Verizon Advice Needed

[pghfangirl04]

So my husband had a verizon account when we were engaged and cancelled the service when they wouldn't offer him any way to lower the amount of the bill.  The balance on the account was paid off but he forgot to send in the equipment.  I took the equipment to the local verizon office that accepts equipment in December 2011.  We got married on the 18th of this month and I checked his credit report for him.  Verizon was listed as a collection account for $887. . .**bleep**?  I disputed it with the CRAs on the grounds that the account balance was incorrect but it came back verified.  So I called them today the first person said that he shows a balance of $887 which is what his credit report says.  I explained to him that the equipment was returned and he tranferred me to another department. The woman was very nice she said she did see that the equipment was returned and that she had to file a ticket with IT for them to fix the account and that she would call me back Wednesday or Thursday to confirm. 

Here is my question. . . since Verizon has been inaccruately reporting his account after we returned the equipment can I use this arguement as grounds to get it completely deleted from his credit report?  The lady on the phone said we could cross that bridge when we get to it but I want to be prepared.  What is the best way to approach this?  Should I do it over the phone with this rep I have been speaking to, email customer service or hunt down the ceo and email him/her?  Thanks in advance for the advice

[Shogun]

Start with customer service, then if not resolved I'd ask for a supervisor.   If still not satisfied, if you have access to legal, have your attorney write them a letter.

[RobertEG]

Deletion of an entire account is never required as resolution of a dispute unless the issue is one of inaccuracy in having the account itself.

A dispute goes to the specific information asserted to be inaccurate.  It does not apply to other information, such as the accuracy of the account itself.

In any dispute, the creditor always has the option of correcting the accuracy of the disputed information.

However, in your situation, if you have the perservence, you could pursue the issue in court. 

When they reported, they were prohibited under FCRA 623(a)(1) from furnishing "any information related to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate."  Their reasonable cause to know of its inaccuracy was apparently in their own account records.

When you disputed and they verified the accuracy, that verification was predicated upon their having conducted a reasonable investigation of the accuracy of the disputed information, and accurately reporting those results back to the CRA.

Based on their own admission, I dont see how they could now assert that their investigation of accuracy was reasonable, as the error was apparent in their own records.  They appeared to have been negligent, both in their initial reporting and in their later verification of its accuracy.

You thus have basis for asserting that both their reporting and verification was negligent.

FCRA 617 provides basis for civil liablility for negligent noncompliance with any provision of the FCRA.

[gambleforlove04]

sounds like great advice!

[Shogun]

I do the common sense, layman's term thing.  RobertEG is great for the particular and the legal side.  

[pghfangirl04]

thanks for the advice both of you! I'm not going to let verizon walk all over us.

[RobertEG]

Another thought....

In the likely event that you dont want to take it to the level of bringing legal action, you might consider putting your assertions of FCRA violations into a letter of complaint to the FTC.  They are charged with administrative enforcement of the FCRA, and will at least send a letter to the creditor asking for their response to your complaint.

An administrative as opposed to a legal approach........

[pghfangirl04]

ooh! that's very interesting!! We will see how this goes when the rep calls me back this week if it's not going my way that will be on my list of things to do. thanks!!

[MOCKBA]

Once they reverse the non-return fee, Verizon will notify the CA of the new balance, one non-return fee shouldn't jump the balance to $887 though. You should pull the last 6 months of bills to see what exactly caused the balance to be this high, just in case.

[pghfangirl04]

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@MOCKBA wrote:

Once they reverse the non-return fee, Verizon will notify the CA of the new balance, one non-return fee shouldn't jump the balance to $887 though. You should pull the last 6 months of bills to see what exactly caused the balance to be this high, just in case.

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There is no CA in this case.  It's just Verizon that we are dealing with.  I should be receiving a phone call from the rep today or tomorrow.  I will update once I speak with her.