I had a debt which somehow was reported to 2 collection agencies. I paid one of them, but the second still lists the debt as outstanding. I requested an investigation through the credit union, and it was verified. I've sent multiple letters via registered mail, but have not received any reply. I was even told by the original debtor that they had contacted the collection agency and told them to remove it. Still nothing. What's next? I threatened legal action in my last letter, and now am wondering if this is what I have to do to take care of this. Do I pursue legal action against the collection agency, rather than experian/transunion/equifax? Any other form of letter I should use first (I've read about a validation letter, but not sure if that applies or what it would accomplish). Thanks for the help, and all the great knowledge in the forum!
"I requested an investigation through the credit union, and it was verified. " Credit union, or credit reporting agency? I.e.: experian/transunion/equifax? "I was even told by the original debtor that they had contacted the collection agency and told them to remove it. " Get this in writing. "I've sent multiple letters via registered mail, but have not received any reply. " "it was verified. " Was it verified in a dispute thru the CRA on whose report you see it? What does the erroneous CA entry show? If it was sent, or sold, to first one CA, and then a second, where you paid it, both should show as collection accounts, with at least the second marked as paid, with $0 balance. The first should also at least show $0 balance after your dispute.
Send a request for validation to the CA's. After their reciept, dispute the tradelines through the CRA's. Do both via CMRRR. If they verify the tradelines and they are inaccurate, you have the CA's under the FDCPA and likely, the FCRA. If the CRA's allow verification and your disputes outline that the CA's are "Unreliable" and that the CRA's "Should look beyond the furnisher of information" to investigate the challenge, you probably have the CRA's as well. At that point, you sue or use the violations as leverage for deletion.
