They say I cannot pay on the charge offs because they have no record of what I owe them but they cannot update or remove them. That doesnt seem fair. They are listed on my credit report but yet if they have no way to look it up they should be able to take it off right?
2006-11-29 02:10:18 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Kevin K! One minute I think you actually know something about debt repair..then you post this nonsense!
Andrea, tell me something. Can you use $1000? Would you like me to show you how to get it?
Start by reading the first link below about the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The part you want to pay attention to says:
(5) Treatment of inaccurate or unverifiable information.
(A) In general. If, after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1) of any information disputed by a consumer, an item of the information is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete that item of information from the consumer's file or modify that item of information, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation.
OK, so now let me tell you how the "game" is played.
Send a dispute letter to the credit bureau (ignore Kevin's advice, it's REQUIRED to do it!). Dispute the information, and be sure to include in your letter that you want to be informed of the "method used to investigate this complaint".
Note that when a credit bureau "verified" the debt, they are only required to contact the person listing it and ask if it's a valid debt. If they are told it is valid, the listing stays, because it is now "verified" by the credit bureau.
But in this case, the CRA must supply you with exactly how they investigated this. Generally its going to say they called a certain person, who verified the accuracy of the listing.
Step 2: Send a letter to this person who verified the debt, and demand that they "validate" the debt. Use the sample letter I posted below. By "validating" a debt, they must supply you with copies of bills, receipts, contracts, and everything used to calculate what they claim you owe.
You claim CitiBank doesn't have this. So obviously the collection agency doesn't either. In this case, how did they verify a debt that they didn't have any records?
If they fail to validate this debt, and the report stays on your credit report, you now have fulfilled the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and you may sue them in small claims court for $1000, plus any legal costs and damages.
Trust me, this works. I've helped many people get this off their reports, and I've had to sue a creditor for the same thing (got $1200 for my troubles).
Contact me if you need more assistance. I am not a lawyer or credit counselor, just someone who likes to pester abusive creditors.
2006-11-29 08:13:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
First off disputing will not get this item off because all they verify is your ssn, and if they match then you just wasted your time cause the charges will stay. What you have to do is write a letter directly to citibank that is certified and 30 days to responde. They will have to send you something in those 30 days to confirm the account or present you with a letter to fax to the equifax, experian, and transunion informing them of not finding accurate information about the account thus needing to remove it from your credit profile
2006-11-29 02:24:16 · answer #2 · answered by The_1 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Once a debt is charged off it is out of the hands of the OC (original creditor). Get the name/address of the collection agency listed on your reports and request validation from them. Do not contact the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) as they only have to "verify" the information, not "validate" it (prove it's yours). Usually, those just come back "verified" and you are back to where you started. If you request validation, the collection agency will have to get original copies of the debt from Citibank. If they can't, which happens in most cases, they won't be able to list it on your reports.
See "validation of debts" under Section 809 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm
2006-11-29 02:21:19 · answer #3 · answered by Kevin K 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would dispute these account with the credit reporting agencies. They have to verify from citibank. If they can't, then they must remove these from your credit report.
2006-11-29 02:16:42 · answer #4 · answered by J C 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dispute them by writing a letter to each of the 3 bureaus and if they can not verify the accuracy of the information they will have to remove it.
Here is some additional info. Hope this helps.
2006-11-29 04:06:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What they did was erase your account. As far as they are concerned, they lost money on your account, reported it, and now its forgotten. It takes 10 years for negatives to leave your report. If there was a reason you couldn't pay back then, you may have a small (I think less then 200 word) note put in your credit report to explain your side. (like lost job, divorce, death) That way some creditors may go easier on you.
2006-11-29 02:22:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
dispute it 100% , you will win this one, www.experian.com/dispute
2006-11-29 17:58:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋