Hmmm.... This is certainly one of the most interesting threads lately.
Reading through some of these threads, I have something different to propose, though.
I recently made a post about a debt that was popping up on my credit report as an unpaid collection. It was also a debt that I had been garnished for in my paychecks and paid in full through garnishment and took a court settlement for. So even though I have paid that collection, and there is 0 debt on it, all the sudden i was being told that it was unpaid and that i needed to pay on it and threatened to have HP oh my credit report multiple times. Some collection agencies are nasty and twisted. I am not saying that i won't be able to have this tarnish removed from my reports, in fact i am 98% sure that i can. But the fact is, i was not safe, even though i had no debt.
Not to be pessimistic or to play devils advocate here, but are we ever safe? We live in a world where the second biggest retailer has such a large data breach that they have to supply everyone with a free credit monitoring service for a year. The second largest gaming console in the world had a data breach releasing names and more for millions of its users.
Fifty years ago, we were told never to ever give our social security number to anyone buy the government. Today, everyone has it. Debt collectors have it, schools have it, cellphone companies even have it, just to name a few. There was a town secretary that stole over 50 peoples identity this year and applied for over 70 credit cards for herself. My father had his identity stolen by relatives last year and we had to go through the courts to correct the issue. Yes, these problems can be rectified, but with alot of pain and effort and monitoring on our parts. And if i were to apply for a mortgage or a loan while this were on my reports could make matters worse. Its a matter of always being proactive, and knowledgeable that will make us safe.
Starting Score: 503
Very good points, Robert. I have sent out a DV with the total paystub amounts that I have paid to the collection agency.
The law offices of the OC have not filed sir satisfaction of the debt with the courts however. When I received this phone call, it did spurn me into action and they agreed to send it out that very day. It has been paid for over two months. I am not aware if there is a law saying they need to do this in a timely manner or not though.
when you say contact the judgment creditor to find out if they have assigned authority to a debt collector, do you mean the OC, or the OC's attorney? I have been dealing with the attorney primarily.
The creditor who contacted me is infamous for its shady and relentless practices, and this debt was very quiet until now about a month after it was paid off in the courts (albeit not reported correctly.) I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to swindle me.
Anyway I didn't mean to hijack the thread with my problems, just to convey my point that we are never 100% safe while there are crooked people and crooked companies out there.
The law offices of the OC have not filed sir satisfaction of the debt with the courts however. When I received this phone call, it did spurn me into action and they agreed to send it out that very day. It has been paid for over two months. I am not aware if there is a law saying they need to do this in a timely manner or not though.
when you say contact the judgment creditor to find out if they have assigned authority to a debt collector, do you mean the OC, or the OC's attorney? I have been dealing with the attorney primarily.
The creditor who contacted me is infamous for its shady and relentless practices, and this debt was very quiet until now about a month after it was paid off in the courts (albeit not reported correctly.) I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to swindle me.
Anyway I didn't mean to hijack the thread with my problems, just to convey my point that we are never 100% safe while there are crooked people and crooked companies out there.