topic Re: Multiple Accounts for Dispute...How Best to Proceed? in General Credit Topics

Multiple Accounts for Dispute...How Best to Proceed?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:43:56 GMT

Hi everyone. My name is Amanda, and I'm from Kansas. I've been lurking and reading the boards avidly since July 6 (what a great community here!). I pulled all 3 bureaus on Friday and got: Equifax: 582 (ow!), TU: 620. and Experian: 643. I have a general question, and a specific question.

I've been doing my own form of credit repair for about the past 9 months. I paid off some old collections (never heard of PFD before, sigh) and opened a Firestone card. I hadn't used or qualified for credit for years, but my car needed some significant work done, and the cashier told me that they approve EVERYONE. I had collections (some of them recent due to a layoff) and 2(!) judgments...and they still issued me a card with a 400 dollar limit...they do not seem to report limits though, so for utilization purposes it only makes sense to get this if you need tires or some work done that will show the limit. I think. I'm pretty new to this, so there may be other advantages.

Then I got some offers in the mail and currently hold: HSBC Mastercard with a 300 dollar limit (paid on time and in full since April) and BOA US Airways with a 500 dollar limit (just received and hasn't even billed yet).

Then I pulled my FICO which was actually better than I expected. I spent all Sunday afternoon writing PFD and GW letters to various collection agencies. Some items I think I will have to dispute because I can't get any info about the original creditor. Which brings me to the general question: is there anything else I should be doing other than what I'm working on now? I've read a whole bunch of threads, and it looks like that is the best thing for me to do now.

And then there is Curves. I had a Curves membership in 2002 and 2003 that was autodebited from my savings account. When I stopped being able to pay it, it overdrafted twice, then I requested to cancel the membership, but didn't pay them back (and stopped using the account)...and apparently they tried to pull it for a total of SEVEN months.

So I have 7 different collection actions all with the same check-processing company, for 61 dollars each for a total of 427, and they all show as different line items. There is no contact info for the company given by TransUnion. I tried to call the original location, and they've gone out of business.

Should I just enter disputes for all of these? And if so, can I do it in one letter or will that be considered frivolous? Should I wait and dispute them one at a time?

I would really appreciate any insight anyone has on this.

Re: Multiple Accounts for Dispute...How Best to Proceed?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:04:40 GMT

Okay, I answered my own question, I think. After reading more closely, I went to free credit report and pulled it and voila! the contact information for the collectors. One more letter to write!

Still would love any other tips anyone has. And thanks to anyone that read my entirely too long post!

Message Edited by StartingFresh on 07-09-2007 04:04 PM

Re: Multiple Accounts for Dispute...How Best to Proceed?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:16:22 GMT

StartingFresh wrote:
And then there is Curves. I had a Curves membership in 2002 and 2003 that was autodebited from my savings account. When I stopped being able to pay it, it overdrafted twice, then I requested to cancel the membership, but didn't pay them back (and stopped using the account)...and apparently they tried to pull it for a total of SEVEN months.

So I have 7 different collection actions all with the same check-processing company, for 61 dollars each for a total of 427, and they all show as different line items. There is no contact info for the company given by TransUnion. I tried to call the original location, and they've gone out of business.

The Curves location may have gone under, but I think Curves is still around.

http://www.curves.com/contact_us/

Do you have any original paperwork for the contract? Do you have anything you sent them requesting they cancel the autodebit? Do you have anything they sent you?

Did these collections just recently show up or have they been there on your CRs for a while? Did they only recently contact you, or did they first contact you a while back?

Kansas SOL is 5 years for written contracts.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b2.asp?caret=8

I'm inclined to say DV the Curves collection because I don't see them as on solid ground.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&message.id=4328

Re: Multiple Accounts for Dispute...How Best to Proceed?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:26:47 GMT

Thanks for the answer. Curves is still around but apparently they are independently owned, according to the woman that I spoke to who told me that the location was out of business.

I am still thinking about what to do about this one. I'm wondering if I should offer them a PFD of 2 months worth, rather than just disputing it. I don't have any records unfortunately. I've moved twice since then (and have always sucked at record-keeping until recently anyway).

It's only one one of my bureaus, so I'm puzzling over what to do with it while I wait to see if some of my PFD letters come in. If they get accepted, I won't be able to pay this one this month anyway, so I can think about what to do.

I DO owe two months worth, but not seven. I never had a "contract" per se. It was a month-to-month thing and I requested the cancel...but it's hard to prove it.

Re: Multiple Accounts for Dispute...How Best to Proceed?

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:47:05 GMT

I still say DV them. They are padding the charges, and if they can show you owe 2 months, well then OK ya go from there.