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Zombie Debt?

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Anonymous
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Zombie Debt?

Hello all!

I talked my very old school boyfriend into checking his credit report. He rarely uses credit and really isnt interested but I convinced him how important it is. What we saw was a collection account reporting last year from convergent collections. Original creditor is Sprint. He hasnt used Sprint since 1993. In 1993 he moved from one State to another during a divorce. Im guessing bills were sent to ex-wife and she never paid or forwarded them but that is just a guess, I dont know for sure (and neither does he.) Obviously this debt is too old to be on his report but my question is what is the quickest, most effective way to get it off of his credit report? Also is there any way to be sure Convergent wont just sell it to somebody else and start the whole process again? I dont want to waste time with an online dispute if they are just going to rubber stamp it as verified. Any thoughts?

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Zombie Debt?

Send a DV letter to the CA. What CRA is it? If it is TU, they have an option to dispute it as "too old to be on file." Selling the debt to someone else is illegal, since the debt is obviously past the 7 year mark.

Message 2 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Zombie Debt?

Yes it is Transunion, good! I will have him dispute with them. Good to know they cant sell it, I have come across some scummy practices from debt collectors while working on my own credit. Thank you so much for your advice

Message 3 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Zombie Debt?


@Anonymous wrote:

Selling the debt to someone else is illegal, since the debt is obviously past the 7 year mark.


No, it isn't. Its actually a rather common practice. It probably SHOULD be illegal, but its not. Its still considered valid collectible debt, it just can't be placed on a report - though they frequently do it anyway, which IS illegal.

Message 4 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Zombie Debt?

Ok, this is what I suspected and was concerned with. I suppose there is nothing to be done but monitor report closely and dispute if the old debt is sold again or actually pay it but I dont see that happening. Seriously, how can a person be sure they actually owe a 21 year old cell phone debt???

 

Since the debt is so old and it was just placed on credit report in recent years is there any way to file a formal complaint? What entity should be contacted? These debt collectors need to be held responsible for their actions just as they expect us to be.

Message 5 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Zombie Debt?

Dispute with the CRA that shows the debt. Send a DV to the CA. you can file complaint with the CFPB. Good luck.

Message 6 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Zombie Debt?

Yeah, the law really needs to be changed regarding debt purchased with no DoFD. Currently the law allows them to 'estimate' the DoFD - which is total BS in my view. To be fair to the consumer - ANY debt purchased without valid DoFD traceable to the OC should be automatically barred from being placed on your reports.

Message 7 of 8
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Zombie Debt?

The legal issue to pursue is their concurrent reporting of the DOFD on the debt.

They may or may not have complied with that reporting requirement.

The exclusion of a collection from a consumer's credit report is done by the CRA whenever the reported DOFD is more than 7 years plus 180 days ago, so they have most likely reported a DOFD that is less than 7 years plus 180 days ago.

 

A debt collector is required, under FCRA 623(a)(5), to obtain and report the DOFD on the OC account within 90 days after reporting of their collection.

See section 623(a)(5) for details.  One of the provisions is that if they have contacted the OC and attempted to obtain the DOFD, but were unsucessful, then they can report their best estimate of the DOFD, but may not report any DOFD that is not prior to the date they received their collection authority.

 

It is possible that, while they may have reported an incorrrect DOFD, thus enabling it to appear on his credit report, that they have not violated the FCRA.

First obtain the reported DOFD, and then dispute its accuracy.  If it can be shown that the DOFD was actually more than 7 yrs plus 180 days ago, the CRA will exclude the collection.

 

Message 8 of 8
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