what if false claim is made by collection agency against you to the credit bureau?

Question

Hi. About 8 to 9 years back i used to live in an apartment complex. When i moved out of the apartment in 2001, i was told to make some payment about carpet damage to the management. The payment was made in full, at the 1st request. But despite it the apartment company still reported it to a collection agency, and the collection agency reported it to credit burea and i was never told anything about it whatsoever by the apartment or the collection agency. Sum 7 to 8 years later, when i check my credit report for the first time, i discover that my credit score is 682 and there is one & only one negative claim, by this collection agency. I contacted the apartment company & the collection agency but got no response. They ignored my letters, never returned any phone calls or said that they'd get back later but never did. Meanwhile this thing remains on my credit report. I contacted a lawyer and he says he will need $800 payment for him 2 help me out. $800 is 2 much 4 me. what should i do?

Answer 1

Contact the credit burea in which the discrepency is listed. Tell them you would like to contest the bad credit mark. That credit burea will send a letter to the apartment management company. if the apartment management company or carpet company or whatever it is cannot provide proof that you do owe them this money, or they simply do not care to counter your contest, the mark will be removed from your credit. If it was 8 years ago they probably don't have anything about you on file anymore and even if they did they probably don't care to pursue it. you're going to have to figure out how to contact the credit burea on your own. good luck! you probably won't need it.

Answer 2

Did you ever try to dispute the entry with the credit bureau? Give that a try.

When you contacted the apartment complex and collection agency, did you do it by letter? Did you have proof of payment, like a cancelled check?

It may all be a moot point as negatives fall off your credit report in 7 years and 180 days from the date of last activity (DOLA) or default date. It's impact on your score isn't that great at this point.

Definitely don't waste $800 for a lawyer.

Answer 3

Something that occurred 7 years or more should not be in the credit bureau anymore. Now, if you still have the receipt, you can prove that you paid the debt. Also, even if you don't have the receipt, something that happened "8" or "9" years ago, should be deleted from your credit report which is a part of the credit bureau. This is simply ridiculous. Try very hard to find that receipt, darken it so that it can be easily read, and send a copy to the credit bureau. Tell the credit bureau that you know the time limit on these things. This should make them "do the correct action" on your behalf. Remember this, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31. The Lord daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. - Psalm 68:19. Peace, Love and God Bless.

Answer 4

First things first. You need to find out whether the demand you pay for the carpet was even legal in the first place. Normal wear and tear is not the responsibility. Contrary to popular belief, stains etc. are part of normal wear and tear. Destroying a carpet by ripping tearing or cutting an otherwise fine carpet properly installed is abuse and is the responsibility of the renter.

I would contact a real estate attorney, this should be cheap or free. I would just tell them the circumstances as far as the year adn they are requiring you to pay (provided you did not destory the carpet and we are talking normal wear and tear). If he tells you you are not required to pay, then simply contact the credit bureaus and inform them this is an invalid claim give them statutes etc. to reference adn they will have to take it off your record.

If this is your responsibility, you know that and are just trying to clear the record you will have to prove you paid the bill.

Even though it was a long time ago, if you paid by check you should be able to get the records for a fee. If you paid via some other means you are probably going to have trouble proving it without a receipt.

Answer 5

File a dispute with the credit bureau. The collection agency and apartment complex will have to prove the claim or the credit bureau will remove the item. Do you have proof you paid the debt. You may need to provide the proof if the apartment complex says you didn't pay.

Answer 6

First contact the credit bureau and file a dispute claim. Then, make copies of your receipt and send them in a registered letter to the apartment management and the collection agency and demand they straighten it out. If they refuse then go file a defamation lawsuit in small claims court. It will cost you about $80.00 to file but will help you in the long run to clear your credit.

Answer 7

no need for a lawyer
file a dispute with all 3 bureaus
they must by law remove non verifiable information
especially if it over 7 years old
if the original company has no paperwork, and cannot validate the claim, it will be removed, however keep in mind one informed of a dispute from the credit bureaus they might attempt to re age it and you have to dispute it all over again

Answer 8

Sorry to say, but the lawyer is your best bet. He/She will know what just to do to get it cleared. Doing it by yourself, you'll have people not wanting to listen to you and blow you off.

No, it's not fun to pay the, but think of all the credit opportunities with buying a house, car, credit cards you'll miss out on in the future, or you'll have to pay high intrest rates because of your false credit score. If you don't pay the $800 for a lawyer, you'll pay that and more in needless rates in the future, so $800 is actually the cheaper route. Get a 2nd part time job if you need to, that's what I'm doing to get out of debt.

Good Luck!

Answer 9

Just file a claim with the credit bureaus. They will either verify the debt or remove it from your report.

Look on the websites for each of the three major bureaus - equifax, transunion, and experian.

Answer 10

There is no way you can fix something like this on your credit, your credit score can only go down. Especially if it happened 8 years ago it would take a miracle to fix, those people probably don't even remember you and after 2 years max most companies are required to destroy their records.