callgreg

I would not worry about paying them. If the debts were purchased by 3rd party debt collectors, then the balance has to be zero. One way to find out is to call to see if it has been sent off to a third party. If so, then you can dispute the fact with the creditor that the balance has to be zero. And that is according to Metro 2 reporting guidelines.

In regards to the charge offs, the best thing would be to get the balances to zero. That has to happen if they were sold off. Taking the charge offs off your report could actually drop your score given that FICO figures in the age of those accounts with your other accounts. But if you can get the balances to zero, that will help. And I believe that the mortgage balance has to be zero given that the obligation has been paid when the house was sold

This sounds like a solid plan of attack. They always come back with saying things are verified but do they actually show proof of any documentation received by whomever furnished the information? You and I know that the credit bureaus never reach out and do a "reasonable investigation" of any sort and they do not have anything to substantiate them verifying information reported or "resolving disputes" which is a favorite credit bureau response of mine. If they state that a dispute is resolved, doesn't that usually require a meeting of the minds when resolving that? How can a dispute between two parties occur and then one party to the dispute tells everybody that the dispute is resolved and the other party to the dispute has no idea it has been resolved and how it was resolved? From my standpoint I would think that by hammering the bureaus for certifiable, verifiable proof of the information that they are reporting as well as documented proof of a dispute being resolved is the only weapon available to pester the bureaus with in order to get anything done. With the FCRA and most state consumer laws that mirror the FCRA, you have the law on your side. And in a court of law, talk is cheap. You need to show solid proof of your assertions or you are shut down. And the bureaus cannot just parrot information they get from furnishers. There is enough case law established to back that up. (Stevenson v. TRW(Experian), Cushman v. Transunion and Richardson v. Fleet, Equifax has set this precedent.)

If you maintained a paper trail thru all of this, the only option is legal action. Because the bottom line whether Experian "refuses to investigate" or not the information reported is not accurate and they are obligated to report accurate information. If I am not mistaken, this is a clear FCRA violation which can result in damages and deletion although you could just end up with it deleted which is good enough. Sending them a legal complaint is probably your only resort to get them to remove it.

It can only stay on 7 years from the date paid. If you can find errors in the reporting after disputing it, you have the leverage to dispute to get off but it will take a bit of effort.

If I am correct, by them verifying it is unpaid when it is indeed paid, I would next ask them what was their method of verification. They most likely will cite that the courts are but most if not all courts do not report information directly to the credit bureaus. They rely on third parties for their public record information but they will not admit that to you. If they tell you that the courts are the source and if you can call the courts to get something from them in writing that they do not provide information to the credit bureaus, I believe what you have is the basis of a FCRA violation and you can send a ITS letter. Hopefully anyone with a legal background could validate or deny my assessment.

With your credit report frozen, no one can access them unless you request them to be "unfrozen". You can request them to be unfrozen for a specific period of time (one day, one week,etc) or remove the freeze permanently

Oh by the way, does it say somewhere in the Fair Debt Collection Act about reporting a collection account before sending a letter regarding that said debt? I would like a reference to the clause if it is in there along again with other items I should be checking for regarding this collection company. Oh the name of the company is Enhanced Recovery Company and they are based in Jacksonville, FL

It has been a while since I visited this board. I just had a collection account pop up on my Equifax. I am aware of the validation method and have a couple of templates of letters I can use to put one together to send to them but what are these other items we can confront them on that you are talking about? Can someone provide a brief rundown on items I should be looking up on this collection company? Plus I have not received a letter from them prior to them listing the debt on my report. I would like to send a letter to them asap in the hopes of getting this removed. Any info or link to additional information on some sort of checklist on dealing with collection companies would be greatly appreciated.

OP, My heart and prayers go out to you and your family during these tough times. I myself has had a rough go about it since I was laid off my full time corporate position of ten years. The last four years have been pretty tight and I am just now seeing my way out. With your situation you are spinning yourself in circles. Credit counseling I do not think will be of much help. They are mostly backed by the credit card companies and they can't do much with the payday loans. Bankruptcy is a serious step that has to be thought through very carefully. Getting a free consult from an attorney would be worth it just for the sake of gathering facts. I filed last year but my debt load was easily four times higher than yours because I had a foreclosure with a second on the house that turned into unsecured debt along with almost $100,000 in cc debt. I was able to start reestablishing credit about a month before my bankruptcy discharged. It is not a death sentence and with the counsel of folks on this board, you can restore your credit picture. If it is something you can do on your own if your DH is totally against it, get the facts so that you can make an informed decision for or against. It is not worth your health and quality of life trying to manage those life sucking installment loans. For me it was a huge weight off my shoulders once I filed and stopped the calls and letters. God Bless you.