Unifund is manipulating the way they report a CO from 2004

[Anonymous]

It was a CO by Chase as of 09-06 and was purchased by Unifund in May 2008.  Unifund list themselves as a FC and the account as an installment type account, even though this was a CC, with a balance due each month in full.  I live in Washington state and the SOL for open ended accounts (CC)is 3 yrs, and the DOFD was 03-06.  Is there a dispute letter I can send to the CRA's that would help?

[nothingman02]

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@Chopbrocoli wrote:

I honestly don't see a difference between a JDB and a factor. 

Message Edited by Chopbrocoli on 07-19-2009 04:33 PM

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There are diferences in the way they operate as I mentioned in my earlier post. A single entity can function both as a FC as well as a JDB. But that does not dictate that the nature of the debt could be construed to be of either type. 

Whats important is to understand the reality and the nature of the debt. Granted, that technically, there is no law which prevents a FC from buying a delinquent a/c or a CO. They could. But they seldom do and thats the reality.

Hence when you claim a violation for inaccurate reporting and misrepresentation, you would assume almost a negligible risk considering the reality as JDBs typically pay pennies on the dollar and buy debts in bulk without much supporting documentation. Not that they cant get the supporting docs.They would rather skip (certainly not always the case) the annoying consumer requesting additional docs rather than spend that additional money buying those documents. Just makes financial sense to them.

 A JDB buys bad debts pennies on the dollar and a FC buys good debts at close to the value. A JDB could claim anything since they would be technically correct. Just becuase Asset is a FC as well along with being a JDB, they could  claim the debt to be a factoring debt and it seems ok. But what if they have to prove it in court? Thats when the problem arises and thats where they will get into trouble as the reality is that these debts are not factored accounts but rather junk debts bought in bulk. So, a FC can buy a bad or a good debt and a JDB can as well. But can the report the bad debt as a good debt? NOPE! Factored accounts are still open under the OCs books and are still performing. Are you still using the CC? NOPE! See the point? 

Now,

Having said that, I have read that the CDIA manual and the CRAs require the CA/JDBs to report the debts as Factoring accounts. Thats usualy not true. Even if it is, thats a problem between the CA/JDB and the CRA. The CA/JDB dont have to report at all! If they have an inconsistent explanation from the CDIA manual or the CRA, they should simply not report that particular aspect (as a Factoring account). But if they do report, they HAVE TO report accurately! And the CRA I am confident will not acquiesce to that fact that they have asked the CA/JDB to report the accounts as factoring acounts. They will not have the JDBs back, so to speak. Also remember, a factored account can be reported as an OC account and can hurt your score significantly more than a CA account. Case in point would be that they are reported as 120 days late or as open accounts (apropos the status NOT type)

And ignore the CDIA manual. Its not important. 

[Anonymous]

So, to summarize all this, if I dispute the validity of this account with the CRA's and they verfy, then filing a lawsuit against Unifund would most likely end up in my favor since they won't be able to prove the way they are reporting is accurate, if they even show up in court, which is unlikely since they are not licensed in my state.  Hopefully the CRA's will delete and it will be done.

[nothingman02]

Likely. Research Unifund. Check again your state licensing laws. How about out of state CAs? And yeah, it does not matter, whether the collector is a Factoring company or a JDB. What matters is waht is the nature of your debt and if it is being misrepresented.  It is a collection account and not a factoring company loan. Period. And in that context, the collector is a JDB and not a Factoring company You would need more violations before you go to court however. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  I have researched Unifund and it's all bad.  They are recognized as one of America's worst collection agencies because of their frequent and blatant disregard for the rules of the FCRA and other violations.  They live off of uninformed people through manipulation and fear.  Their CEO is a Turkish national who lives in Ohio that is known to throw parties for teenagers.  A real humanitarian I guess. According to my state AG, they are not licensed to practice law in the state of Washington, however, they have been known to use another bottom feeder in my state that is licensed by the name of Suttel and Associates. Looks as though Unifund uses this firm as leverage against timid people.  From what I have found out about Suttle and Associates is that they seldon, if ever, show up in court when suit is filed against them.  I think before I file suit against Unifund,  I will try and re-dispute them with the CRA's and point out their many violations and see if I can get them to delete based on that.  I got TU to delete them, but EQ and EX both came back as verified.  Any suggestions on what to write when re-disputing with EX and EQ?

[ECHOBOI4U]

To sum it all up here:

Unifund cannot grosly inflate a debt with fees to run up the blanace (FDCPA violation)

Unifund cannot rport the DOFD as when THEY accquired the account but as the original DOFD from the OC (violation of FCRA)

Unifund HAS to list it as a CO account under collections.  Any other listing is illegal (FCRA violation)

Unifund is bad.  They try to play like they can do what they are doing here, but they cannot.  They tried to age a 1995 discharged bankruptcy debt on my spouse last year on our CRAs and I hit them with a major lawsuit.  They settled and slithered away on some of the above violations and more.  Glad to be of any assistance if you would like.  After getting my spouse and I back to credit life for over 10 years, I know collection law and FDCPA, FCRA laws very well.  Cheers. :-)

[Anonymous]

Thanks!  I'll take all the help I can get putting these bottom feeders in their place.  I have just recently sent another round of dispute letters to EX and EQ pointing out the multiple FDCPA/FCRA violations.  TU already deleted them from my CR after my first dispute letter.  Hopefully I can get the same reults from the other 2.  I know what Unifund is trying to do.  They change the way they report all the time on my other 2 CR's.  Sometimes they report it as an installment type account, which in my state makes the SOL 6 yrs instead of 3 yrs since written contracts/installment loans are different from open accounts/credit card which is 3 years.  I am already past the 3 year mark since this IS an open account or credit card CO.  Sometimes they list it as open and sometimes they list it as closed.  They have never changed the DOFD which is 03-2006.  They also increase the amount owed every month by 80.00 to 100.00 and list it as due every month and report it as a KD every month.  One thing, they have never contacted me by mail or by phone, which I find odd.  The only correspondence that I have had with them is when I DV'd them when I first pulled my CR's and saw them on there and they sent me some copies of some statements and a letter showing that they had purchased the account from Chase, nothing else.  I'm waiting with my fingers crossed now until the 30 days are up and see what EQ and EX say.  I will be surprised if they delete.  If they don't, then the next step would be to file suit against Unifund.  From what I hear they never show up in court.  They just file suits against unsuspecting consumers and hope they don't show up in court so they can win a judgment by default.

[ECHOBOI4U]

Keep copies of ALL the changes on your credit reports to use against them in court.  A CA cannot report as an installment account becuase their is no installment agreement signed by you.  This CA never ceases to disgust me.  They need another major reality check.  Hit em hard and make em pay (literally with money to you in the form of restitution and pain and suffering/slander).  Do not let up on these guys.  Fax and mail them these correspondances until they cry.  Let us know how this goes and what info we on this forum can do to help.  Cheers.

[Anonymous]

Rest assured, I have EVERYTHING associated with Unifund.  When I get an answer from EQ and EX I will keep you posted.  They will both probably come back as "verified" since the way the CRA's do an investigation is a joke.  I find it hard to believe that the CRA's are not aware of the multitude of violations committed by Unifund and then continue to "verify" every time they receive a dispute from a consumer.  Again, I'll keep you posted.  Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Well I got my response back from EQ and EX and no surprise they both came back "verified".  Not only that but they sent a form letter telling me that they already investigated Unifund and verified, so without anything new from me about Unifund they will not investigate any further.  Makes me wonder if they even read my complaint to them since I listed several new violations that Unifund has committed.  I then filed complaints to the FTC, my state attorney general, and to the BBB in Ohio where Unifund is based.  I then sent a final letter to Unifund informing them that I filed these complaints and that I am now ready to file suit against them.  Of course I got no response from them.  When I file suit against them should it be in Federal court or small claims court.  I've heard opinions for both.  Also, I don't know what state that you live in or if Unifund is licensed to practice in your state, but they are not licensed in my state.  In my state I am allowed to sue for $1000.00 per violation.  When you sued them did you hire an attorney?  Although they are not licensed in my state they can always hire an attorney in my state to challenge me in court.  When you sued them, did Unifund have any representation in court to challenge you?   I want to be prepared but an attorney can be expensive and I don't want to have to hire one unless I have to.