double jeopardy?

Question

I bought a car 7 years ago. The car fell apart within 6 months. It was financed thru Ugly Duckling car sales. I gave it back to them but havent paid any on it because it was a real lemon. When Ugly Duckling Bankrupted the loan balance was written off and assigned to a co. named Associated receivables. This company has also reported the same debt to the credit bureaus. Can they do that? If not how can I go about removing it from my bureau. I will read and give 10 points to the best answer.

Maryn, thanks for answering, but my question is can 2 different co.s report the same debt?

Answer 1

As I read it, you had a bad debt with Ugly Duckling, so it was reported on your credit. UD went bankrupt, and another company received your bad debt as part of the bankruptcy and they the debt now.

This is completely legal, unfortunately. One problem with bad debts like this is that they often are sold and assigned to different collection agencies. One tries to collect, They can't so eventually they sell it to someone else, who tries to collect and finally sells it to someone else.

Each creditor can report the nonpayment to credit agencies. it is why sometimes you can 10-20 bad listings on your credit, but they are all from one debt.

There are two real solutions to this. One, is you can come to an agreement with whoever holds the debt now, maybe offer to pay them ten cents on the dollar. You may not want to because the car was a lemon, but it will finally put a stop to this insanity.

Second is you can try to get the repetitive listings off your credit by contacting a credit counselor or working with the credit agencies. The problem with this, is that doesn't do anything about new listings that will continue to crop up over the years. So you'll invest a lot of time in money into stopping something that just continues to grow every year.

One thing you can do is keep documentation to show all the bad listings are from the same debt. That way if you apply for a loan you can show them the documentation and explain the circumstances. Some lenders will take it into account.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You bought the car, right? And did not pay for it? Did Ugly Duckling accept the title and cancel the loan when you gave it back when you were not satisfied? If not, they you, my friend, have screwed the pooch.

When you buy something using credit, you have to pay for the item, whether it fell apart prematurely or not, unless some sort of contract or documentation exists relieving you of your debt in exchange for the return of the car.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but a debt is a debt. It's unlikely to be removed from your credit report until it's paid off.

Answer 3

So if I am hearing what you are saying, you now have a repossession and collection activity both showing on your credit report.

To answer your question, yes it is legal, you let the car go back and are responsible for paying the balance due.

As far as removing it, that's not going to happen, both the repossession and the collection activity will continue to show for 7-years and possibly longer depending on the collection company.

Even if you pay it in full, it will still show for 7-years.

You need to make some type of arrangement to pay for this vehicle before the collection company takes you to court and gets a judgment, if they do that they can attach your bank accounts, garnish your wages (if your State allows it) and file liens on any other property you may own like cars, boats, land and homes.

Answer 4

Yes, two different companies can report the same debt. It is a common occurrence when the original debtor sells the debt to a collection firm for collection. The original debtor remains there with a probable indication of 'charged off', while the collection firm appears with activity on the debt.

Answer 5

Yes, but you can only have a debt reported by 3 companies for the same debt. It is the law, and they cannot report it 10 times like said previously and if they do you can sue.