Disputed collections on transunion and was deleted, but keeps coming back?

[wellthatshowitis]

I disputed a collections on transunion(wasn't mine, someone tried to use my identity), and they deleted it in my favor within a few days. Every few months though, when I try to request a report from transunion after getting denied credit, I see that the account is still there. Is that normal? Am I just supposed to keep disputing everytime the collections reports it to transunion? Thanks in advance.

[guiness56]

If it is removed due to a dispute the CRAs are not supposed to reinsert it without first certifing it is valid.  Once they reinsert it they are supposed to send you a notice within 5 days of reinsertion telling you.

If it is identify theft, you will need to file a police report and send it to the CRAs with a letter asking them to block that TL.

[unusuallyconfused]

In all honesty, to Hell with sending them any more information - they delted the information.

And by law, they're supposed to notify you in writing, within 5 days of reinsertion, that they are posting a previously deleted item. 

In your case, it appears they failed to do that MULTIPLE TIMES.

Were it me? And I knew my rights?

Ceritifed letter explaining how they are in willful violation of the FCRA and they have exposed themselves to liability. Show how they willfully violated the law (along with any necessary documentation that you might already have). Give them one final chance to permenently resolve the error and notify you, in writing, of their actions OR be prepared to take legal action against them.

I'm sorry, but I'm hot under the collar and am getting sick and tired of these companies trampling over our rights and abusing their power over something that is so important to each and every one of us: our credit files and, by extension, our reputations.

Don't **bleep**-foot these clowns anylonger: certified letter. last warning you're going to give them.

[wellthatshowitis]

8/2010 and 3/2012 was when I disputed times deleted in my favor.. the collections record is from 2008, would it even make sense to file a police report? Equifax on the other hand for some reason just won't delete it, and somehow confirms it valid.. I remember trying to get them both disputed at the same time. They probably use different methods to confirm the validity of stuff, so that's not a surprise. I remember calling Equifax up and asking them how they came to verify it, and they reopened another dispute and again validated it without telling me exactly how. I guess I really can't get much done without actually sending these stupid CRA's certified letters huh?

Will they actually respond to the letters? Or will I have to sue them to get them to respond?

[wellthatshowitis]

Ah I have to make a correction, I don't know if I can call it identity theft, more so a mistake if such a thing is possible. That's the only collections on my account and there aren't any other CL's for anything open that I don't know of. All I know is that the collections ended up on both Equifax and TU, and Equifax won't remove it, nor will they tell me what they verified, and TU keeps putting it back on without informing me.

[guiness56]

What exactly happened with the collections?  How was it a mistake?

When a dispute is filed with a CRA very seldom do they actually contact a creditor by phone or letter.  They use an electronic form of verification called e-Oscar.  Though the concept is good, it just doesn't work the way it should.  It takes very little to get verified, whether it should or not.

The best thing is to write them and send all of your documentation and proof to support your claim.

[wellthatshowitis]

Mistake is probably a bad way to describe it. Pretty much the collections activity just "appeared" on my account all of a sudden. I had received a letter from the CA one day, and I brushed it off instead of asking them to validate because I was thinking oh it must probably be a mistake and they'll clear it up(I was extremely ignorant). I guess the step I need to take next would probably be asking the collections agency to verify or stop reporting right? Will I still be able to do that even after all this time?

[guiness56]

You can send them a DV.  Even if timely they do not have to respond, unless you live in TX under the Finance Code, they just can't continue collection activity.  They are not required to remove the TL.

[RobertEG]

If any information reported to your credit file was a result of identity theft, yes, there is a huge benefit to addressing the issue via filing a police report and sending it to the CRA vs. filing a dispute.

Congress added the identity theft processes to the FCRA to deal with the very fact that addressing an "account not mine" issue by way of dispute leads to many complications.  I  just doesnt work. 

The consumer must initially, in any dispute, provide sufficient supporting documentation to enable the furnisher to conduct a reasonable investigation.  When a consumer asserts as basis for the dispute that "the account is not mine," that is a statement that anyone could throw out, and lacks any documentation.  And for very good reason.  The consumer cannot document a negative.

The furnisher, upon receiving the dispute, must conduct a reasonable investigation and report their results.  The result can simply be a verification of the accuracy of their reporting based on whatever records they have.  They are not required to provide their documentation, or "prove" basis for verification.  And, being fair to them, they have no way of independently determining whether the application they received was fraudulently executed using your identity.

Realiizing the inherent defects in the FCRA dispute process for handling such issues, Congress amended the FCRA to avoid all isssues of supporting documentation by either side, and of proper verification.  The identity theft process accepts a sworn statement before a law enforcement agency as sufficient basis to block the CRA from continuing to include the asserted identity theft information in any credit report they issue.  FCRA 605B.  The police report carries criminal penalties for any knowingly false statements made therin, and thus weeds out spurious assertions.

The CR block provision is totally separate from the dispute process, and simply gets it blocked without fighting over the facts. It totally avoids any issue of reinsertion after a dispute, as anything that is reported is simply blocked from inclusion in a credit report.

The consumer can then also send a copy of the police report to the creditor and demand all business records in their possession relating to the identity theft info, and can also send a copy to the debt collector and obtain any information they would normally be entitled to had they filed a dispute.