collections for AT & T

[dewydimwit]

Hello everyone,

I'v'e worked hard over the last three years improving my scores which a few weeks ago were 684, 703, and 704 from myfico. This week i had a significant drop due to an old AT & T bill posted(reported) by Enhanced Recovery.  The bill became delinquent in the summer of 2011 due to a natural disaster and I had a dispute with AT&T. In Feb 2012, SouthWest Credit Systems reported to all three Bureaus. I sent a letter to the three Bureaus with both Transunion adn Equifax deleting. Experian has been reporting this debt since Feb 2012. 

Can Enhanced Recovery report this debt even though it has already been posted by Southwest? I've gotten letters from four different collections agencies over the years, two offering to settle for half the amount owed though they are not the agencies reporting to the Bureaus.

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Yes, they can. But the earlier CA's handling the account should delete their reporting of it. You can dispute the earlier CA's reports as 'not having collection authority'. The best strategy I have found with these types of bills is to intercept it when it transitions to a new CA - you *should* get a dunning notice before it reports, and prompt payment atthat point will usually keep it off your reports. I have a AT&T bill I'm waiting to move to a new CA currently.... They seem to move about every 6 months or so.

[dewydimwit]

thank you.

[MortgageMinded]

Does AT&T happen to recall their debt? I received a bill from EOS last year in Oct, I wonder if AT&T does in fact recall the debt or not.   It's set to fall off in 2017, but need to pay it off to buy a home.