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New CA adds collection after I sent OC letter of ITS (next move?)

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2b2rich
Established Contributor

New CA adds collection after I sent OC letter of ITS (next move?)

I am dealing with a bill that AT&T claims I owe and I found that it has been reporting to all 3 CRAs by a CA that I had never heard anything from.   I have recently sent a letter CMRR to the OC pointing out all of the errors in their 'claim' and backing it up with supporting documents that I'm sure they didn't realize I still have.  I did notice a day or so before I mailed the letter that the collection was no longer reporting, but I sent the letter anyway because there is still 2 years left in the SOL and I don't want to have to worry about it popping up at a later date, when I do not owe it.  (The letter was just mailed this past Monday).

 

Around lunch today, I received a notification from fico monitoring that a new collection had been added to my EQ as well as a score change (yep, dropped 7pts) and it was from a CA reporting this very debt that AT&T claims I owe.  I guess it's not a violation of any kind to report a collection before notifying the consumer that they're going to report it, but what sort of leverage to get out of doing it that way? I would think they would send a letter first in hopes the consumer would pay to keep it from going on their report and up their chances of collecting?

 

Having explained all of that, would it be wise to send this CA a validation letter invoking my right under the Texas Finance Code and state that I was made aware of the collection by credit monitoring, or see if AT&T responds? (it was not being reported to the CRAs when I wrote and mailed that letter and incidentally, I did CC the BBB as well as the FTC & FCC due to some of the information involved in why I don't owe this debt that is regulated by them).

 

Thanks for any help!

Chapter 7 Discharged & Closed Jan 2020
Message 1 of 3
2 REPLIES 2
gdale6
Moderator Emeritus

Re: New CA adds collection after I sent OC letter of ITS (next move?)


@2b2rich wrote:

I am dealing with a bill that AT&T claims I owe and I found that it has been reporting to all 3 CRAs by a CA that I had never heard anything from.   I have recently sent a letter CMRR to the OC pointing out all of the errors in their 'claim' and backing it up with supporting documents that I'm sure they didn't realize I still have.  I did notice a day or so before I mailed the letter that the collection was no longer reporting, but I sent the letter anyway because there is still 2 years left in the SOL and I don't want to have to worry about it popping up at a later date, when I do not owe it.  (The letter was just mailed this past Monday).

 

Around lunch today, I received a notification from fico monitoring that a new collection had been added to my EQ as well as a score change (yep, dropped 7pts) and it was from a CA reporting this very debt that AT&T claims I owe.  I guess it's not a violation of any kind to report a collection before notifying the consumer that they're going to report it, but what sort of leverage to get out of doing it that way? I would think they would send a letter first in hopes the consumer would pay to keep it from going on their report and up their chances of collecting?

 

Having explained all of that, would it be wise to send this CA a validation letter invoking my right under the Texas Finance Code and state that I was made aware of the collection by credit monitoring, or see if AT&T responds? (it was not being reported to the CRAs when I wrote and mailed that letter and incidentally, I did CC the BBB as well as the FTC & FCC due to some of the information involved in why I don't owe this debt that is regulated by them).

 

Thanks for any help!


The new CA has to send you a dunning notice within 5 days of reporting it on your CR, this is the law. Ill bet it was a cramming issue you are referring to as to why you dont owe it. I think that settlement requires removal of any derog reporting. I would wait to see what ATT and any of the other agencies have to say before DV the CA, under the TX Finance Law you are not limited to sending a DV in the first 30 days of its reporting like people in other states are under FDCPA they have to respond and validate at anytime.

Message 2 of 3
2b2rich
Established Contributor

Re: New CA adds collection after I sent OC letter of ITS (next move?)

No, actually it was a U-verse service.  They told me that I could get fiber optic at the apartment I was moving to and guranteed no less than 10Mpbs and so I ordered the service.  When I moved and the install tech came out, he showed me on a hand held device that I was getting over 10Mbps, but after he left and I set up my pc, I couldn't get over 2-3Mbps.  Much trouble shooting later, we found that there was copper wiring in the building's phone lines and property management wouldn't allow rewiring with fiber so I couldn't use the service.  So I cancelled (that day) and was told they were sending m a return label. Then subscribed to a cable provider for inet.

 

To make a long story short, they kept billing me, no return label, and everytime I tried to call to straighten out their error, they tried to 'save' me as a customer by increasing th speed of my 'fiber' service.  All on deaf ears, but they continued to bill me for it even 6 months after my new provider installed.


It's been a nightmare.  That was 2 years ago and I bought a new car in March and found it. Disputed, it disappeared and so I wrote the letter to AT&T because I know how it can re appear.  Then today the notification from the new CA.  It's over $400 and includes equipment never used past that first 30 minutes of trouble shooting.

 

Also, I had cancelled the auto payment as soon as I cancelled this service (feb) so there was never a payment made,  they're showing the DOLP as June.

Chapter 7 Discharged & Closed Jan 2020
Message 3 of 3
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