Assignment of Rights (credit card)

[Gail752]

Would someone please explain the following: what is the difference or importance between 1) purchase of cc debt from a bank to CA and 2) "pursuant to this purchase and sale" said bank "assigned all contractual rights to CA". 

After being laid off in 2011 & 2012, I had made payment arrangements with said bank but when the savings ran out so did my payments. However, about a year ago I received a notice to pay from a CA through an out-of-state law firm? I sent them a DV CMRR because the outstanding balance was $2000 more than the balance I was paying on (with no explanation). The CA via law firm stopped collections but the CA still showed the entry on my CR under "collections section" with a comment "account info disputed by consumer; placed for collections". 

1) please explain the difference above. I read elsewhere that there is a dispute as to whether or not a CA or third party could sue if they are NOT the original creditor

2) once I DV'd shouldn't the entry be removed from "collections" on my CR? I understand it may still be on my CR but not in collections category

3) the CA has continued to pull my credit report - I read in the forum that this may be illegal since CA and I did not have a direct business transaction. Is that your understanding as well? Or is that the purpose of the "assigning of all contractual rights?"

Thanks! 

[Anonymous]

The difference is this:
"Sold" means exactly that - the debt has been SOLD to the CA and OC has NO rights of collection, and either stops reporting or reports as $0 balance. There is no contractual arrangement of any sort, and the OC cannot sue you.

"Assigned" means the CA has been HIRED by the OC to collect a debt for them. When collected, the bulk of the money goes to the OC, with the CA taking a slice or a flat fee, depending on their contractual arrangement. An assigned debt can be called back by the OC, a sold debt cannot. An assigned debt can be reported by both the OC and the CA.

As long as the debt is within SOL, they can sue and collect. They are allowed to add interest (limit is determined by the state) and 'reasonable' legal fees. DV with the CA does not remove it, it only requires them to stop collection efforts until it is properly verified. Disputing with the CRA marks the debt as 'disputed' and removes it from the scoring system, but not from manual reviewing.

They should be able to give you a breakdown of the original debt and the added interest and fees.

CA's are essentially 'in bed' with the CRA's (along with lenders) and do 'soft pulls' just like lenders do.