I have a situation that I am not sure if I should even bother with disputing and would like some advice. Sorry this is so long.
I was sued by LVNV Funding in 2011 for a $14k+ Citibank credit card.that charged off in 2010. At the time, I knew nothing about credit, etc so I just ignored it, like I ignored everything else regarding my credit mess. Eventually, in 2014, my wages began to be garnished for this debt. I came close to filing BK but eventually decided that I could financially handle the garnishment and, by the end of it, my largest debt would PIF and a HUGE weight would be lifted, so I let it go.
Fast forward to January 2016 when my last garnishment payment took place. I made several calls to my employer's payroll dept to discuss the situation and, in general, how it all would work at the end of the garnishment. I was assured that the balance was paid in full and all monies were sent to LVNV (or Resurgent Capital, I guess they are one in the same???).
For reference, the total amount of the judgment was $14,752.52 (CO amount + court costs) and the total amount I paid (can be verified via my pay stubs) was $15,240.03. So, technically I overpaid the original amount by $487.78.
I gave it 3 months and, when my CR's did not update to show PIF, but rather seemed stuck at showing "Late" and a balance due of $653, I filed a dispute with the CRA. My goal was just to force LVNV to update the reports and send me a satisfaction. Well, it did not work and they "confirmed" the information that was reporting.
On June 1st I filed a dispute with the CFPB. I explained in detail the situation and submitted the original judgment as well as my year end 2014 and 2015 pay stubs and my end of January pay stub. as proof of the amount garnished, a total of $15,240.03. The amount paid cannot be disputed. It's in black and white on official pay stub documents issued by ADP.
I got my response from LVNV via Resurgent Capital today. The very detailed 2 page letter basically just went over the history of the account, the payments, and my disputes.. However, I am pasting the portion of it that I still have an issue with below:
Wage garnishment is one method that can be utilized to execute on a judgment, and in this case, a wage garnishment was conducted. Our records indicate the amount of the judgment awarded included the sum of $14,439.48 plus $313.04 in court costs for a total of $14,752.52. $14,542.53 has been paid
towards the judgment, thus the judgment has not been overpaid. However, in consideration of the payments received on this account, we will consider the account “satisfied.” A satisfaction of judgment will be sent to the court and the LVNV trade line will updated to reflect that the account was “paid in full
for less than the full balance.”
The GREAT news is that they are going to show the account as satisfied, update the trade lines, and send satisfaction to the court. I am so very happy about that as the judgment reporting as Open was my biggest concern on my report. It would have been the biggest hindrance to anything I wanted to do in the future.
But I still have an issue with their numbers and the amount they say I paid. I can't figure how they can say I did not pay the full balance when I can PROVE how much of my wages were garnished, and that amount was clearly over what they say I owed them. It is clear that they did not add any additional amounts/fees/interest beyond the original judgment. So, I can prove I paid them $15,240.03 on a debt that was $14,752.52, yet they do not show in their records that same amount as what I paid, nor will they show the account as PIF on my reports when they do finally update it.
The reason I am not even sure this is worth fighting is because this account, and all other negatives, will fall of by no later than April of next year. I can get the actual judgment updated to show "Satisfied" now, and that was the primary result that I was hoping for with this dispute.
I am just bothered by both the over payment AND the "paid in full for less than full balance" statement that is going to show. Actually, isn't that statement contradictory?
This item is the last one I have that is an official collection on my reports and it reports as "Late" every month.. I have a few other old CO accounts but no other "collections". Once it is updated as paid, will the "less than full balance" statement even matter?
One important note I need to add - at the end of last week, 7 months after my final garnishment, my employer sent me a check for $359.00 with the note "garnishment over payment" on it. At the time I thought it was in relation to my dispute but now it seems like they were paying me back for a portion of the amount I overpaid amd they have just been holding on to all this time No clue why or why they never mentioned this to me during our phone calls.
At any rate, that still leaves about $128.00 in over payment, according to the figures from the judgment that are confirmed in the letter I just got. So, technically I did pay the account in full. I am just really bothered by the fact that LVNV / Resurgent will not acknowledge that, even with the proof I sent, which I assume that the CFPB sent to them for review. It appears to me they just ignored the black and white proof of my full payment to them. How can they do this?
Another note, I NEVER got any kind of communication AT ALL from LVNV or Resurgent during this entire process. I'm sure they sent initial collection notices way back in 2011. I was getting so may back then and I honestly just tossed them all. But I know that I have received NOTHING from them since 2014 when the garnishments began, nor after it was paid, even after I disputed the account with the CRA.
Thanks in advance for any advice!!
