My wife has an $83 collection from a medical bill of mine that the doctor forgot to send in a referral for. This happened in 1999. They posted the collection in july of 2001. We never received a 30 day letter nor were we aware of it until it hit our credit manager. I called them and they said I was a liar and it had been there all along. Well I have disputed it a couple times over the last year but they keep verifying it. Then I started on these forums and found out I could send in validation which I did via fax on june 19th of this year. On june 11th I had put another dispute on experian over this bill. Well today, july 9th, they verified the debt from my dispute just 1 day before it was due. They did this without ever posting it as disputed and they did this during validation without ever having sent a 30 day notice. What violations can I nail them for? Also, should I send an intent to sue letter now or wait out the 30 day and then 15 day. They already broke at least 3 rules(although I would appreciate knowing the exact statute). I do not care about collecting tons of money from them waiting for more violations- I feel I have enough to nail them now. Should I fax it now, wait awhile, or call them and tell them they violated and give them the chance to delete or pay. Remember, I do not care about the money. I just want a removal. thanks for your input
Depends who you want to "nail". I would send a procedural request letter to the CRA. I would wait for the end of the 30 day validation period. Then I would send a "second" validation request with the assertion of Estoppel by silence that they remove the account. This second attempt shows the court that you did everything you could (3 disputes, 2 validation attempts)...then I would fill out the small claims lawsuit information appearing that you WILL file in 5 days of this letter if they do NOT delete the listing immediately. As for what violations you have them on, you need to "find out" through the procedural request and failed validations, WHO (the CRA or the CA) is screwing up...most likely you have them both if you wanted to. If, as you say, you only want the listing deleted, then you can collect your violations against the CRA (not listing "in dispute", not providing the info for procedural req...) and the CA (verifying with CRA during dispute, ignoring the first validation request...) and go after them both until you get the item removed. -Peace, Dave
