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Hello all,
I am very new to these types of forums and need help. On 2/1 I was contacted by a rep from Midland Funding stating that I owe $470.04 for an old T-Mobile account. I have not had an account with T-Mobile in over 2 years. I told the rep I had no idea what they were talking about and to send me a verification letter regarding the debt. Well, 4 days later I received the verification letter. I have already prepared a "debt validation" letter and will be sending it to them tomorrow. I have also checked my 3 credit reports and have noticed that on all 3 reports it is showing that I owe this debt to Midland Funding. What I am not understanding is how they are able to report this debt to the credit agencies before contacting me about it. I have lived at the same address for a year and a half and have never been contacted by this company. Is there anything I can do about this? Below is what is on the Equifax and Experian report. Can someone explain this to me because I am confused on how they reported this.
One last thing, according to Federal Law the SOL for cell phone debts is 2 years. I noticed that for written contracts in NY it is 6 years. I did see on an attorney's site that specializes in cell phone debts and it says that it is under Federal Law. Is this really the case or is it actually noticed under written contracts.
Thank you for the help. It is really appreciated.
MIDLAND FUNDING LLC Acct: XXXX Date Opened: 08/28/2012 Amt Owed: $470 Date Reported: 01/17/2013 Amt. Past Due: $470
MIDLAND CREDIT MGMT INC
8875 Aero Dr Ste 200
San Diego , CA-921232255
(800) 825-8131
Account Number: XXXX
Current Status:
Account Owner: Individual Account.
High Credit: $ 470
Type of Account : Open
Credit Limit:
Term Duration: Terms Frequency:
Date Opened: 08/28/2012
Balance: $ 470
Date Reported: 01/17/2013
Amount Past Due: $ 470
Date of Last Payment:
Actual Payment Amount:
Scheduled Payment Amount:
Date of Last Activity: N/A
Date Major Delinquency First Reported: 10/2012
Months Reviewed: 3
Creditor Classification:
Activity Description: N/A
Date Closed:
Type of Loan: Factoring Company
Account (debt buyer)
Date of First Delinquency: 07/2010
Comments: Collection account
MIDLAND FUNDING | |||||||||||||||
| Original Creditor: T-MOBILE | ||||||||||||||
Address Identification Number: 0337478617 | |||||||||||||||
Status: Collection account. $470 past due as of Jan 2013. | Status Details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Apr 2017. | ||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||
Account History: Collection as of Jan 2013, Dec 2012, Oct 2012 | |||||||||||||||
Balance History - The following data will appear in the following format: account balance / date payment received / scheduled payment amount / actual amount paid Dec 2012: $470 / no data / no data / no data Oct 2012: $470 / no data / no data / no data | |||||||||||||||
The original amount of this account was $470 |
There is no requirement that a debt collector contact the creditor prior to reporting their collection to a CRA.
They only become barred from reporting if the consumer sends them a DV prior to their reporting. If it is their reporting that first informs the credtior of their collection, then there will of course would be no opportunity for the consumer to send a DV prior to their reporting.
They are required to send the consumer a collection (dunning) notice within 5 days after reporting, but that is a separate issue. They have apparently done so.
They apparently received collection authority in 8/2012, but made no reporting until 1/2013. They are not required to report at the time they acquire collection authority.
You were caught in the permissible practice of reporting, then providing collection notice to the consumer.
Thank you for responding. I guess that is one way of trying to put consumers in a bind. I will be sending a DV letter to them tomorrow as I have stated. Hopefully, they can provide me with the necessary information as I believe I do not owe on this account. Thank you again.
Actually that says its been reported since 10/2012. That means they went 4 months before contacting her. It also says they are reporting as a factoring company. I'd call them out on the late dunning and the reporting as a factoring company.
There is no stipulation in the FDCPA of when a CA has to send you a dunning letter other than within 5 days after first contact. If the CA wanted to hold on to it for a year they could.
They are allowed to report as a factoring company. A factoring company, collection agency and debt buyer are all listed under one section for reporting an account to the CRAs. It is when they use other areas they aren't supposed to.
The law you are referring to was written many, many years before cell phones existed.
Is this actually your debt or not? Point is, if it is, just pay them and let it ride. If it is your debt, this whole situation is self inflicted.
I am not aware of any debt to anyone. That is why I am sending a DV letter.
I saw that it was written years ago, but it seems like that law still applies. Either way, I am not sure how to proceed and may look into legal advice because this all seems a little shady to me. Also, everywhere I look says that they cannot report themselves as a factoring company because that is not what they are. Is that wrong?
@Anonymous wrote:I saw that it was written years ago, but it seems like that law still applies. Either way, I am not sure how to proceed and may look into legal advice because this all seems a little shady to me. Also, everywhere I look says that they cannot report themselves as a factoring company because that is not what they are. Is that wrong?
Technically, no they are not a "Factoring Company" per the definition of one. Debt buyers started calling themselves that trying to get around the FDCPA. They are a collection agency and the law says they are a collection agency. They can call themselves whatever they want but it doesn't change the facts. The CRAs list a factoring company, collection agency and a debt buyer in the same category.
To the best of my knowledge, that law does not apply to cell phones. It has never been update to include them. I have never been able to find any case law where that title was used in court.
Do a direct dispute to Verizon under FCRA 623(a)(8). They have to investigate and correct any errors. They also have to notify you within 30 days. Be very specific in your dispute and provide as much information as possible.