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AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

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Anonymous
Not applicable

AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

Hello, I found two hits on my report form AFNI ($191) and MCM ($148)  for old Verizon bills (more below). I didn’t know the law and called them both and even though I know the charges were bogus and I have never been contacted, I paid them because they bullied me and said they would continue to report me every 30 days until I paid. When I saw that my score went down after MCM reported my payment I looked into it and BOTH debts were past SOL. 

 

Do I have any course to get the entries deleted form my report? Both of the accounts were reported AFTER SOL. Will an intent to sue threat work?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

So the Verizon bills were form 2005 in MD and 2006 in VA. They are both from when I moved and transferred my service. Apparently when you transfer a Verizon home service, they automatically show you as having a balance and don’t forward it to you. In both cases I was never told I had an outstanding balance and to this day continue to be a Verizon customer with no breaks. Both MCM and AFNI say the bills are for my never paying my bill the entire time. The phone didn’t seem to understand that Verizon would not let me have service for over a year and never pay my bill...and then only charge me $100.

 

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. 

Message 1 of 7
6 REPLIES 6
NewbieReed
Frequent Contributor

Re: AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello, I found two hits on my report form AFNI ($191) and MCM ($148)  for old Verizon bills (more below). I didn’t know the law and called them both and even though I know the charges were bogus and I have never been contacted, I paid them because they bullied me and said they would continue to report me every 30 days until I paid. When I saw that my score went down after MCM reported my payment I looked into it and BOTH debts were past SOL. 

 

Do I have any course to get the entries deleted form my report? Both of the accounts were reported AFTER SOL. Will an intent to sue threat work?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

So the Verizon bills were form 2005 in MD and 2006 in VA. They are both from when I moved and transferred my service. Apparently when you transfer a Verizon home service, they automatically show you as having a balance and don’t forward it to you. In both cases I was never told I had an outstanding balance and to this day continue to be a Verizon customer with no breaks. Both MCM and AFNI say the bills are for my never paying my bill the entire time. The phone didn’t seem to understand that Verizon would not let me have service for over a year and never pay my bill...and then only charge me $100.

 

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. 


Though I can't help u in the particular situation, I can advise u on cleaning up ur CR for  paid collections. My advice would be to GW both companies for deletion -- letters, emails, etc. 

Verizon is reportedly a tough cookie to crack, but there's no harm in trying. 

 

Good luck!!

Starting Score: 526 EXP 09/2012 600 FICO 10/2012 608 EX (lenderpull)11/2012
Current Score: 705 FICO TU (10/2014)Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 2 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

Thanks for the reply NewbieReed. My issue is actually with AFNI and MCM since Verizon sold the debt. 

 

What I really need is info on if I have any recourse in using the SOL to get the entries removed. Since I paid the debts, they both show that I aknowledged the debt and have reset the account activity dates to 2013, adding another 7 years to the report date. 

 

I plan to call them, but based on the phone call when I paid, they were unwilling to delete for pay or budge in any way. Hoping to have some ammo behind me when I call to request removal. 

Message 3 of 7
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

Don't confuse SOL with CRTP. SOL is the time frame a creditor has to sue you for an unpaid debt and has nothing to do with reporting. CRTP is the 7-7.5 yr credit reporting time period as set by the FCRA and has nothing to do with state law (so the states don't matter). SOL also doesn't matter here because the debt is paid and they can't sue on a paid debt.

 

The 7-7.5 yr CRTP clock starts ticking at the DOFD of the debt. DOFD is the date you first went late with the OC and never recovered again. If you pull your EQ report from Equifax.com or annualcreditreport, you'll find DOFD listed for these CAs. EX and TU do not list DOFD but will show an est. drop off date. Your 2006 debt should still be reporting. The one from 2005 should or shouldn't be reporting. Do you have an exact DOFD?

 

Paying any bad debt won't reset the DOFD. They can change the reported date, DOLA, etc., but the DOFD must hold first. There's only one DOFD and it can't be reset.

 

As mentioned by the prior poster, I recommend sending GW letters to both CAs asking for a deletion. Definitely worth reviewing the 2005 account to confirm the DOFD.

Message 4 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

llecs,

I appreciate the info. The DOFD of AFNI shows 03/2006, which is around the correct date. Will that drop off in March? (Did I need to pay them at all?)

 

The MCM one shows a DOFD of 07/2009. This doesn’t match what they said the debt was for on the phone. 

 

I have sent MCM GW letters to some email addresses and am awaiting replies (got an out of office for one) and hoping they will work with me. I can probably use military moving docs to show that the debt is wrong, but that won’t help my chances for a mortgage in the meantime.

 

I appreciate your time!

Message 5 of 7
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

If DOFD is in this March 7 yrs later then it'll delete in March, give or take a month. If MCM shows 7/2009, then it'll delete in 7/2016. If 7/2009 does not match with your records then you'd need to prove that the debt first soured in 2005. There are a couple of sources for that info. First is old reports from the same CRA. So, if you have older EQ reports showing a 2005 DOFD then you'll have the evidence you need to dispute it due to being beyond CRTP. Absent reports, you need to look at your old statements and/or contact the OC to ask for older statements. You'd want to establish that the account first went late in 2005 as opposed to 2009.

 

 

ETA...paying them is your call. It'll delete on time regardless of payment. Even if they delete, they can still collect and/or sue. Suing would be hedged upon your state's SOL. SOL can vary from 3 to 15 years depending on where you live and the debt type. I really doubt though they'd sue at those low balances.

 

 

Message 6 of 7
proudnavymom
Regular Contributor

Re: AFNI and MCM Help!!! Paid debt that was SOL and score went down

A couple of years ago I kept receiving settlement offers from Afni to settle an old T-Mobile account.  The original balance was $638 and the last offer I got was a settlement for $50.  I tried to get them to agree to a PFD, but kept getting the response "we don't exchange payments for deletions".  I decided to go ahead and pay it since it was a good offer.  Within a couple of months after paying it, Afni did delete it off my CR. 

Starting Scores TU 7/30/09 FICO 493 EQ 9/5/10 FICO 477 EX 11/14/2011 (lender pull) 575
Current Scores TU 10/19/2018 FICO 671 EQ 12/21/2018 FICO 614 EX 5/31/2014 FICO 658
Goal Scores 700 across the board
Message 7 of 7
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