Can the auto lease company put me under collection?

Question

I had an auto lease which ended early last year. On the credit report, it has always shown as "paid and closed". But I started to receive collection calls this year. I called the lease company. They told me that they credited someone else's payment to my account by mistake, and I still owe them money.

They also told me that the collection is already reported when they turned over the account to the collection agency, and they have no way to undo it, but I do not see the record anywhere. Why is that? After the account is closed, can they reopen it and report collection? Is there any way to prevent it from getting on to my account? Thank you!

I thought I paid off, but they said I did not.... :-(

There is no proof either way....

Thank you for your replies. I checked my credit report - the collection is not there, and the lease account still shows as "paid off"

It is not a big amount - a couple hundred. I do not know if I should pay the collection agency. If I do so, will that trigger them to report "collection paid" and get the bad mark on my history?

Answer 1

Keep that credit report in a safe place.

It is their responsibility to prove to you that you still owe money.

Do not speak with anyone by phone, do everything in writing. Create a papertrail.

Did the collection agency send you anything in writing after they had called you? They, by law, have 5 days to send you something in writing after the first phone call.

If the original creditor had mislead you by reporting it fully paid, that may put you in a good defensive position.

They "can" undo any negative reporting and have the account returned from the collection agency. It sounds like they just don't want to.

You might speak with an attorney about this.


edited to add more info:

If the collection agency has been calling but has not been sending you anything in writing, that is a FDCPA violation. They have to send you something within 5 days of the phone call.

Since you haven't mentioned if they had sent you anything in writing, you might send them a debt validation letter.

Include in the letter something to the effect like:

'This is in response to your telephone calls. I have not received anything in writing from your company concerning this alleged debt.'

If you send a debt validation letter, even if they have been calling you, but never sent a letter, it may be against the FDCPA for them to file a report on your credit reports. (Studly if you read this, please chime in on that point - I've got a headache and it hurts to think lol)

Go to the site that I've listed and look over some of the debt validation letters. Find one that you are comfy with. Do some reading in the credit forum on debt validation.

Hopefully you can head them off at the pass and keep them off of your reports.

Even if you want to pay, you should always validate first.

Answer 2

First, have you pulled your own credit report since they said it was not paid and sent you to collections? If not, do so.
Assuming you have not and now you do (annualcreditreport.com - its free once a year) then see if it shows as a collection or unpaid now. If it doesnt then save a copy of your report. This way you have proof that it showed as paid off, so if they do change it you have some proof to dispute with to the credit bureaus.
If they are already showing as a collection and you do owe the money, then you'll need to pay them. I would try to get them to agree to remove the item. They CAN if they want to. Its a matter of getting someone who wants to. Call back until you get someone nicer. Yes it works. Is this a large sum of money we're talking about? Did you speak to the collection agency or just the original creditor?
They are supposed to notify you in writing of the impending collection action on your report and give you 30 days to respond in writing. You might let them know you received no notice.
But first Id pull the report and see where you stand as far as the collection being reported.
Theres so many angles to approach it from ... it would help to know what youve done thus far, but those are some things that hopefully may help.
Good luck.

Answer 3

you must know yourself whether you paid the payments every month until the lease ended
if you didn't then you have to finish paying them