is it legal for 3 different companies to report the same account?

Question

i was checking my credit report and 3 diffrent companies are reporting the same account including the original company.

Answer 1

No, it is not legal for three different companies to report the same account.

If it is, as a previous poster stated, the same company but just listed by different names of that company, then send a dispute to the credit reporting agencies that those are duplicate accounts and request deletion of two of them.

If the account was charged as a bad debt from the original creditor and sold to a collection agency who then sold it to another collection agency (or junk debt buyer), the first collection agency should not be listed. Dispute that listing with the credit reporting agencies.

There are many self help credit boards on the web where you can read up on how others have handled their credit related problems. I would suggest doing a google or yahoo search on credit repair boards and do some reading.

I would also suggest the following:

Learn your rights about credit reporting and learn how to recognize if a company is reporting incorrectly - read the Fair Debt Reporting Act (FCRA)

Learn your rights about how a collection agency handles your debt - read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

Answer 2

Look at your credit report and the items you are questioning. Somewhere on that line there will be either a TU, XPN, EFX abbreviation listed. Usually you will have one line for say a credit card and you will see all 3 of these abbreviations; however sometimes each of the credit bureaus will have a different spelling for one companies name so you will end up with 2 or 3 lines for the same account but with only one of the credit bureaus reporting on that line...

EX:

Name amount owed history reported by
1st Capital $5000 0X30 TU/EXF/XPN

or it may look like this:

1st Cap $5000 0X30 TU/EXF
First Capital $5000 0X30 XPN

Same account number, same company name just reported by one of the companies differently.

This is usually what happens and why it will show multiple times.

Kevin 866-562-6838 x 106
[e-mail]
www.firstratelending.com

Answer 3

Unfortunately it is...until seven years after the date of delinquency of the original debt...for example if in June of 1999 you defaulted on your car and the debt was sold to collection agency A who then sold it to collection agency B, all three can report it as unpaid. The good news is that all three would be removed from your credit report at the end of this month. Collection accounts are removed seven years after the date of the original delinquency...not seven years after the collection account is reported...check out the Fair Credit Reporting Act at the link below. It's a long read, but well worth the time. Good Luck.