cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Need to deal with charge-off.....

tag
apoplex2
Valued Member

Need to deal with charge-off.....

Hello all,

 

now that I'm reviewing my credit reports for the first time really, I found that I have a paid charge-off (the only baddie I have) in December 2011 from GE Money Bank. I knew immediately what it was, its from a collection for a Paypal Smartconnect account I used to have. I didn't use it since 2010 and hadn't heard from it or received any mail since 2011 and I wasn't aware I owed any money, as I never used paypal either. Last December a man from a company called "Leading Edge Recovery" called and said I owed $364.44 on my paypal account. He didn't know what it was for, but stupid me paid on the spot to not make it worse. The guy on the phone (I got his name and phone number) promised to send me confirmation of payment in the mail, but never did. I have contacted paypal a couple of times, but to this date I was not able to find out what I owed this money for. My credit report shows 30 days late in December 2010 and then getting worse till December 2011 when I heard for the first time about this.

Is there any way for me to find out what I paid this money for and how the sum I paid was calculated ? I'm not aware of having purchased anything.

To make matters more complicated, I was out of the country from Sept 2010 till Dec 2010 and my records/paperwork were destroyed in a fire at the UHAUL storage while I was away, so I don't even know my complete paypal account number......

 

Thanks for your help.

Message 1 of 7
6 REPLIES 6
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Need to deal with charge-off.....

Unfortunately, the time to have handled the debt was when you first received billing notice of the debt.

Billing matters are disputable under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) within 90 days of a billing dispute, and entitle you to the type of records you seek.

 

Apparently, the debt collector did not report to your CR, so no FCRA dispute with them.  You could still dispute with the OC under the FCRA, however verification under the FCRA does not entitle the consumer to supporting documentary evidence.  So you wont be able to compel their production of documents using the dispute process.

 

The only path I see under the FCRA is to treat it as an identity theft issue, which would require you to file a police report, asserting that you never authorized the transactions.  You could then send the police report to the OC and compel their production of business records under FCRA 609(e).

 

Absent use of the identity theft process, you would most likely need to bring civil action to compel the records you seek.

Message 2 of 7
apoplex2
Valued Member

Re: Need to deal with charge-off.....

Thanks for the advice. I guess the road to possibly even get the money back is long and might not be worth my time and effort .... After reading this forum a bit the most important lesson I learned is to not pay someone right away when they call.....I'll write a letter to the OC and explain the situation and see where I can get with that.

 

Message 3 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Need to deal with charge-off.....

I did something similar with a Gap card through GECRB.  Didn't use the card since November 2010.  Didn't know I had a collection action until December 2011 and I immediately paid it off through Monarch Recovery and didn't receive a confirmation.  I didn't think it was a huge deal until looking at my CR recently and it shows that this account is a paid charge off and reallyyyy negatively impacts my score.  So now that the account is paid I don't really know what is a sure route for getting it removed from my CR.  I just sent a GW letter today and I'm hoping for the best, but I'm guessing that it will be unlikely that they remove it. 

Message 4 of 7
apoplex2
Valued Member

Re: Need to deal with charge-off.....

Hi,

 

let me know how this goes. I would also be interested in getting the CO off my record, however I'm hesitant to write the GW letter because I still kind of want my money back if I was indeed ripped off, and I guess I cannot write a GW letter asking for the CO to be removed as well as the money returned....

 

Thanks

 

Message 5 of 7
apoplex2
Valued Member

Re: Need to deal with charge-off.....

I just talked to GECRB on the phone and they said they reviewed my account and they claim they did send letters and emails alerting me to the account balance/delinquency. I never received squat and my email adress goes back to 2001 and I would never have deleted something like that, and I usually don't loose any mail either....I find this very rude and insulting, because they are squarely implying that I'm lying.

 

I also attempted a GW deletion and they said they will not do that because they choose to report this.

 

What should I do next ?

 

Thank you.

Message 6 of 7
apoplex2
Valued Member

URGENT!!! Was Re: Need to deal with charge-off.....

Hello all,

 

I have talked to several GECRB reps on the phone now, and now my situation has gotten a lot worse. They now say I still have to pay the money owed in full, although I already paid LERS last December in full (and LERS took the money from my account, but never send me confirmation in mail as promised). What should I do now ? I can pay GECRB again, and then how do I get my money back from LERS ?

 

Thank you for your help, I'm so new to all this and don't know what to do.

Message 7 of 7
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.