Help with Unrecognized Collection on Credit Report

[Anonymous]

Last week I recieved an alert of a change to my credit report with Experian. There is a new collection account from Enhanced Recovery Co, I've never heard of this company, I've never recieved a call or letter from them.

The entry shows  Seriously delinquent on a debt to Comcast.  HOwever, I have a current account with Comcast and when I called Comcast they don't show any delinquency and were unable to substantiate the claim from the CA.  I immediatly got all three of my CRs and it is also showing on Equifax. 

What is the best way to approach this?   I disputed this with Experian and Equifax, should I also contact the CA? Or would that cause issues?  

I was in the process of buying a new car and this has taken my credit score from 756 to 668 overnight, now I'm hesitant to even apply for a loan.  Any advice would be appreciated .

[RobertEG]

That is the specific purpose for the debt validation process.... to provide consumers with the opportunity to obtain more information regarding an alleged debt before determining how to proceed.

I would send a DV request.

[Anonymous]

Update: I decided to dispute it with all three credit bureus.  After about 7 days it came off all three no questions asked.  

[RobertEG]

Good news!

However, it is common for collections to be removed after a dispute, if the debt collector decides not to investigate and provide verification back to the CRA.

It is often followed by a new collection reported by  a new debt collector.

Unless you receive a Notice of Results of Reinvestigation on your prior dispute that clearly states that the CRA deleted based on lack of verification, then the new debt collector is free to reinsert without limitation.

You might be on the lookout for a new debt collector.....

[Anonymous]

Ahhh good to know.  So to claify, the curent collector is a company call Enhanced Recovery, but now that they are removed it may show again sometime in the future from a different one?  Or can this company try and repost it down the line? 

I had contacted the company they listed as the original creditor, Comcast.  And had them search for any such account using my address, name, and ss# but they coudn't see any account in collections. So I have no idea what it is or where its coming from. Hopefully it's just clarical error of some kind. 

[RobertEG]

It is common for a creditor, once they sell a debt to a debt buyer, to send the debt collector their records or to archive them in their deepest basement.

Info is often not available to their phone reps.

The key to validation is whether a reporting debt buyer has obtained adequate info to then verify the debt.

No credit report deletion is ever absolute.  Reinsertion can always be done provided any prior lack of verification is overcome.

If a previously disputed collection is deleted, it can always be reinserted, either by the previous party or by a new debt collector, is the reportting is accompanied by a Certification of Accuracy of the previously deleted info. 

If a previous deletion was voluntary, meaning not deleted by a CRA due to lack of verifcation of a dispute, then any party can report a collection without any additional requriments.