Hello all, I'm new to this board and have been doing a lot of reading all morning! I still have a lot to learn but I'm hoping some of you can help shed some light on the proper way to go about this situation. Please bear with me -- it's a bit long and I'm feeling a bit desperate and time crunched
I began to be called by a collections agency last summer in regards to a debt from a student loan. I thought this was strange as two of my loans were consolidated and is paid by my mother and the other is paid by myself and always has been on time. I contacted the school and they advised that the consolidation had caused me to fall a month behind but other than that, things were fine.
Then, a few months later I received a letter in the mail. I had moved about 4 times since leaving school so whether or not things got sent elsewhere, I have no idea. It stated that I owed a balance of about $2899, from a balance from my student loan from my last semester in school.
My last semester I had enrolled, stayed about a week and then completely widthdrew without having even attended any classes. The balance from that time frame (I assumed) is what I was paying the student loan on, as why would I be paying for a loan for a full semester's tuition when I had left way before the cut off date for widthdrawl. I requested to get information on this money I was supposed to be paying on, the school advised that it was a check I had to have picked up in person from the student cashier's office at the beginning of the semester as there is no way this check would have gone anywhere else. They said they'd send me a copy of the check.
When I received the check, it was for the amount of $2879. So $20 difference from the balance that the CR is holding me accountable for. But -- the copy of the check showed it had been direct deposited, not one that was picked up and cashed. Then, when I got a copy of my bank statement from the few months around that time frame, there is not a single desposit into my account for anything in the amount of $2800 at any range! Only similary deposit is for the amount of $26xx. So I don't have anything matching the copy of the check that was placed into collections, or the amount that the collections agency is holding me responsible for.
They've been getting very agressive recently and I am going to put a letter together to stop calling me, as I don't need voice mails left from their 'legal department' on my work line. But I also want to figure the best way to dispute this. Is it better for me to just request proof? Or would it be better for me to send a copy of this check and copies of my bank statements showing the fact that this check was never deposited into my account as they are claiming it is?
Also -- I have 2 inquiries effecting my credit report from this collections company showing up. Are they allowed to do this??!
Thanks for any help you may have!!