone number and they told me they simply send mail notices and if there is no response, they charge-off the account at that point. I also spoke with a Verizon Customer Service Rep (I have his name, employee number, and call center information) yesterday, who told me that since I paid Alliance One in full, when Verizon receives the money they were owed ($174.38), they will updated the credit account to a positive status on my CSR's. He also recommended I dispute the account with each of the credit bureaus so that it can be updated to a positive status. When I told the Verizon Recovery Specialist this, she told me that that information was somewhat correct and that although the account would look better as a paid versus unpaid chargeoff, it will still remain on my credit report for seven years. She told me that there would be no "positive account" such as a credit card that's been paid on time all the time and told me that I should have called and spoken with someone from the recovery team to have my questions answered on issues such as the one I discussed with the CSR. Do I have anything to go on here? Seems funny to me, because I would have paid this account off right away if they would have ONLY contacted me at my own phone number. However, the lady that I spoke with is sending me a form called "Assumption of liability," which allows me to have this charge-off removed from my credit reports and transferred to my friend's CR's (which she has agreed to, since her credit already sucks and she feels horrible about what has happened). Does anyone know anything more about this form and if it's really going to do what I was promised, since I seem to be getting the run around with everything else from Verizon? I've also called all my card companies and explained the situation and they've been understanding and told me if any rate increase or account closure occurs, I can send them the documentation (the assumption of liability form and letter from Verizon confirming the deletion) and have my account re-rated with no problem. Back to the hard inquiry pulled from TransUnion by Alliance Once; they pulled the inquiry and gave the identifying information as my name and under my friend's mailing address. However, when they contacted me, it was at my home phone number, which is a completely different address. Is there anyway I can get this hard inquiry removed, since I have never lived at my friend's address. Wouldn't this be using wrong information and be cited as "erroneous reporting" under the FCRA? Also, do I have any recourse against Alliance One, since I was promised that there would be no reporting taking place for the collection or charge-off (I don't have the Alliance One Rep's name that I spoke with, but I'm sure I could get it if I called back and requested it). Is there any recourse against Verizon as well, since I was told that what the Alliance One employee, who Verizon told me has no authority to speak for them, told me information concerning Verizon and then having Verizon tell me that information in incorrect and nothing can be done based on that statement? All in all, this week has been hell. I've spent a LOT of time calling the Verizon Recovery Team, my credit card companies, and Alliance One. Lesson learned: Never authorize anyone for anything! I will NEVER do this again, no authorized users or co-signers in a million years. I hope you guys can offer some advice on this issue though. I'm just happy I'm getting that charge-off transferred off my CR's, now I want to know if there's more I can go on. Thanks in advance!!!
As you have learned, never authorize, co-sign, transfer, or put anyone in between you and anyone you have an account with. Screw-ups will happen, and even when the company makes them, they will blame you. You have also learned that a CA will say anything to be paid, and all parties will argue after the fact why they can't do anything, because you should have done this or that. You didn't pay, who cares why, then you paid, so you get dinged. Doesn't meet common sense standards of customer service, or even equity, but as a small ex-customer, who cares? Your good will has no value, and they can half-justify doing nothing. What you expected: Account transferred to new party. Billing responsibility transferred with it. If they considered you still responsible, they would bill you. What they did: Changed name on the account. Changed address on the account. May have sent bill intended for you to new address, or to who knows where. When you didn't pay, sent whole account to collection, you deadbeat! CA, being paid only if they are smarter than Verizon, knows that people move and that their clients make mistakes, so they look you up and bill you. Duh. Both CA and Verizon claim neither are responsible for damaging your credit. Verizon claims to be willing to damage someone else in your place (isn't that thoughtfull!), but don't count on it. Based on your experience so far, I'd bet you both get dinged, since that is second nature to this level of both CA and Verizon employees. You seem to even be going along with it. You are too understanding. Are the CA and Verizon both in the right? Hardly. Verizon claims the CA had no authority to promise you anything, so they don't have to deliver. They also claim if you had only done it right, to the right Verizon department, this could have been fixed, but since it was already collected thru a CA, it is forever a "paid collection" so they can't (read: don't have to) do anything. By claiming the CA had no authority, they are saying the TL is on your CR thru their own intention and authority. They can't have it both ways. Does this get them off the hook? Not under FDCPA, or FCBA, if you want to make a stink. They are all betting it's too much bother, and most consumers will move on and live with being screwed. You did in fact transfer responsibility for the account to another party, and Verizon represented to you that they had done so. If as they claim some part of the account was still due from you, then under FCBA they still owed you a timely bill sent to the address they knew was still yours. They could have told you they could not handle that type of transfer, in which case you would have not transferred the line in that manner. Instead they screwed up and broke the law. What about the CA? They basically deceived to you to get paid promptly, and knowing that Verizon screwed up, are also falsely representing that they cannot remove their tradeline when they earlier represented they would. FDCPA violation for use of deception to collect a debt. Is Verizon clean? They benefitted from their agent the CA's deception, probably know that their CA would say anything, which is why they hire them, knew about it when you brought it to their attention, and still refused to correct. Verizon is claiming all you have to do is dispute thru the CRA, and it might be fixed, but in doing so, they are just diverting the blame onto the CRA and the CA, who they claim doesn't have the authority to remove anyway. What a bunch of BS! They are not offering to do what they should ethically have done anyway: recognize that they screwed up, and direct the CA to remove. How do you have a chance to fix this? You can already see that the standard channels will get you nowhere. They are not really designed to help you, only to collect whatever the system says is owed from someone at minimal cost. Where to put pressure: Letter to executive offices of Verizon, combined with complaint to your state's AG. A third complaint to a local TV, radio or newspaper consumer reporter would also help. You also need to dispute the CA TL thru the CRA, since without doing so, you can't proceed to act against the CA under FCRA. No reason to do one step and wait, it will only cost you. Send them all. In your letter, point out clearly what you tried to have done, what Verizon screwed up, that having then later decided that part of the bill was still yours, they had a legal obligation under FCBA to send you a timely bill, which they failed to do, and that the account went to collection due to this failure, that you attempted to remedy their error, that the bill has been paid, and that the CA and Verizon have refused to remove the negative TL resulting from this mess. Ask that they remove it. In court each party has an excuse to deny any responsibility, and muddy the picture by pointing the finger at you or another party. In the court of public opinion, it's different. Just as companies have people to make sure they get paid, companies have to have other people to make problems go away. They are just not the same people. For example, see this policy reversal: http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/1,58517-0.html http://www.att.com/news/2003/06/26-11847 Make the shit hit the fan.
Is this a hard inquiry, or a negative TL? If it is just a hard inquiry, the effect on FICO is limited, and minimal after a few months. The presence of the other address, at which you never lived, is some indication of what Verizon created in their records: Your name, to be billed at that other address. If there is no corresponding TL showing, you might just ask the CRA to remove, since you never lived at that address. If it is a negative TL, proceed as above.
There is a hard inquiry and the negative tradeline. The hard inquiry is from Alliance One (the CA) and the collection is listed as Verizon Wireless/Great (which I was told is reported on Verizon's behalf by Alliance One). Thanks for your advice so far! I have a lot of reading and work to do, but I've got something to work with now thanks to you help!
I'd also like to add that when I spoke to Verizon's Collection Dept, I requested copies of all the statements they sent to the authorized party's address regarding the past due balance and was told that I could only get three statements. I asked why and the lady said that it was company procedure!?!? Isn't this somewhat deceptive; not allowing me to get copies of all the statements that were mailed to this other address? I kept referencing the fact that the party that defaulted on the account in my name had a different address and that they should have referenced my address on the main account that the authorized line was spawned from, but the rep told me because the billing address was to the authorized party, that Verizon had no responsibility to "hunt" down my physical address or contact phone number to alert me to the situation, even though I suggested a reference to other accounts under my name would have yielded my correct address and contact number. I also disputed the Charge-Off with Experian on 1/09/2006 and it came back verified already yesterday!? Should I request information on how they verified this account and how it was done so quickly? That seems awful fast to me. I was also told by the Experian Rep when I called that it could take up to 45 days to complete the request. I thought it was 30 days, but if I remember right, they can send a notice via mail and get another 15 day grace period to continue the investigation if necessary.
The collection department's job is to take your money and screw your credit. That is why you are unlikely to satisfactorily resolve this thru whatever channels they say you should. If you play by their rules, they will do what they do. The CRA CSR's job is to get you out of their hair. They are a cost center. It could take 45 days, or forever, if you let it. It's not their credit. Disputing normally is legally required to take 30 days or less. If you are disputing an item on your report obtained as your free annual report, they have 45 days. If additional information is submitted, they can add 15 days. See FCRA, on the FTC site.
