King county collection question?

Hello â??

Iâ??m helping a friend - Jamaro - to fix a collection problem. In his Equifax report, there is the following entry:

Collection Agency Account Information:
--------------------------------------
Collection Reported 03/03; Assigned 05/02 to Corporate Recoveries Inc (206)-xxx-xxxx
Client â?? King County Housing; Amount - $44; Unpaid; Balance - $69
Date of Last Activity 06/98; Individual Account; Account Number 1234567890

Jamaro has never received a bill from King County nor from Corporate Recoveries. So he called the phone number listed above and was told that they did send out the bill but it was returned. This is doubtful because his mailing address is listed correctly in his Equifax report.

Jamaro also told me that he had stopped living in King County housing at least 8 years ago and that he did not recall signing any paper while he was living there [with his older brothers.]

Any way, he wants to dispute this derog but does not know how to proceed. Should he send out a validation letter to Corporate Recoveries? If a validation letter is needed, is it the right one:
http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=85495#post85495

What are the steps. Please advice.

Thanks - Fermi

PS: Although we have read through "PsychDoc's Credit Repair Primer ", please bear with us as we're definitely newbies and English is not our mother's tongue. Thx

 

Thanks lbrown59 . I'm wondering if it's common pratice not to sign a validation letter. Is there any reasoning behind this?

Also, since we don't have any written contact with the collection agency. [Have never received anything from them]. Would a validation letter be appropriate in this case. The reason I'm asking this is because the sample validation letter starts with the following paragraph:

Dear Sir/Madame:

Thank you for your recent inquiry. This is not a refusal to pay, but .... [snipped]


The problem is the collection agency has NOT made any inquiry to my friend. [They probably will as my friend recently called them.]

Thanks - Fermi

 

Re: Re: King county collection question?

Thanks GEORGE.
Just to follow up on your reply. At the end of the validation letter, should my friend leave it BLANK or PRINT his name there.

Also, you have any input for my other question?

Thanks - Fermi

 

Re: Re: King county collection question?

Thanks lbrown59. Yes, they were. It makes sense now.

Lesson learned.

Thanks - Fermi

 

Re: Re: King county collection question?

Thanks GEORGE. It'll be noted.

Thanks - Fermi