Help disputing BS debt from DCI

Anonymous · ‎10-06-2015

My wife and I will be looking to buy our first home in the next 12 to 24 months, so I recently signed us up for memberships to Credit Check Total. My wife's scores are pretty good (~725 - 758), but we were awfully surprised when going over the reports to find a baddie on all three from her old T-Mobile account. It's from a Diversified Consultants, Inc. in Jacksonville, FL saying she owed/owes $84.

This is total BS. She closed her account with T Mobile in good standing around May/June of 2013, she was already out of the 2-year contract period simply going month-to-month, and got confirmation from multiple T-Mobile employees that she was completely paid in full with them. We have NEVER received any bills, letters, or phone calls from either T-Mobile or this DCI collection agency saying she owes them a dime.

What's weird is that on the reports it shows DoFD 1/1/15, it reports for a month, and then it's gone after that saying 'Last Updated 3/1/15'. But that one month of reporting still shows up as a baddie on her reports. One other thing that might be a factor is she has a very common maiden name, Jones, which makes me wonder if they have the wrong person.

She tried calling the 1-800 for DCI on the report this afternoon, which predictably went nowhere. The guy who answered was very rude and accusatory, claiming they've sent bills/letters and people like her are constantly claiming they didn't get them.

Any advice on our next step? Send a certified letter to DCI asking for DV? Would it do any good to contact T-Mobile themselves, or will they not really care at this point? How about disputing with the credit bureaus? We would much rather try all avenues of disputing this before considering PFD, since I have a very hard time believing this is a legit debt in any shape or form. If it comes down to it, it would probably be worth the $84 just to make it go away and do a PFD, but I can't stand the thought of paying even $84 for what is a total BS claim from them.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Anonymous · ‎10-06-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
My wife and I will be looking to buy our first home in the next 12 to 24 months, so I recently signed us up for memberships to Credit Check Total. My wife's scores are pretty good (~725 - 758), but we were awfully surprised when going over the reports to find a baddie on all three from her old T-Mobile account. It's from a Diversified Consultants, Inc. in Jacksonville, FL saying she owed/owes $84.

This is total BS. She closed her account with T Mobile in good standing around May/June of 2013, she was already out of the 2-year contract period simply going month-to-month, and got confirmation from multiple T-Mobile employees that she was completely paid in full with them. We have NEVER received any bills, letters, or phone calls from either T-Mobile or this DCI collection agency saying she owes them a dime.

What's weird is that on the reports it shows DoFD 1/1/15, it reports for a month, and then it's gone after that saying 'Last Updated 3/1/15'. But that one month of reporting still shows up as a baddie on her reports. One other thing that might be a factor is she has a very common maiden name, Jones, which makes me wonder if they have the wrong person.

She tried calling the 1-800 for DCI on the report this afternoon, which predictably went nowhere. The guy who answered was very rude and accusatory, claiming they've sent bills/letters and people like her are constantly claiming they didn't get them.

Any advice on our next step? Send a certified letter to DCI asking for DV? Would it do any good to contact T-Mobile themselves, or will they not really care at this point? How about disputing with the credit bureaus? We would much rather try all avenues of disputing this before considering PFD, since I have a very hard time believing this is a legit debt in any shape or form. If it comes down to it, it would probably be worth the $84 just to make it go away and do a PFD, but I can't stand the thought of paying even $84 for what is a total BS claim from them.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

For an account that you KNOW is not yours, use FCRA 605B to get it removed. Its for the removal of items that are potentially the result of ID Theft. Google for it and read it thoroughly, so you unbderstand whats required. You will not even have to deal with DCI at all, they will have no say in the matter.

Anonymous · ‎10-06-2015

Thanks for the reply. I'm not so sure I would categorize it as ID Theft as much as a probable mix-up or mistake somewhere. For example, we registered for our wedding at Bed, Bath, & Beyond last year. When friends and relatives tried to search for our registry on their website by her first and last name and our state (FL), it returned a couple of dozen registries for brides with the same name.

I guess there's some small probability (.5%?) that it's a legit debt, but then why wouldn't T-Mobile or DCI ever send a bill or call? And why report it for that one month then stop?

Anonymous · ‎10-06-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I'm not so sure I would categorize it as ID Theft as much as a probable mix-up or mistake somewhere. For example, we registered for our wedding at Bed, Bath, & Beyond last year. When friends and relatives tried to search for our registry on their website by her first and last name and our state (FL), it returned a couple of dozen registries for brides with the same name.

I guess there's some small probability (.5%?) that it's a legit debt, but then why wouldn't T-Mobile or DCI ever send a bill or call? And why report it for that one month then stop?

Doesn't matter. You do not in any way have to prove or even assert that ID Theft HAS occured, only that the item MAY BE the result of ID Theft. You did NOT authorize the account, yet its there on your report. Thats all the statute really requires. You merely have to affirm that situation via an ID Theft report and a written statement.

RobertEG · ‎10-06-2015

I concur thst filing an identity theft report to get credit report blockage under FCRA 605B would solve your immediate concern of removing the account from scoring.

However, you have a bit more than the simple, usual case of having had no account with the alleged creditor.

You have a situation where you apparently did have an account that could possible have had a debt, but have been assured by the creditor that there is no debt.

I would thus take the additional step of separately filing a direct dispute with the debt collector, asserting two inaccuracies.

First, submit your documentation of statements from the creditor of no debt on the account.

Second, assert no collection authority having been assigned to them by the OC, per the same documentation from the creditor.

The huge question is how they can assert having obtained any legitimate assignment of collection authority from a creditor who states there is no debt and that has thus not referred the debt for any debt collection or sold it to the debt collector.

You could also send a DV, and see if they state that they have obtained verification of the debt from the OC.