collection agency investigation?

[HigherFico]

Portfolio said they wld do an investigation into the account to see if is in fact mine. What kind of investigation will they do? How long? And how long will it take? I had an old capital one card on my account that wasnt mine while I was in college. I found out abt it after it was almost abt to fall of and it did. So is their investigation real? Whats the deal?

[randyrhodes]

Even though its fallen off your report it still an owed debt. if its not yoursvit should be easy to prove. have they tild yiu what the last 4 if the SSN on the account is? Does it match yours? Don't give them any more than the last 4 If they ask or you have to send a copy in for i.d. verification. they're trying to fund a way to stick it on you.

[HigherFico]

They want me to fill out an affidavit and I have to put my social sec number on that. And yes I believe the account  does have my correct social security number. I dont get how they can investigate something from years ago other that looking at payments and purchases...whatever that will do...

[Repo-ed]

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@HigherFico wrote:

They want me to fill out an affidavit and I have to put my social sec number on that. And yes I believe the account  does have my correct social security number. I dont get how they can investigate something from years ago other that looking at payments and purchases...whatever that will do...

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You don't have to send anything in to them.

IMO, I would send a dispute to cap one (certified return mail) stating that account # (whatever it is) is not yours, and you want it removed.

They have 30-days to investigate and give you their findings.

They'll likely say it's yours, at which point - you can decide whether or not you want to seek legal counsil to further assist you.

[RobertEG]

When you dispute, the furnisher is required to conduct a "reasonable invesitgation."

Their determination must then be reasonably supportable by the results of that investigation.

Only a court can ultimately determine whether their inestigation was "reasonable," or their determination is supported by that investigation.

Neither of the FCRA dispute processes require the furnisher or CRA to provide supporting documentation to the consumer or to "prove" that how they investigated was reasonable, or that their determination is correct.  The lack of such a requirement under the statute is based on the fact that the dispute processes provide for no administrative law judges to require both sides to provide all evidence, or to consider the evidence and make a determiantion of who is correct.

Congress opted for a dispute process that provides quick (30-day) conclusion, and involves only the requirement that the furnsiher conduct a reasonble investigation.

Issues related to "accont not mine" or identity theft in establishing an accunt do not lend themselves to resolution under the FCRA dispute processes.

The creditor wiill usually have some documentation that supports that you were the party who initiated the credit.  They can verify without a requirement to conduct their own private investigation of potential identity theft.

Based on the fact that the dispute process usually will not resolve such issues, congress established a process that requires NO documentation on either side.

The identity theft process added under FCRA 605B addresses this dilemma, and provides for at least obtaining block of the contested account if the consumer is willing to file a reoort with a law enforcement agency putting their assetion into a sworn statement.

[HigherFico]

Im just concerned that they will say it is mine after I have signed an affidavit. They determined that the old capital one account was mine it it definitely was not because I wasnt into credit cards upon graduating from high school.

Just dont want to go through the whole process after the affidavit and this long investigation and then they "determine" this one account is mine

[Repo-ed]

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@HigherFico wrote:
Im just concerned that they will say it is mine after I have signed an affidavit. They determined that the old capital one account was mine it it definitely was not because I wasnt into credit cards upon graduating from high school.

Just dont want to go through the whole process after the affidavit and this long investigation and then they "determine" this one account is mine

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It sounds like they have ALREADY determined it to be yours, as it is reporting on your credit reports - or no?

[Repo-ed]

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@HigherFico wrote:
Im just concerned that they will say it is mine after I have signed an affidavit. They determined that the old capital one account was mine it it definitely was not because I wasnt into credit cards upon graduating from high school.

Just dont want to go through the whole process after the affidavit and this long investigation and then they "determine" this one account is mine

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...and there's NOTHING you should ever have to sign by anyone, other than when applying for credit - so please read this and be sure to understand it.

Sign no such documents with a CA.

[guiness56]

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@HigherFico wrote:

They want me to fill out an affidavit and I have to put my social sec number on that. And yes I believe the account  does have my correct social security number. I dont get how they can investigate something from years ago other that looking at payments and purchases...whatever that will do...

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What type of affidavit are they talking about, a fraud affidavit?

[HigherFico]

yes a fraud affidavit. And yes they left the capital one account on my report it ended up falling off. This was in the past but I don't want it to happen again. I was lucky that that capital one acct didn't ruin my credit . But if they determined it was mine I'm not sure how this investigation will even turn out. And if I sign an affidavit that could turn out to be a problem I'm guessing