topic Re: Seeking damages from a CA? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Seeking damages from a CA?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:36:05 GMT

It is my understanding that under the FCRA there are fines for certain misbehavior on the part of a CA ranging from $1000 to $2500 payable to the individual. I have read both here and on different boards/articles of people seeking such damages from the collection agencies.

Under what circumstances would one do that? Has anyone here ever had to do that or do you know someone who did?

This is more a matter of curiosity than anything but I would still appreciate a response.

Thanks!

Re: Seeking damages from a CA?

llecs — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:47:53 GMT

You might find that the FDCPA would offer up more violations than the FCRA for CAs. Yes. $1000 or a percentage if based on class action.

Also, many states have their own provisions per CA violations.

Violations listed in these statutes are many. Can include calling at odd hours, or calling over and over in a short period. Failure to send dunning letters. To threatening debtors with prison. Calling work or friends, neighbors, and family. Publishing a debtors' list. And dozens of others.

I have personally seen violations like continuing to collect after a DV was sent in response to a dunning letter. I had an employee who was threatened with jail time. I paid a CA once only to have them sell the org. debt to yet another party and not disclosing that it was paid. I had a CA cal at 10pm once. And I had a CA violate the FDCPA by charging "collection charges" via a 100% fee.

Re: Seeking damages from a CA?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:56:11 GMT

Normally you can have statutory damages, fines explicitly set by the statutes, and also actual damages, though harder to prove.

Some of the statutory fines are payable to the consumer, some are enforceable only by authorities.

Some of the fines range in amount, others are set by occurrence.

Re: Seeking damages from a CA?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:27:05 GMT

Well here is what I have

I was never notified that the debt existed so I guess that would be no dunning letter?

(I wasn't aware of it until I found it on my credit report)

They didn't begin the collection process until after the SOL was over - still within CRTP but its a cell phone collection (2 yr SOL) they didn't begin the collections process until the 5 yr mark (Reporting to my CR is the only official action they have taken)

Reporting on EQ multiple times for a single debt

and putting incorrect contact information on my credit report (the address they had listed on my EX report was not a valid USPS mailing address - the full report, not the one you can get here.)

I don't think I want to go the route of collecting damages but I want to understand it. The CA is NCO - they are nasty little buggers and I know they have had a HUGE settlement brought against them for harassment and incorrect reporting.

Re: Seeking damages from a CA?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:33:45 GMT

They are indeed evil buggers. I had two bogus collections from them removed via ITS within two weeks.

I still have a hard inquiry from them, past 1 year mark but within 2 years reporting timeframe, that I'm still thinking whether to go after in Small Claims or not - once I'm done with current suits, I will decide.

Re: Seeking damages from a CA?

llecs — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:35:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I was never notified that the debt existed so I guess that would be no dunning letter?
(I wasn't aware of it until I found it on my credit report)

They had to send you one. Could they ever claim you moved since opening the account with the OC?

@Anonymous wrote:
They didn't begin the collection process until after the SOL was over - still within CRTP but its a cell phone collection (2 yr SOL) they didn't begin the collections process until the 5 yr mark (Reporting to my CR is the only official action they have taken)

SOL doesn't matter. A CA can continue to collect and report up to CRTP. And a CA can continue to collect forever, long after CRTP and SOL expires (zombie CAs).

@Anonymous wrote:
Reporting on EQ multiple times for a single debt

What do you mean? Same CA is reporting more than once?

@Anonymous wrote:
and putting incorrect contact information on my credit report (the address they had listed on my EX report was not a valid USPS mailing address - the full report, not the one you can get here.)

Ignore the address. Some make it a big deal, but with google, you can find any address.

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't think I want to go the route of collecting damages but I want to understand it. The CA is NCO - they are nasty little buggers and I know they have had a HUGE settlement brought against them for harassment and incorrect reporting.

Remember to use any violations not as a means to get $$$, but, IMO anyway, to use it as leverage to get them to delete and to go away.

Re: Seeking damages from a CA?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:58:44 GMT

Well I just want them to go away not really interested in damages, but the more I have read about it the more I have heard about others collecting damages. I just wanted to see what experiences others had if they had gone that route BEFORE I managed to get it removed from my report. Im not big on suing, collecting damages, etc... In fact in 15 yrs I have never so much as filed an insurance claim. I felt like if I knew ahead of time what others experiences were I would feel less like a dork when 2 weeks after I get NCO off my CR someone posts somewhere "I just made $10,000 reporting NCO to my AG!!!!"

What I mean by on my report twice is... on my EQ report I have two collections both to NCO, Both for $178, Both with the same original creditor but with different dates.

As for can they claim I have moved.... if they really wanted to press the issue they could. I move all the time but I learned to always use my mothers address as my mailing address and have been my entire life. She has lived in the same house for 30+ years and has a limited power of attorney for all my financial and medical matters. This was originally due to the fact that I would be deployed/relocated often/out of country for long periods of time (USAF). So any mail that comes to her house in my name she opens and takes care of (unless I'm around to do it for myself in which case she calls me) . So chances are... if they mailed her a collection letter - it's already been paid, in which case it would still be false reporting since they report unpaid. I keep pretty good records. I have collection letters about student loans that date back to 1996 and invoices/bills for every account I've had between then and now. Im not saying there aren't holes in my records, I'm just saying there are no notes, invoices, or letters referring to NCO.

"SOL doesn't matter. A CA can continue to collect and report up to CRTP. And a CA can continue to collect forever, long after CRTP and SOL expires (zombie CAs)."

I'm not arguing that they can't collect - I was trying to say their dates were off... I just didn't phrase it well.

Anywho, I'm probably going to stick with the DV route and not worry about any small claims right now. We'll just see how they respond to the DV process. I just have this infinite curiosity and need to see everything from many angles before acting on something.