Replies

Call Clark Howard.

Contact a supervisor at the phone company. Reiterate what you have stated here, nicely but firmly. Have you been dunned by these people? If so, and indeed the bill is not yours, you may add up to three paragraphs of explaination to your credit bureau.

This will not change your Beacon score, however.

If this bill in contention is indeed yours, then pay it and ask the company in question to credit you and reaffirm your good payment history. This will clear your account and reinstate your score.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. As I said before be nice but firm about your wishes.

Good luck!

1) Dispute the debt with the credit reporting agency. They are required to contact the company who then must provide proof the debt is yours. If they fail to do that the debt must be removed, although it can be re-reported by the company.

2) If you feel your rights under the fair debt collection practices act has been violated, you may file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission who has enforcement powers over this act. They will investigate.

3) File a complaint with your state collection agency board, usually at the state atty generals office. This generally gets their attention real quick.

4) If all else fails, you have the right to include a comment along with the entry on the credit report explaining yourself.

Good Luck

File a protest with the credit reporting agency. If that fails, tell the collection agency your going to sue them for erroneously damaging your credit.

If any agency irreparably harms your credit rating thru false claims, any lawyer would love to sue the pants of the bums. It's an easy slamdunk.

I have some background in this, Here is what I think you might need to try,.. Write the collection agency telling them you "Dispute the validity of the debt" (Exact wording) and you want any and all Information pertaining to this said debt, also you want to ask for a copy of the original contract as validation, now they will probably mail you a computer printout (their internal records) as proof.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH! If they do that you will need to write them back explaining that is not the records you asked for and you want full discloser and proof of this debt or you will turn this company in to the Federal Trade Commission the BBB, Consumer Affairs, and so on.

Here is the deal, Most companies don't keep records (Originals) because it is a huge pain in the ass.

This is normal, check this out,..from
http://fair-debt-collection.com/most-asked-questions.html

How must collectors verify a debt and who is supposed to mail the verification to me?

SITUATION: I received a computerized form called an "itemized statement of services rendered" from a collector. Upon closer examination, the form appeared to be from the collector's own computer rather than from the creditor that provided the services (I'm familiar with their invoices). I called the original creditor and discovered that only phone verification was provided to the collector, no written documents were ever requested.

Section 809(b) " Validation of the debt" requires that the debt collector obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer.

The principal purpose of this Section is to help consumers who have been mis-identified by the debt collector or who dispute the amount of the debt, it is important that the verification of the identity of the consumer and the amount of the debt be obtained directly from the creditor. Mere itemization of what the debt collector already has does not accomplish this purpose

More on this here,..http://fair-debt-collection.com/most-asked-questions.html

Try this FIRST STEP! Then feel free to write me back at mms1163@bellsouth.net and I will help you with the other steps, just too much to post. You can get this off but it will not happen tomorrow!! And paying it WILL NOT TAKE IT OFF!!!! Unless this is in writing from the collection agency.

It's now the case that when one credit bureau makes a change to your credit report, they must report that change to all of the other credit bureaus on your behalf. So you really only need to deal with one credit bureau.

Also, scrtaccess was right: Dispute the debt with the credit reporting agency. They are required to contact the company who then must provide proof the debt is yours.

They are required by law to investigate and respond to you within 30 days. They will send you a new copy of your credit report.

You can also fill out a TransUnion dispute form online. You'll immediately receive an email verification that they received your dispute claim. Again, they must respond to you within 30 days.

A letter from your attorney probably won't hurt. You do have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

I feel your pain. I had almost the same exact thing happen to me just recently. I had a cell phone about 4 years ago that I always paid on time, never late, etc. I had the phone for a little over 2 years and then changed providers.

My credit has always been pretty good but I started to notice interest rates on my cards going through-the-roof. We are talking from 14% to 24% or higher! I called to find out why. They said I had a delinquent account on my credit report. That was news to me so I obtained a copy.

Apparently this cell phone company, which doesn't exist anymore, reported me delinquent about a year ago to Equifax and it has really messed things up. What is really strange is that the CC rates did not start going up until a few months ago. AND once one of them did it, they ALL started doing it. Something else that is strange, I get copies of my credit report once a year and this was not on the one from the year before. I had already changed companies by that time so that leads me to believe this is not my charge.

Does seem unfair for something like this to be able to cause such chaos in one's life - not to mention the amount of money lost in over-inflated interest charges!

I called all my credit card companies and explained my situation. Some of them were very understanding and reduced the interest immediately. Some were not so nice. All I can say is that when I do get this mess cleared up, they will no longer have my business.

I did as some of the other's have suggested here and disputed the charge with Equifax. I think by law they have to respond to you within 30 or 45 days - can't remember which. They responded the first time saying they could not verify the account number - but they did not remove the charge. I resubmitted the dispute with the account number *I think* they are looking for. I have not heard back from them yet but I do know if they can not prove the debt, it must be removed from your report.

The problem is, this takes time. In my case, I am living with the high interest rates until I can get a new copy of my report to the credit card companies. Once I do that, I plan to ask them to refund the interest but don't know if they will do that or not.

My advice, don't let this go too long or you may start to see problems like I am having.

Good Luck!

If the amount is insignificant, pay it.
Add a statement to your credit file explaining that the debt was not yours (wrong account number) but the company refused to relent so you paid just to get it cleared on your report.
Some cell companies (verizon) are so notorious for this sort of thing that most people concerned about your report won't give it a second thought if paid and explained.