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I've got a new one, I think, although the procedure for fixing it may be the same: Thanks to this thread I started investigating my own credit report. I tried the one at quizzle.com since it was free. My score popped up as 515 and I was shocked. I've had some late payments here and there, but I've never just walked away from anything. I did a little reading and it turns out there is another person with my name who has a bunch of delinquent poo poo on my account. The worst thing is that I KNOW the loving guy. We went to the same high school until he dropped out, and then I was his supervisor at work a year or so ago. I'm planning on getting a subscription service to pull full reports from all three agencies to get the whole story. What should I do after that? Bear in mind I have no problems loving this other guy over for life, he's a poo poo head.
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Apr 22, 2010 19:57
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Ghostnuke posted:I've got a new one, I think, although the procedure for fixing it may be the same: Ok, a little more info now that I've investigated a bit. So far I've found 8 accounts that this guy has walked away from that ended up under my name. I'm guessing that the first step would be to send them all debt verification letters? Or should I try disputing these accounts with the CRAs? As I mentioned before, I have made some late payments myself. Is there any way to make that sort of thing go away? For example, there is an adverse account showing up from the local cable company. Long story short, I trusted a roommate to pay for it when I moved out and he didn't. I moved into my own place later and caught everything back up. This period of delinquency still shows up on the report even though I am now current. Is there any way to remove this? Ghostnuke fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Apr 23, 2010 |
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Apr 23, 2010 01:03
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I will probably be corrected if I'm wrong, but I think the best thing to do would be to file a police report for "stolen identity" first. The CRAs will be a lot more willing to change things if you have something from the police. edit: I know it's not technically stolen identity, but...since you worked with guy, you know he's douchebag, and he has your same name, I am more than willing to be he took advantage of that. edit: Pull all 3 of your reports from http://annualcreditreport.com . Since there's a matter of possible fraud taking place here you'll be able to get your reports free after the first one. TheWevel fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Apr 23, 2010 |
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Apr 23, 2010 02:37
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Ghostnuke posted:Ok, a little more info now that I've investigated a bit. So far I've found 8 accounts that this guy has walked away from that ended up under my name. I'm guessing that the first step would be to send them all debt verification letters? Or should I try disputing these accounts with the CRAs? Seconding notifying authorities. Sounds like fraud or identity theft to me, as well. As for the second part. No, there is unfortunately no way to remove valid negatives from your reports. You simply have to wait for them to fall off the report. The 7 year rule applies, from what I remember, but since a lot of places update for every month, the most that is usually shown is a two year period of payments. Note - can someone correct me on the 7 year versus two year for delinquencies?
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Apr 23, 2010 02:45
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Auracounts posted:Seconding notifying authorities. Sounds like fraud or identity theft to me, as well. Delinquents appear in the counter as number of times 30,60,90 etc in the 7 year. There is an additional data matrix for two years (It's a 24 month status string used in data modeling). Valid negatives can possibility be removed depending on your own personal moral code.
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Apr 23, 2010 03:21
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LorneReams posted:Valid negatives can possibility be removed depending on your own personal moral code. Well it couldn't hurt to discuss it in a purely academic fashion.  edit: So should I be directing my hate mail towards the creditors or the credit reporting agencies? Ghostnuke fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Apr 23, 2010 |
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Apr 23, 2010 03:25
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LorneReams posted:Delinquents appear in the counter as number of times 30,60,90 etc in the 7 year. There is an additional data matrix for two years (It's a 24 month status string used in data modeling). Ah, right right right. Thanks for that correction. It's been a while since I pulled my reports and did the research, so I couldn't remember the exact numbers.
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Apr 23, 2010 03:26
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There is a LOT of great information in this thread. I have a question about my circumstance. I had financed a vehicle back in 2005. I owned it for about 8 months before I lost my job and couldn't make payments. The bank repossessed the car after 3 months of not making payments. They charged off the majority of what I owed but there is still a $768 balance that shows up on my credit report. To date this bank has never contacted me to attempt to collect this money. I financed a truck 2007 that I never missed or made a late payment on and paid it off in full. I'm now looking into financing another vehicle but banks and finance companies still see that charge off and $768 balance and are either declining financing or willing to finance a low amount with high interest. One bank was willing to finance me on a very nice car but only if that balance was paid in full. I am contemplating contacting the bank that I still owe the balance to and trying to negotiate a Pay for Delete for the balance owed and the charge off. I would obviously start low on my offer and try to pay only a fraction of what they say I owe. Can I do this? Would it be wise? I need a new vehicle for work and I don't want to pay $13,000 for a $8,000 car because of this one item on my credit report. Edit: The debt will fall off of my report in the next 2 years so I could wait but I need a new car. Manxome Foe fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Apr 24, 2010 |
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Apr 24, 2010 01:11
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If you have a charged off debt, is it even worth it to try to negotiate a pay-for-delete? Does a charge off mean they've completely written off the debt and no one's coming after you for it, or does it just mean they've probably sold it off to a collector?
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Apr 24, 2010 04:05
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NancyPants posted:If you have a charged off debt, is it even worth it to try to negotiate a pay-for-delete? Does a charge off mean they've completely written off the debt and no one's coming after you for it, or does it just mean they've probably sold it off to a collector? In my experience, they usually sell to a collector. The original creditor probably charged it off (maybe for tax purposes?), but that doesn't mean the debt is gone. Someone out there probably has it and will notify you eventually.
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Apr 24, 2010 04:08
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Auracounts posted:In my experience, they usually sell to a collector. The original creditor probably charged it off (maybe for tax purposes?), but that doesn't mean the debt is gone. Someone out there probably has it and will notify you eventually. I didn't figure they would just walk away. So when you negotiate a PFD, does the lender simply erase the entire history of the account from your credit report? If they do that, are you on the hook for taxes to the IRS for debt forgiveness when the amount forgiven exceeds $600? I have a couple things that have been charged off but no one has breathed a word about collections to me and I'd like to make those marks just disappear if that's possible. If they do agree to a PFD but don't hold up their end of the bargain in the deal, do you just send a copy of correspondence to the credit reporting agencies and let them work their magic?
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Apr 24, 2010 04:14
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NancyPants posted:I didn't figure they would just walk away. So when you negotiate a PFD, does the lender simply erase the entire history of the account from your credit report? If they do that, are you on the hook for taxes to the IRS for debt forgiveness when the amount forgiven exceeds $600? I don't know much about pay for deletes, as I was totally unaware of them when I went through the process (and most of my debts were about to drop off my reports due to statutory limitations anyway). I do know, however, that for the debts I negotiated, I did receive a 1099 (1098? whichever form it was) for tax purposes, so yes, some of them can and will put you on the hook for taxes owed. I would think that if you have the PFD agreement in writing, then yes, sending it to the credit agency should suffice to force deletion. In the alternative, you can probably take civil action against the creditor for federal violations if they fail to hold up their end of the bargain.
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Apr 24, 2010 04:32
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NancyPants posted:If you have a charged off debt, is it even worth it to try to negotiate a pay-for-delete? Does a charge off mean they've completely written off the debt and no one's coming after you for it, or does it just mean they've probably sold it off to a collector? In my case, the charged off amount was what they sold the repo'd car for at auction. The amount that's still showing up is the difference in what I owed and what they got (at least that what I'm assuming). The amount that's showing up on my credit report still shows under TIB Bank (which was the original lender), so to my knowledge they never sold it to anyone. Edit: Also, in reference to "tolling" - per Florida's SOL: "The limitations period begins from the date the last element of the cause of action occurred, (95.051). NOTE: The limitation period is tolled (stopped) for any period during which the debtor is absent from the state and each time a voluntary payment is made on a debt arising from a written instrument." If I moved out of the state and took up permanent residence in another state, does this still apply? What if I never intend to live in Florida again? Can the debt be "tolled" indefinitely? Manxome Foe fucked around with this message at 07:23 on Apr 24, 2010 |
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Apr 24, 2010 06:54
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NancyPants posted:If you have a charged off debt, is it even worth it to try to negotiate a pay-for-delete? Does a charge off mean they've completely written off the debt and no one's coming after you for it, or does it just mean they've probably sold it off to a collector? Charge-off is more of a financial term. They HAVE to charge-off a loan by hitting their loan loss reserves when the loan is past a certain point of delinquency. The amount they charge-off is based on the equity in the collateral, so with unsecured debt they have to charge it all off. This should have no effect on the consumer, but sometimes the terminology does bleed over to things like CRAs. Also about PFDs, there is absolutely nothing legally stopping someone from agreeing to a PFD and then reneging after the debt is paid. You are basically trusting their word. It is actually against the service agreement with the CRAs to do this, so they can say afterwords that their hands are tied. You can get them for bad faith in a civil case, but it will be hard to prove unless you have something iron clad in writing. Even having it in writing will not remove it from the CRA if it comes to that, but you will have a civil case against the CA/Creditor.
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Apr 24, 2010 15:04
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Advice needed: Our household is receiving regular calls from a collection agent for a person(relative of ours) who has not lived here in over 4 years. The person has been told that this person no longer resides here and to cease contacting our household but he continues to call. We live in Ontario, Canada. What do we need to do to get these calls to stop? I also have reason to believe that the collection agent is misrepresenting themselves as being from a major Canadian Bank(TD Canadatrust).
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Apr 24, 2010 15:43
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Steriletom posted:Advice needed: Our household is receiving regular calls from a collection agent for a person(relative of ours) who has not lived here in over 4 years. The person has been told that this person no longer resides here and to cease contacting our household but he continues to call. We live in Ontario, Canada. What do we need to do to get these calls to stop? http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Personal_Finance_Collection_Agency_Rights.aspx I found this list of prohibited activities on the Ontario government's website. They have definitely violated this item in the list: "Continue to contact you if you have told them that you are not the person they are looking for unless they take reasonable precautions to ensure you are that person." And they may have violated the following: "Contact you other than by ordinary mail more than three times in a seven-day period without your consent, once the agency has actually spoken with you." My family is unclear on how many times we have spoken with them in the past week, but I am certain that they called yesterday and today, so chances are that they are calling more frequently than 3 times a week." If they continue to call, what documentation do I need to prove that they are in violation of the Ontario Collection Agencies Act?
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Apr 24, 2010 16:25
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Ghostnuke posted:edit: So should I be directing my hate mail towards the creditors or the credit reporting agencies? Anyone?
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Apr 24, 2010 17:36
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Ghostnuke posted:Well it couldn't hurt to discuss it in a purely academic fashion. Treat it like any debt; ask for validation from the original creditor (or collection agency) and if they fail to validate, send a copy of my letter to the credit reporting agency and have it removed. Odds are, if you've paid it off, they won't care enough to bother validating, so after a 30 day wait, the CRA will remove the item.
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Apr 24, 2010 18:16
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Pagan posted:Treat it like any debt; ask for validation from the original creditor (or collection agency) and if they fail to validate, send a copy of my letter to the credit reporting agency and have it removed. But I haven't paid it off. They're not my debts. Should I even bother trying to tell the creditors that I'm not the person they're looking for? Or should I just go to the CRA's and say gently caress those guys, can you take this off?
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Apr 24, 2010 18:23
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Ghostnuke posted:But I haven't paid it off. They're not my debts. Should I even bother trying to tell the creditors that I'm not the person they're looking for? Or should I just go to the CRA's and say gently caress those guys, can you take this off? Talk to the original creditors, and read the applicable laws. If you're not the person they're looking for, then they shouldn't on your credit report. It may take an Intent To Sue letter to get their attention, so make sure you know what laws they're breaking.
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Apr 24, 2010 19:48
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Ghostnuke posted:edit: So should I be directing my hate mail towards the creditors or the credit reporting agencies? Both. Let the agencies know that it's not your debt (but if it's in your name and signed by you, it is) and steer the creditors towards the people responsible. If you have proof that the debts are not yours, include them in your letter to the CRAs. LorneReams posted:Also about PFDs, there is absolutely nothing legally stopping someone from agreeing to a PFD and then reneging after the debt is paid. You are basically trusting their word. It is actually against the service agreement with the CRAs to do this, so they can say afterwords that their hands are tied. You can get them for bad faith in a civil case, but it will be hard to prove unless you have something iron clad in writing. Even having it in writing will not remove it from the CRA if it comes to that, but you will have a civil case against the CA/Creditor. This is why, every time you do a PFD, you get it in writing and you don't send a penny until you have something in your hands, signed by their people (and notarized if possible.) Civil cases post-PFD are almost always slam-dunk cases for the debtor and you can get them for things like misrepresentation of the debt, breach of contract, and so on. One creditor attempted to do this to me and cited the agreement with the CRA - I fired back with an intent to sue the creditor for the maximum allowed damages in my state (ended up being ~20x the original debt) unless they refunded the amount I paid them, threw in $500, and agreed to abide by our contract. That mark's been off my report ever since!
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Apr 24, 2010 20:58
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CubsWoo posted:If you have proof that the debts are not yours, include them in your letter to the CRAs. What kinds of things would be considered acceptable proof? Obviously I don't have any paperwork regarding these accounts, as they are not mine. The only thing I can think of to include is the Experian report that lists the other guy's name as an alias for me, and a copy of my driver's license that shows that he isn't me.
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Apr 24, 2010 22:20
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Ghostnuke posted:What kinds of things would be considered acceptable proof? Obviously I don't have any paperwork regarding these accounts, as they are not mine. The only thing I can think of to include is the Experian report that lists the other guy's name as an alias for me, and a copy of my driver's license that shows that he isn't me. Well, technically they have to prove it's yours. I'd send them a letter stating it's identity theft, and provide them with your SSN. Unless they can show that the accounts listed have used your SSN, by providing original documents, they must remove it.
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Apr 24, 2010 23:22
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First off great thread with a lot of good information. I am getting almost daily phone calls from Transworld systems leaving robo voicemails about a debt. I've called them up once to get an address to send a debt validation letter flat out refused to give me one unless I gave him my information at which point I hung up. I don't know exactly what the debt is regarding but it can't be more than a few hundred dollars. Google searches for the company and the numbers that are calling me don't yield any addresses that I could send a letter to, even their corporate homepage doesn't have one. I have received no letters, probably because they would have a an old address from when I lived in Oklahoma. About a year ago I moved to California. My understanding is that they aren't supposed to call before 8am, and I get phonecalls between 6 and 8 at least twice a week. The upside is that my credit score is 700, and doesn't show anything negative but I would like to take care of this swiftly without forking over information to these people.
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Apr 24, 2010 23:43
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SweetOG posted:First off great thread with a lot of good information. A little bit of google-fu gave me this: Transworld Systems 390 S. Woods Mills Road, Suite 150 Chesterfield, MO 63017 707-236-3910 via this webpage: http://www.stopcollector.com/agency.php?n=transworld I would send them a Verification letter, CMRRR and go from there. Also, can anyone give me any info on the questions I posted further up on this page?
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Apr 25, 2010 00:08
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What are the best credit report "subscription" type sites?
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Apr 25, 2010 01:35
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Ok, when i was 18 I opened a credit account with capital one in 08/2005. In 06/2006 I got in a bad car accident, broke my back and lost my job as a result. I tried to work with them to make an arrangement so that I could start paying on the account again when I got my unemployment which was going to take a while because I wouldn't be eligible for unemployment until my doctor released me for work. I really wanted to keep the account in good standing and tried everything I could and their response was basically "gently caress you, pay me!" Even after getting that response i called and talked with supervisors a few more times trying to work it out with the same result. So in pain and on morphine I finally got frustrated and pretty much told them what they told me, "gently caress you, you'll never get a cent". Yes I know this wasn't the best idea but i was 19, high on painkillers and they didn't care that i was trying to work it out in good faith so I stopped caring. Now on to the real issue. About a year ago they tried to sue me and I managed to dodge the summons. Apparently they gave up or something as a public records search and my credit report show no judgment against me and I've never heard any more about it. I did my annual credit report check today and found some odd things on capital ones entry. The statute of limitations in my state on debt is 4 years starting from the date of last activity. Now, capital ones entry lists the date of last activity as N/A, the report of first delinquency is 07/2006 and the reported date of major delinquency is 02/2007. The account balance is listed as $1,747. The account is listed as charged off in the amount of $995. The date of last payment is listed as 06/2006. So basically my question is what would the date of last activity be? Would it be the date of last payment? I'm trying to figure out why the lawsuit apparently fizzled out and when the statute of limitations is actually up...
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Apr 25, 2010 01:40
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Daedalus101 posted:So basically my question is what would the date of last activity be? Would it be the date of last payment? I'm trying to figure out why the lawsuit apparently fizzled out and when the statute of limitations is actually up... Normally, the date of last activity would be the date an actual payment was made. Just to be on the safe side, assume that the SOL would be 4 years from the latest date that shows up in the data on your reports (7/2006). Is it being reported by Cap1 or by a collection agency?
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Apr 25, 2010 01:53
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Here's an update on my situation, which hopefully will be helpful for other people in the same boat. Last year, I had an $800 overdraft collections with Bank of America on my Chexsystems account, along with the following : Asset Acceptance Capital One Credit Collections Credit Management Financial Control Svc Healthcare Coll Inc HSBC Bank LVNV Funding LLC Midland Credit Management I settled with Bank Of America for $400, but still had to fight to get it removed from chexsystems. An Intent To Sue letter to their collection agency, combined with Validation letters going unanswered from Bank of America FINALLY got that removed. I send Validation requests to every other creditor on my report. Only two responded. Only two, out of 9. Those two? An old cable bill and an old utility bell. NONE OF THE OTHERS, not HSBC, not Capitol One, not credit management, none of 'em. Two of them just straight up removed my account the second they got a validation request. I've gone from owing over $10,000 to owing less than $200. Next week, I'm going to be sending removal requests to all three credit reporting agencies, and I'll let you know how that goes. But for now, their lack of validation means that $65 or so in CMRR letters has saved me over 100 times that. So, even if things look bad, don't be afraid to fight it. It really does work.
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Apr 25, 2010 02:23
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Pagan posted:Here's an update on my situation, which hopefully will be helpful for other people in the same boat. What was the amount of your largest account?
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Apr 25, 2010 02:34
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NancyPants posted:What was the amount of your largest account? Most were around $1,000. The two that did respond were the lowest.
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Apr 25, 2010 02:41
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threeskin posted:What are the best credit report "subscription" type sites? Experian is doing a 1 dollar 7 day trial and 14.99 a month after that. Does that seem fair?
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Apr 25, 2010 05:03
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bear is driving! posted:Normally, the date of last activity would be the date an actual payment was made. Just to be on the safe side, assume that the SOL would be 4 years from the latest date that shows up in the data on your reports (7/2006). It's being reported by capital one. At one point collections agencies were sending me letters but i just ignored them. I'm assuming when cap1 filed the suit a year or so ago they took back control of the account...
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Apr 25, 2010 06:12
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Daedalus101 posted:It's being reported by capital one. At one point collections agencies were sending me letters but i just ignored them. I'm assuming when cap1 filed the suit a year or so ago they took back control of the account... I would send them a PFD letter. I'm doing the same thing for a bank and an auto loan I had from 5 years ago. They charged off the majority of the amount but are still reporting that I owe almost $800. The original bank is what's reporting so I'm sending it to them.
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Apr 25, 2010 07:24
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So if you have a charged off debt but according to your credit report no other creditor has bought it and no one is trying to collect on it, do you contact the OC for a PFD?
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Apr 25, 2010 19:12
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NancyPants posted:So if you have a charged off debt but according to your credit report no other creditor has bought it and no one is trying to collect on it, do you contact the OC for a PFD? Dispute it first. Either they'll tell you how to go about paying it off, or they won't validate and you don't have to pay it at all, just have it removed.
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Apr 25, 2010 19:22
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I thought quizzle pulled from all 3 of the reporting agencies. It says it only pulls from Experian.
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Apr 25, 2010 23:49
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Three PFD's send out CMRRR today. Says they should all reach their destinations on Thursday. I hope they bite!
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Apr 26, 2010 14:49
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I got a letter from on original creditor today threatening me with a lawsuit. A bit of backstory: I signed my kids up for martial arts classes. Long story short, I lost my job after spending 2 months in the hospital and could no longer afford to send them to the classes. I have applied for VA and Social Security Disability Benefits. Here is the letter: Global Financial, Inc. posted:After many attempts to contact you about the severe delinquency on your account, we must inform you that we are preparing to send your account to our legal office. Once the account is sent to the legal office, you will have to pay further fees such as attorney fees, court costs, and filing fees, plus the amount that you owe on your account. It would be greatly beneficial to you if you would pay off your account before it is sent to the legal office. There was no notice that "this is an attempt to collect a debt, etc." I have talked to them before, and not only do they not speak english, they are not willing to work with me. Also, in PA, the FDCPA applies to original creditors. In the event of a judgement, the only things that can be garnished in PA are child support, student loans, and taxes. Anyways, I'm pretty sure there is at least one violation in this letter, but I'm definitely not the expert. What are my options, and how should I proceed next? I have no qualms about suing them if I can, because they were assholes when I talked to them. I should point out that I have a net income of $205/month from welfare, so paying this is really not an option. edit: after a quick search on the PA Department of Banking website, it does not appear that they are licensed to do business in PA. Offrampmotel fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Apr 26, 2010 |
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Apr 26, 2010 16:48
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Offrampmotel posted:I got a letter from on original creditor today threatening me with a lawsuit. A bit of backstory: First thing to do is KEEP THIS LETTER. Second thing to do is send them a Validation letter to get them to validate that you actually owe anything. Something like: Global Financial, Please validate that the alleged debt on account number xxxxx is truly mine. this letter is a request for verification of this alleged debt as per FCRA Section 611(a)(7). If I do not receive a response to this verification within 30 days of receipt of this request, the alleged debt will be considered invalid and be reported as such. Make sure to send it CMRRR and save the green tickets. Manxome Foe fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Apr 26, 2010 |
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Apr 26, 2010 18:47
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