Trapani

I was quite stunned to get an auto CLI a few months ago (well, probably around 6 months ago? I forget, but I posted about it here, if anyone fancies checking back...), and even more stunned to get one a few weeks ago. AmEx emailed to tell me about it. I wouldn't dare ask for one... I've had the card a little under two years and have no idea what I've done to make them like me, other than spend a ton of money using their card. I also have a Delta SkyMiles card (got the gold, upgraded to Plat to get the bonus miles, downgraded to the free one whose name I forget to avoid the AF) - never had an auto CLI on that, although I did get a requested one a few months after opening the card, in early 2008. Reallocated most of the limit over to my Blue Cash back when you were actually allowed to do that, and the Delta card rarely sees much action now.

Very very wise. The management company for the apartment building I used to live in used a third-party service to handle automatic payments for tenants. They wouldn't allow me to "push" payments from my checking account - it was a choice between handing over banking information and having the money pulled by the third-party service, or delivering a check to the office in person. The latter option eventually became too inconvenient, and we signed up for the autopay thing. Worked fine for a couple of months, then one day we (and every single other customer of the company that handled the payments - not just the tenants in our building) were double-billed. Checking account overdrawn, NSF fees all over the place, a total mess. Lucky for me, my bank (US Bank) were wonderful over the whole thing, and even more lucky for me, I had savings, credit cards, etc as backup. I talked to plenty of people in the apartment building who had NO such backup options, though, which proved rather inconvenient for them as our landlords/management company offered no help other than to say "Not our fault! We didn't do it!" and to hang up the phone as quickly as possible, and then screening (and not returning) all calls for the duration, and the third-party company that handled the payments were ignoring ALL phone calls and emails. Even MORE lucky for us, we figured out after a bit of Googling that the third-party payment processing company was based in the same building my husband works in. After he wandered into their office and introduced himself to some rather horrified girl he passes in the hallway every day, we got our double-payment and all the NSF fees (which US Bank had already credited back, bless 'em) refunded VERY quickly - god knows how long it would have taken were it not for that happy coincidence, though... Um, sorry for the rambling post, but... I was very reluctant to sign up to have my rent payments taken out in that way, and very quickly wished I'd stuck with my initial "HELL NO!" instinct. Never again...

Mmmm, I've been reading some of them. They sound like a lovely bunch.

Yep, yep, and yep. And... sorry, I should have been more clear and got to the point in the post above. The new collection showing on husband's credit reports doesn't seem to be anything to do with the ancient debt ALW Sourcing were trying to get him to "settle" on. This is for a much lower amount, they've not sent a letter, or called, or done anything other than slapped this mystery debt on all three credit reports. So the first thing to do is find their address, write to them and ask "WTF is this?", basically?

Hey Everyone, I posted on here a while ago about a letter (about some alleged debt 10+ yrs old) my husband received from ALW Sourcing. We fired off a response as per the wonderful and much-appreciated advice from ICANHASMUNY? (and a few others!), and have heard not a peep from them since. We did freeze all three CRs at the time, though. Today, CreditSecure merrily announced that there was new information on his credit report. Turned out to be something from "ER Solutions" showing Sept 2007 as an open date, but only just placed on there. He has NO idea what this might be about, and there has definitely been no dunning letter. I'd know if there had been, as I'm the one who opens all our mail. Nothing. I'll be reading to figure out the best thing to do, but would appreciate any hints/tips anyway! I've tried a search to find out what creditors ER Solutions usually deal with, in case that may give a clue, but what I've found so far suggests medical collections. I don't think my husband's ever been near a doctor since he was a small child, so that seems VERY unlikely... any thoughts/suggestions anyone may have are much appreciated!

Ahh, thought the minimum payment on my husband's BofA card looked higher than usual, and was planning to see if they've increased the minimum payment percentage. Thanks for confirming! Not that it's an issue - the card has a BT sitting on it that's being paid off in huge multiples of the minimum, but I did do a double-take when I saw what the minimum was this month!

I've been getting the "refer a friend and get a $25 statement credit" banner on the AmEx site for a while now (this is for my Blue Cash account), but whenever I click it I get the same "system not responding" message. I also got a "refer 4 friends and get a $100 statement credit!" email this week... that doesn't work, either. I do actually have a friend who is going to apply for the Blue Cash as soon as she gets around to it, so it might be nice to get $25 from AmEx if only their links would work.

I got a change in terms letter today - my new APR will be prime + 8.74% (minimum of 11.99%)... currently I have a 7.24% APR with them. Oh well. My letter says that "these changes reflect a general adjustment in our credit card program and are not a result of your personal history with us or your credit score". Hm, knowing that other people are getting better APRs as part of this "general adjustment", I wonder if anyone might have success calling and asking to be un-RJ'd at least down to the better rate? Or maybe they're setting the APRs depending on what card you have...? If it helps, my card is a Cash Rewards Visa Platinum (now called FlexPerks Cash Rewards Visa, I believe), and I have my primary checking account with US Bank, too.

I ended up calling and was told that they're having some "issues", but that there's a backdoor way to log in. Anyone who's getting the "not enrolled"/"you are already enrolled" error, try this: On the main CreditSecure page (the one where you'd usually hit that stupid new "View FAKOs credit scores" link), scroll most of the way down the page. Below the "enroll now" button there's a bit that says "Getting CreditSecure monitoring by mail? Learn More". Click the "Learn More". Then click the "Start Here" Button on the next page, click "I agree, continue" on the page after that, and you're in!

I just tried to pull my reports and got a message saying "our records indicate you are not enrolled for this product". Uhhh, yes I am.

Thanks so much... it is getting sent! Now to figure out what to do after that... argh! FOAD letter when they (hopefully) fail to validate.... right?

Aha, I get it - thank you! You're right - I don't want to offer to help them establish that anything is owed, duh. I was being too nice and clueless! OK, how about... To Whom It May Concern: Your Letter Dated 10/21/09 I received a letter from your offices on xx/xx/xx, referencing an account # xxxxxxxxxx held with NCO Portfolio Management and/or Citibank, with a balance of $xxxx.xx due. I am not aware that I hold any account(s) with your company, NCO Portfolio Management or Citibank, neither am I aware that I have any outstanding debts in this amount. I do not believe I owe any money to you, so I must dispute this alleged debt, as per your letter. Am I to understand that this account that you say is mine is a Citibank credit card that was charged off? If so, please tell me the date when the account was charged off, and a breakdown of how the balance you claim I owe was calculated. I will need this information in order to search for records. Yours, etc... Any better? Thank you so much, again - I REALLY appreciate your help with this.

Thank you thank you thank you, again! OK, here is what I've come up with. Please (anyone!) feel free to shoot me down and tell me where I'm going wrong! This is my first (ever) effort, so... please be gentle! I thought I'd go with the simple approach rather than spouting stuff at them, but do let me know if 'spouting' would be a better idea! To Whom It May Concern: Your Letter Dated 10/21/09 I received a letter from your offices on xx/xx/xx, referencing an account # xxxxxxxxxx held with NCO Portfolio Management and/or Citibank, with a balance of $xxxx.xx due. I am not aware that I hold any account(s) with your company, NCO Portfolio Management or Citibank, neither am I aware that I have any outstanding debts in this amount. I do not believe I owe any money to you, so I must dispute this alleged debt, as per your letter. Please send me any documentation you may have regarding the debt you say I owe, so that I may check my records and establish whether there is any validity to your claim. Yours, etc... What do you think...?

Thank you (again!) Still working on the letter, on about my 5th 'delete the lot and start all over again'. Presumably this stuff gets easier the more you do it... right? I'm stuck on whether to go with very simple ("I received your letter dated xx/xx/xx, I'm disputing this debt, please send me proof that I owe you money" type stuff) or something more wordy referencing the FDCPA and such. My searching on here has found praise for both approaches with the first letter... any thoughts on what would be best in a situation like this? We live in Ohio, which I know has about the worst SOL out there. But still... although my husband has zero documentation to prove this (and the fact there is no mention of any such account on his credit reports means I can't see any date of last activity, etc), the account I assume this CA is talking about must be beyond even the nasty OH SOL. Oh, stupid question re: DVing within 30 days of receiving the letter... is it better to do this as soon as possible, or later in the 30 days, or... does it not matter at all? I seriously spend huge amounts of my time reading threads on all these subjects on here all the time, as I find it all very interesting. Then as soon as I actually have cause to use the info... I hardly know where to begin!

Thank you! I'm busily reading up on exactly what I should/shouldn't include in the request for validation of debt, and will attempt to write my own letter in a bit... will post back to check that what I come up with is OK. This is my* first time (*husband's, I mean... but, uh, I'll be writing the letter, no doubt) doing this, I am nervous I'll say something I shouldn't, or miss out something vital!