Today I got my TU report. TU has verified a CA's for the second time (8/2001 & 12/2001). I sent a validation letter to the CA (8/16/2001) and an Estoppel (9/17/2001) Since I didn't get a response for the CA's I figured if I dispute the account again then they would delete it ... WRONG!! I know they probably didn't verify it and I should call the CA's to see if they verified anything...but I dont want to break my Cease and Desist only in writing contract. PLUS. i'm sick of having to force the CRA to do there job! My question is... should I try to sue TU or go after the CA's?? Personally.. I would like to go after the CA's! They have caused a lot of BS and denials even though....the account is NOT mine! I figured if I go after the CRA.. I woudn't get anything for my time just a deletion... !!!!!! (which is what I want but If I can get more.. i'll go after it) Second.. if I go after a CA.. isn't it true that I have to prove damages? If so.. what kind of damages do I need? Will a denial form JCpenny, Sears, or something like that do? *** I remember reading someone here tried to sue a CA but was denied b/c they didn't actually have damages?**** I DON"T Want that to happen.. so If I have to have other proof PLEASE let me know! Third.. is there anything else I need to do to be 100% prepared b/f waddling my pregnant but in court...lol..!! HELP.. can someone PLEASE walk me through this!
Send the copies of the validation letter to the CA and the estoppel along with a copy of the CRR (green card) to TU. I enclosed a letter listing Exhibit 1. letter to ABC Collections Exhibit 2. green card to ABC collections Exhibit 3. estoppel letter to ABC etc etc. Then I said the CA could NOT validate this debt as belonging to me, therefore you are to remove this or send me a procedural description of how you verified this debt. I am NOT requesting you verify this debt again, but remove it from my file. If you send another letter saying it is verified I will be filing suit in court for violations of The FCRA. I can email you the actual letter used, but this is the basics of it.
Re: Marie Lizardking Breeze (NEED H Christi, would you mind saying which CRA (or CRAs) responded positively to your presentation of proof? Had you disputed the tradeline the traditional way with the CRA beforehand? Did the CA ever respond finally? Thanks, Doc
Re: Marie Lizardking Breeze (NEED H Doc, I don't have any results yet. I only mailed it this week. I did dispute with the CRA twice and got verified. After the 1st verified I sent the validation letter to the creditor, waited for the green card then disputed again with CRA. When the 30 days was up I sent the estoppel to the CA. The CRA said it was verified again (2nd time). In the meantime, NO response from the CA period. So I have this in route to TransUnion now. I have estoppels out on some more CA now and will do the same thing if they are verified again. Then I do have a papertrail showing the CA failed twice to validate the debt, but the CRA kept verifying it. Obviously SOMEONE is screwing up. The letter I sent TU with all this information also had enclosed a copy of the small claims lawsuit that I intend to file if the information is NOT deleted. Will I be successfull? I hope so. anyone else wanna give her some info..because I am NOT the expert here, only a newbie trying to use bits and pieces of what I've read here, other boards & the law.
Re: Marie Lizardking Breeze (NEED H In my county they won't let us send an offer to settle letter. I filed against Experian already (see other posts) and they have since deleted most of the stuff in question but everyday they continue to add a day to the results due date. They now have it as due 2-6-02 when it started at 11-25-01. I have copies of this everyday that I print out. I am still going ahead with the lawsuit. I have the fax number to Carla Blair @ Experian Consumer affairs. Should I fax the offer to settle letter when I know they have been served or wait until they contact me?
Re: Marie Lizardking Breeze (NEED H Ok.. I see what you are talking concerning suing a CRA. Thanks for your imput Christi! I need to know if anyone knows about suing a Collection Agency? Thanks
Re: Marie Lizardking Breeze (NEED H I've never sued a collection agency but if it's truly not your debt then I'd sue both the collection agency and the CRA. Certainly the collection agency has an obligation to prove the debt really is yours. You're doing the right things by setting up the paperwork trail. Requst a procedural description from the CRA now. Regarding damages, yes you want actual damages. they can include: denied for new credit denied for credit line increase (ask for a specific amount) higher cost of current credit (this would have to be an estimate of the higher interest rate you're paying less what it would in theory be if you didn't have this on your report) the first 2 are the easiest to get. apply for a nice prime card or 2 or 3 and get denied. that'll do it. then you set them at 1k, 5k, whatever you expected to get. 1k is pretty minimum for a prime credit line. then you have your damages under the fcra violations. You will get a min of 1k for all violations if you prove your case. then your time, energy, mileage, expenses sending the letters certified, and the court costs or atty costs. It adds up quickly. If this is really what the case is, you have them dead. Don't just settle for deletions, ask them how much they're going to pay you. that goes for the collection agency as well as the cra. I would do 2 different lawsuits. just make sure to keep them under the court's maximum. I believe the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act sets up violations and punitives too. It's been a while since I read it. Also, call your state's atty general office and ask about state laws governing debt collectors and cras. most states have their own laws and penalties too for violations. you could also call a legal aid society and ask for help.
How did this work out for you? Did you scare them into deleting the negative entry? Best of luck, Sal
MG, I agree with Marie, and depending on how bad the situation is, you can probably get a decent amount of money out of this and teach them a lesson!! A lot of lawyers would take this case, if you want more than small claims allows.
CHRISTI....!!! Will you please send me the letter you used. My e-mail is martysgirl@onebox.com Thanks
Marie and Breeze The lawyer I talked to tonight said the same thing you guys did... about suing both of them! HIS Words... Sue both of them and let THEM figure it the hell out..!!! I think I'm going to go the Small Claim route b/c it will be easier. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens ;-)
Re: Marie and Breeze Nobody would want to have to defend this dog of a case. what would they say? Yes your honor, we got the requests for validation. Yes, we kept collection attempts and didn't validate No, we didn't delete the information Or how about the CRA Yes, we got the dispute and verified the information Yes, the consumer sent information but we disregarded it in blatant violation of the FCRA Yes we kept hurting the file The collection agency will be held to a higher standard than will the CRA unless you send the validation letters (with proof of service) to the CRA. then you can say that you told the CRA that the debt wasn't yours, you showed them proof the collection agency failed to validate yet kept reporting the info... and it shows more blatant disregard for the truth by the CRA. Otherwise, they just say... but we verified info... it's not our job to make sure it's real info just that our subscriber says it's correct. I'd go for canceling the subscriber's contract with the CRA that might be nice to add into the demand since the contract certainly must state that the collection agency must follow the FCRA when reporting info to the CRA... this could be REALLY fun wonder what a jury would give you especially in punitives ))))))))
