I would greatly appreciate any and all advice. I am buying a home and time is of the essence. This one item is the only thing killing my chances at getting secured for a loan.
Here is the backstory: I had an account with sprint from years ago, and I had 4 other people on the account. 3 of the people and myself moved our lines over to a new carrier and the one person (Todd) remained on the sprint account. Years go by, he continues with the sprint account, and then he stops paying. I had incorrectly assumed that the account was under his responsibility, but it wasn't. The account then went to collections. The collection agency then attempted to call me (no attempt through mail was made), and I told them politely that it was not my responsibility and that it was someone else's.
Fast forward a couple months later, and then I see the account on my credit report. I then send a DV (debt validation) letter to the CA, and they provided me with the last couple Sprint bills. The account was still in my name so they had their verification. I then called the CA to negotiate a pay for delete, but they were not having it and they said they are bound to the terms they have with Sprint. I then called Sprint's executive care, and spoke to a rep through there. I described all of the detail and informed them that I am willing to just pay as long as the item comes off the credit report. She mentioned to me that as long as I bring the account to current in full that it would be removed off of the credit report. I asked for writing for the agreement, but she was unable to. I still agreed, and just paid it off in full.
So that brings us to now. The lender reran the credit and of course, the item is still on my report, but with a paid status. I called the sprint executive line again, spoke to a different person, and told them everything above. This person then prepared an email to go to the CA escalations asking that the item be removed. I got a call back later today from sprint executive care that the CA will not remove because it is a violation of their terms with sprint. What can I do at this point? How can I get this item completely removed off of the report as quickly as possible?
My score actually dropped even more as a result, and I cannot qualify for a loan. My wife and I are expecting a child very soon, and I need to get a house before October. I really would appreciate any advice on this.
