Collection on Report not Accurate and Experian has been no help -- PLEASE HELP!

[ashjt2011]

Hello all,

I am helping my partner clean up their credit. On their Experian there is a collection from ATG Credit for a 3,003 dollar debt at Le Cordon Bleu College. The debt with Le Cordon Bleu is actually owned by Great Lakes student loans. It previously was charged off due to non payment, but I was able to rehab the loan and have been paying successfully on it for the last year and a half so it shows as a positive tradeline. Anyways, I disputed this with Experian - who comes back with "Remains: Creditor has verified this debt as accurate" so I redisputed it and added some comments, 18 hours goes by and I get another message from Experian. Same thing. This debt is reported accurate. I then called them and went around in circle with the lady about what the scenario was and she then just redisputed it. 24 hours later - another message from Experian reporting the debt as accurate. At this point I am flustered.

I went to Great Lakes and they provided me statements and such showing that the loan I have been paying on was from a 3,003 dollar debt from Le Cordon Bleu. So I have documentation now to show that the debt from Le Cordon Bleu is owned by Great Lakes. Last night I called Experian, and I explained to them 3 times and the guy puts me on hold and comes back and says "So what I can do to you is remove the remarks on this account." I explained to him once more that the account either has to be deleted or show a 0 dollar balance as for I dont owe ATG anything for this debt, since it is owned by Great Lakes.  He tells me he can redispute it and I can upload the files. We are about 20 hours in and not an email yet so we will see. I am not understanding though why Experian is being so difficult. Its like they dont understand what I am saying.

I called ATG last night after and she treated me like I was stupid. She told me that this is seperate from the Great Lakes loan that I am paying. She said that they own the debt from Le Cordon Bleu. She stated she saw my dispute but was confused of why I kept disputing it - considering it is their debt. I tried to explain to her again, the what she is reporting to me is the same information that Great Lakes has and I've been successfully paying on. She told me she would go back to school to get verification of what she is telling me.

So at this point - I have been making payments every month on this debt to Great Lakes and ATG thinks I additionally owe them the 3,003 dollars and they keep reporting to Experian the debt is accurate. I am getting quite frusterated and I need some help/advice!

[tufa4311]

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@ashjt2011 wrote:

So at this point - I have been making payments every month on this debt to Great Lakes and ATG thinks I additionally owe them the 3,003 dollars and they keep reporting to Experian the debt is accurate. I am getting quite frusterated and I need some help/advice!

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How have you verified that ATG thinks you still owe them? Have you actually called ATG and have they said you owe them? The reason this is on your report is becuase they are reporting it - ultimately this is not an Experion issue; it is an ATG issue - they are the source. Yes, it would be nice if Exp could confirm what you say is true and remove the reporting but go to the SOURCE; ATG is doing the reporting. ATG and Great Lakes can't both own the debt. Now, one may be the collector for the other, and this is getting into areas where I am an amatuer at best, but I am almost certain that even if Great Lakes is an authorized collector for ATG they both can't be reporting it at the same time for the same months.

Call ATG.

Call Great Lakes.

Determine who should be reporting, tell the other to remove the history that they are not responsible for. They can report for the months they were the legal owner for, but they can't double report.

Get to the source.

[RobertEG]

Is ATG a debt collector?

[ashjt2011]

ATG is a debt collector.

I did call call ATG and they are claiming that this debt is different then the loan that I have with Great Lakes. They are the same identical thing. It was an original loan taken out at Le Cordon Bleu, that my partner didnt pay on. It went deliquent. But I had a chance to rehab the loan and I pay now to great lakes and have been. ATG is treating me like I am dumb and dont understand they are two different debts - they aren't.

[ashjt2011]

Update --

I havent heard anything back from Experian. Although, I did go to Le Cordon Bleu and get a tuition statement. It shows the final ending balance on 3002.60.

The original tuition was 6450 - in which my partner recieved a 2400 Grant. Since they did not complete the whole term - they were credited back 2150 dollars of the 6450 tuition cost and had to pay back 700 dollars of the grant. Leaving a balnce of 2600 dollars. Plus some fees random fees. The last line on the statemtn showed a balance due of 3002.60.

Le Cordon Bleu is set up funny and the person in the finance department (who works for a different company) said they were unsure of who I would owe, or if I owed both agencies. So they were no help beyond providing the statement showing my final balance due was 3002.60. Both Great Lakes and ATG (collection agency) is claiming that my partner owes that balance.

I am stuck here, especially if Experian comes back again as accure. Le Cordon Bleu has no idea who owns the debt, 2 people say they do, and I have been making payments to one of the collectors for over a year.

[Anonymous]

I cannot tell you if it is the same thing as your partner's school, but when I dropped out of college due to disability, I wasn't in a state to go through the paperwork to drop out officially. So the school had to pay back my financial aid to my student loan lender. I ended up owing the school. If I remember right, they also said that if not paid, they may refer my debt to the tax board of my previous state (that the school was in), and it would then come out of any tax refunds paid by that state, but don't trust my memory there - it's now been over a decade and I've been through several moves and while I have a folder for my college financial aid stuff, those letters are not in there. Just the original letter with my amount owed to the school, saying that it would be paid back to the student loan lender, but I owed the school itself not the lender.

That's how it happened to me back in the mid-2000's, and in the meantime I've heard of these sorts of debts being recalled to the USDOE?, so I don't know how  useful it is - but maybe it can help you piece something together.

ETA: That statement really should show who you owe that debt to. Mine specifically said that I owed to the school, for money paid back to lenders. But I am presuming (kind of tentatively) that since it is a statement from the school, it may mean that the money is actually owed to the school, not the lender.

[ashjt2011]

The statment makes it seem like I owe back to the school, as for it shows the disbursement of the original loan and then repayment of the loan. Thats how I understand the statement, at least.

AND BOOM! Another "Remains: The information has been confirmed as accurate"

Now I am concerned that I have been making payments to the US Dept of Education incorrectly, I am so confused on who I owe. I am paying on one thing and another company is trying to collect on the same debt.

[Anonymous]

STOP DEALING WITH EXPERIAN. You will never get anywhere that way. You need to directly dispute the validity of the debt with the Debt collector. If need be, take them to court and make them PROVE they have the right to collect it.