I was doing great on my rebuild, then I got hit with a collection last year.

[DeeBee78]

I'm still in the rebuild process, but have come a long way. My credit scores hover somewhere between high 500's and low 600's right now (depending on scoring model).

They were all up over 600-620 before T-Mobile hit me with a collection I'm not responsible for. Back in  2008-2009, I had a pre-paid T-Mobile phone, which was month-to-month. I didn't have a contract, or owe them anything other than my monthly bill, which I paid on the first of the month. I switched to AT&T for the iPhone in February of 2009, and that was the end of T-Mobile.

Fast forward to November 2014- and a collection from T-Mobile is added to my TU and EQ credit reports (and probably my Experian, but I haven't checked that one yet). The collection reporting date is December of 2013. 

I immediately disputed the collection, because I never had a post-paid or contract account with T-Mobile, so I never owed them a penny. There is now a notation on the accounts that says, "Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements," (Transunion) and, "Consumer disputes this account information
Collection account." (Equifax), but they have not been removed. 

I have contacted the collection agency (Enhanced Recovery), and asked them to provide proof that this debt is valid. That was over two weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything from them, or received anything in the mail. 

How do I get this off of my credit reports? I don't think it was identity theft, so I don't want to file a police report that isn't accurate. I think they messed something up internally, and think I owed them money at some point. 

[Anonymous]

Have you contacted Tmobile regarding this account? You need to verify whether they are claiming this is actually from a charge related to your account, or if its for a different account. If its actually for a different account then you need to go through the ID Theft procedure to get it off. Whether or not you actually believe ID theft occurred or not isn't relevant - as long as you are reasonably sure the account is NOT YOURS, then use the provision. CA's are often known to pursue people with similar names to the one that actually owns the debt.

[ezdriver]

I'd go bak to T-mobile and investigate the charges to the point where you remember it to be yours or its not. If the latter, follow previous poster's advice.

I have been receiving a bill from AT&T wireless in my Yahoo email. Been delecting it until I realized that just deleting it is not the correct way to deal with it. I have no accounts with AT&T. The invoice is for a different person but somehow AT&T wireless got that person's account mixed up with my old AT&T email [which was set to forward to my Yahoo email] from years ago. I contacted AT&T. It took about 20 minues on the phone but they checked on it and told me that they will fix the problem in their billing department. This is how stuff shows up on our credit reports if we fail to act decisively as early as possible.

[DeeBee78]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Have you contacted Tmobile regarding this account? You need to verify whether they are claiming this is actually from a charge related to your account, or if its for a different account. If its actually for a different account then you need to go through the ID Theft procedure to get it off. Whether or not you actually believe ID theft occurred or not isn't relevant - as long as you are reasonably sure the account is NOT YOURS, then use the provision. CA's are often known to pursue people with similar names to the one that actually owns the debt.

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I can talk to T-Mobile about it, if you think that's a road worth going down.

Funny thing is last summer, AT&T added a collection to my credit reports, even though I am an active AT&T customer. All I had to do was dispute with TU that it wasn't mine, and it was removed a few days later. Why is T-Mobile any different? 

[Anonymous]

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@DeeBee78 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Have you contacted Tmobile regarding this account? You need to verify whether they are claiming this is actually from a charge related to your account, or if its for a different account. If its actually for a different account then you need to go through the ID Theft procedure to get it off. Whether or not you actually believe ID theft occurred or not isn't relevant - as long as you are reasonably sure the account is NOT YOURS, then use the provision. CA's are often known to pursue people with similar names to the one that actually owns the debt.

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I can talk to T-Mobile about it, if you think that's a road worth going down.

Funny thing is last summer, AT&T added a collection to my credit reports, even though I am an active AT&T customer. All I had to do was dispute with TU that it wasn't mine, and it was removed a few days later. Why is T-Mobile any different? 

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Using the ID Theft provision is much more reliable and faster than using the standard dispute process. By law it has to be removed within four days and the OC/CA have no say in the matter. I don't think its that Tmobile is really any 'different' per se, its just that the dispute process does not always get 'not mine' stuff removed. (And Enhanced Recovery are total DB's and hate to remove anything).

[DeeBee78]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@DeeBee78 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Have you contacted Tmobile regarding this account? You need to verify whether they are claiming this is actually from a charge related to your account, or if its for a different account. If its actually for a different account then you need to go through the ID Theft procedure to get it off. Whether or not you actually believe ID theft occurred or not isn't relevant - as long as you are reasonably sure the account is NOT YOURS, then use the provision. CA's are often known to pursue people with similar names to the one that actually owns the debt.

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I can talk to T-Mobile about it, if you think that's a road worth going down.

Funny thing is last summer, AT&T added a collection to my credit reports, even though I am an active AT&T customer. All I had to do was dispute with TU that it wasn't mine, and it was removed a few days later. Why is T-Mobile any different? 

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Using the ID Theft provision is much more reliable and faster than using the standard dispute process. By law it has to be removed within four days and the OC/CA have no say in the matter. I don't think its that Tmobile is really any 'different' per se, its just that the dispute process does not always get 'not mine' stuff removed. (And Enhanced Recovery are total DB's and hate to remove anything).

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Guess what came in the mail today - the DV from Enhanced Recovery. It's dated March 5, but I seriously doubt they sent it then. I've already drafted my response, and will be sending that to them in the morning.