Hello. I could definetly use some help here. Received a letter from cra regarding past due phone bill. Sent letter to them, CRRR, asking for verification. I received the little green card back, but no response. Now, just pulled cr on pg and found they have listed this debt, but it is listed just as a collection agency, no info on who it is owed to, date is date of first letter sent from them and the rest of the report is so vague. What shall I do at this point? Please help. Thank you.
What you can do depends on whether or not you demanded validation within 30 days after you received their initial or first contact with you. If you did then you have a valid reason to sue so long as you are not trying to sue the original creditor. And you can even sue the original creditor if you live in any one of the 23 states that allow that under state consumer laws. It would also depend on whether or not their listing is dated prior to having sent you their initial demand letter. If they listed first and then contacted you then it would not constitute continued collection activity. It would only constitute continued collection activity if they sent you the letter first and then placed the notation on your credit reports after having received your demand for validation. So the two words, "initial" and "continued" both have to be taken into consideration before thinking about filing comlaints or lawsuits. The first one, "initial" is the most important because if you were not timely then there is nothing you can complain about unless you could find something on their report that was false or inaccurate information.
What I did was, as soon as I received this letter, which states in it that I have 30 days to dispute the debt, I sent a CRRR letter giving them the account number and asking for verification of this debt. They received it 8 days after their only letter to me. Since they did not verify the debt, what is my next step? Thank you.
What is the next step? I've asked that question here too and got no replies. One thing for sure as far as I am concerned is that the next step isn't asking for a validation two or three times. That is just plain foolishness in my opinon. Another thing that seems certain to me is that it isn't sending off an estoppel letter that talks about Englehardt v. Gravens either. Others may disagree with me but that is what I think. So I don't know what the next step should be either. Maybe someone else has the answer to that question. I don't.
What letter would be the best to use in this instance? I have noticed that the account number is incorrect, date opened is incorrect. Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.
Is the amount correct? If the account number is incorrect, is this even your account? If they don't provide the original creditor, how do you even know?
Have you tried disputing the account with the CRA? If they "verify" information which you know to be incorrect then you may be able to take action against them to force them to remove the acct.
The only thing on the whole report correct is the amount and of course I don't know that to be correct either because they won't verify the debt. LOL. Other than that, it is all incorrect. Okay, so at this point, I should dispute with the CRA? I just want to take the fastest action and get this off the report. Thanks for all the input so far.
I would start with the CRA and if they don't remove consult these experts about possible causes for suit against both the CA and CRA.
That is what I am going to do, request the CRA to remove it. Thank you for all the suggestions Creditnetters. Nice to have a place to turn to. I will continue posting through the process.
