I have this unpaid collection on my reports since 4/02, to which I know has been tossed around several CA's since 3/99, but no one reported to CRA until last one. The most recent CA has not been in contact with me, nor have I with them. I am sure it's killing my scores. Problem # 1: The balance continues to increase, ie., it's gone from 3k to 4.7k! Do they have a legit right to collect the added fees? Problem # 2: If I contact them with estoppel or other request for vaildation, I may risk them pursuing further legal action (they have not attempted contact since they purchased the debt). Don't want to 'wake' their attention. Should I: 1. Negotiate to have the CA remove tl and pay the fee; 2. Risk legal action and wait until the SOL expires (NJ is 6 years, 1.5 to go!); 3. Sit on it and wait for them to contact me; 4. Send request for vailidation with real return address; 5 Same as above but with PO Box; 6. Argue with CRA as 'Not mine'; Please advise what is best answer from above or other action I can possibly take.
I'd start off by asking for validation. The original contract will tell you whether the amount of interest and fees that have been added are legal or not per the original contract. If you dispute with the CRAs then you'll have to provide your correct address and the CA will get it anyway. Once you've requested validation with the CA then dispute with the CRAs. If they verify with the CRAs before validating with you there's a violation. The bottom line is if they can't validate to you they can't take any further action. That's the rouet I'd go, you may want to get a few other opinions first since I'm pretty new to this.
Do you remember when the last activity was with the OC? This is the date used to figure out when/if they can sue you. Well, more than likely, the date that you made the last payment to them, but usually those dates are fairly close to each other. The first step is validation, and that stops them from being able to do any type of collection activity until they can validate the debt. In this case, you want to request validation of complete historical documentation, including but not limited to the original application, contract, all statements, invoices, and receipts, etc. The application to prove whether the account is yours, the contract to prove whether or not they are entitled to any fees of any type to be added on to the balance. You also want them to provide a comprehensive accounting of all collection charges, interest, service charges, late fees, and handling charges. You want those broken down to the penny, with the exact date that any and all said charges were calculated from, and the rates at which they are being charged. Since the amount keeps increasing on the reports, its a sign that they are charging some sort of fees, its a matter of finding out what fees, and why.
validation strategy... request validation certified... the minute they sign the green card, and the post office says it was received, you can use the usps web site, and request that they e-mail you as soon as it was received. dispute it with the cras as not mine, now if the ca can not validate within the 30 day time limit, they can not verify or its a 1000 violation...
Do you remember when the last activity was with the OC? The last activity was 3/99, this immediately preceeded the collection activity. The application to prove whether the account is yours, the contract to prove whether or not they are entitled to any fees of any type to be added on to the balance. The original promissary note (if indeed this belongs to me) has no stipulation for added fees or collections. Isn't there a law that allows collectors to add on top of the owed amount some percentage for their costs? the minute they sign the green card, and the post office says it was received, you can use the usps web site, and request that they e-mail you as soon as it was received. Should the return address be mine or a po box?
If there indeed are no stipulations in the original promissary note for adding any fees, then the balance at the time it went to collections is legally all that they are allowed to report. Even if the note gives let's say a 20% APR interest on it, once it's gone into charge off state the interest no longer applies. Only a clearly stated list of fees and interest that is allowed to be added for collection activity can be added. I agree, just demand validation. If they provide full validation and are adding illegal fees, consider sueing them. Good luck ChrisB
Section 808(1) states that *UNLESS* the contract says that fees can be charged, *OR* your state says that fees can be charged, fees can't be charged. If they include additional fees, and nothing in the contract says they can have them, then the next thing to have the CA validate is that under Section 808(1) there is a legal basis for the additional charges, since there is nothing in the contract to authorize it, under the applicatble state laws.
