On my credit report I have a discrepancy that is nearly 7 years old. It shows with the original creditor, and then two more times with two different collection agencies. And they are three different amounts! Also, the collection agency shows different account numbers and dates enabling them to show past the 7 years. The only thing that indeed ties them together is the original creditor is listed for each one.
Yes, I understand that I should pay it, but I would love to pay the fair amount. Is what they are doing legal? Can I file a discrepancy with the credit reporting agency?
2006-06-20 18:06:11 · 8 answers · asked by michituckygirl 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
You should call the credit bureau and dispute the item. Then write the companies and tell them to cease and desist all communication and checks of your credit report without your permission. You will only work with the original creditor.
2006-06-20 18:13:15 · answer #1 · answered by JENNLUPE 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
icyharris is wrong, Its not the creditor that you owe anymore its the last collection agency that bought it.
Amike is more right in what he said in his answer.
as far as the 3 of them being on there they can all state legally that you never paid them. As far as the different amounts they all have posted different amounts because of late fee's and legal fees that they add on.
So actually you would owe more.
What you can do though is call the original debt owner pay them. Get a letter stating that the debt is paid. Then contact the two other collection agencies and tell them that debt is paid and that they need to remove there debts from your credit report. They might they might not. From there you send the letter to the credit agencies and send them a letter along with your payment letter stating that this bill was paid in full and to please remove the collection agencies and the original company due to the point that acct was paid, and show how the collection agencies were associated with this original debt.
hope this helps.
PS they will keep resurfacing even after 7 years. All because all they have to do is contact you within the time period prior to the 7 years and they can start the collection all over.
Don't forget all the debt and collection and bankruptcy laws changed last year in October.
2006-06-21 10:15:51 · answer #2 · answered by twism 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it is not legal for the first collection agency to continue to report. They have sold the debt to the next collection agency (probably junk debt buyer) and no longer have a claim to the account.
You need to find out the statute of limitations in your state.
If it has been almost 7 years, you may be able to dispute the original creditor account as obsolete with the credit bureaus.
How you deal with the collection agency depends on if you are out of SOL on the account.
I would suggest going to the site I have listed and do some reading. There is a tremendous amount of information on how to deal with cleaning up your credit and great links to your states statutes.
It is a "free" self help credit repair site.
2006-06-21 18:00:35 · answer #3 · answered by echo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not only should you dispute the item, but if you do have to pay, it is better to pay the creditor directly. Some collection agencies are notorious for not reporting the paid account or not crediting the payment to your account. After all, you owe the creditor, not the collection agency!
2006-06-21 03:42:33 · answer #4 · answered by icyharris2006 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What most likely happened is the orginal lender sold your account to a collection agency. They're allowed to do that, it should be in your original contract. Once your account belongs to that credit agency, they can report as a different entity. It sounds like your account may have gotten sold a third time. I don't know if that part is legal, but it could be in your contract as well if it is.
Perhaps you should consider talking to a credit counseling service. They might be able to track down what happened or talk to the collection agency and break down the payments. There's commericals for them on TV all the time.
2006-06-21 01:13:17 · answer #5 · answered by Kats 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If its over 7 years old, then you may not have to pay it. If you contact a collection agency, make them convince you that a) it's your debt, and b) you have a legal obligation to pay it. Admit no reponsibility, make no payments.
In the meantime, write the credit reporting agency, explain the situation, and request that the redundant claims be removed.
2006-06-21 01:52:46 · answer #6 · answered by Polymath 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should contact the collection agency. Tell them that you will pay what you rightly owe if and only if they remove the item from your credit report. Get it in writing and forward it to the credit burrows.
2006-06-21 01:10:58 · answer #7 · answered by Elle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
many times it is the responibility of the person the report was wriiten on to contact the credit company with proof that it has been taken care of and request it to be removed-don't aske me why you would think it should be the responsibility of the person or company that filed it to have it removed
2006-06-21 02:13:53 · answer #8 · answered by dipper8550 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋