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Hi All,
I need some help in determining what my best course of action should be with AFNI.
Today I received a collection letter from them for the amount of $2,400. The OC is TMobile and back in 2002 I disputed this debt because they billed me 2,400 for ONE MONTH of service. I did not agree with the cell phone usage TMobile was claiming I owed and I never paid for that month. The last time I saw anything from TMobile on my credit report was in 2005. I called TMobile today in order to request the last payment made for that account and they stated it was 09/19/2002.
What should my course of action be with AFNI? My first thought is to send a DV letter, but even if they verify I do not feel the debt was valid to begin with and I refuse to pay it. Would sending a DV change the CRTP? Or should I just wait for Sept. of this year and dispute it as obsolete at that time?
I am trying to rebuild my credit in order to purchase a home within the next few months. All help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
bigbucksnowhammies wrote:hp44,
Thanks for replying...Based on what I've read AFNI seems to like going after debt that is past SOL and CRTP. I haven't seen anything post on my reports yet and I am worried that when it does post my score will drop drastically. I hope they don't try to re-age the account.
It is illegal to re-age. It will fall off as scheduled, no matter what happens. Now they could update the account via the "update" or "reported" date and that can drop your score, but that isn't re-aging. Whenever there's a DV or dispute, CAs will update. Some will be jerks and add lates, etc. But it will fall off this year.
anyone?
hp44,
Thanks for replying...Based on what I've read AFNI seems to like going after debt that is past SOL and CRTP. I haven't seen anything post on my reports yet and I am worried that when it does post my score will drop drastically. I hope they don't try to re-age the account.
bigbucksnowhammies wrote:hp44,
Thanks for replying...Based on what I've read AFNI seems to like going after debt that is past SOL and CRTP. I haven't seen anything post on my reports yet and I am worried that when it does post my score will drop drastically. I hope they don't try to re-age the account.
It is illegal to re-age. It will fall off as scheduled, no matter what happens. Now they could update the account via the "update" or "reported" date and that can drop your score, but that isn't re-aging. Whenever there's a DV or dispute, CAs will update. Some will be jerks and add lates, etc. But it will fall off this year.
@llecs wrote:
BTW, I had them too for a Nextel account. I found that if you have your last bill from the OC and it doesn't jive with their reported balance, you can legally challenge them to prove their balance is the same as the OC's balance. If they cannot prove it, then they are not telling the truth about the balance and they will delete and go away. I had my last Nextel bill and my bill was actually HIGHER than AFNI's balance. Without telling them Nextel's balance, I challenged them and said that they are misreporting and under the FDCPA they are collecting on a balance that isn't correct, thus they most stop all collection activity. They couldn't come up with records to jive with the OC and they opted to delete instead.
That is awesome! Does that work with any bill a CA is trying to collect on?
housesomeday wrote:That is awesome! Does that work with any bill a CA is trying to collect on?
Yes it can work. Now it was easy for me because AFNI's balance was less than the OC's balance. It was clear misreporting. Now if AFNI's balance was higher, then I'd have to figure out or account for late fees, interest, etc. And we all know that AFNI doesn't break their balances down.
BTW, here's my letter:
On September 25, 2007 and March 17, 2008, I mailed AFNI via Certified Mail debt verification letters as allowed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act per Sect. 809. Both times, AFNI dutifully and promptly responded to my request by sending all required information required by the Act, and AFNI responded with a balance due to Nextel of $xxx.xx.
However, something wasn’t right. AFNI’s balance due never matched my records. Furthermore, Nextel very recently provided me copies of the final bills, and while a small balance is due, the balance due is not $xxx.xx. I wanted to give you one last chance to complete to fulfill your obligation under Section 809 of the FDCPA by providing a verification of the balance due. I know what balance is owed. Nextel knows how much is owed. But do you? Continuing to claim that $xxx.xx is due is a misrepresentation and a violation of Sect. 807 (2)(A) of the FDCPA. Moreover, you are also violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by continuing to report the incorrect amount to each credit reporting agency.
Furthermore, I had sent AFNI letters offering payment of $xxx.xx in exchange for full deletion off my credit reports. Due to Sprint/Nextel’s information combined with my own, I rescind these offers.
I’ll give you 30 days (seeing AFNI nearly had 11 months to get this right) to properly provide a verification of this debt under Section 809 of the FDCPA. Stop reporting $xxx.xx. Verify the debt with the correct amount and get it right.
Sincerely,
llecs
Really great info everyone! Thanks to everyone who replied!
llecs, I will follow your advice and cross reference the amounts between the OC and CA. Also, great letter! Thanks for sharing!