topic Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls in Rebuilding Your Credit

What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

pat0812 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 03:42:00 GMT

I have a collection from DIRECTV I don't recognize

The collection agency is Convergent Outsourcing Inc

I called them and they transfer me from rep to rep and nobody gives me clear answer about any debt and after a while they even hang up

I made some research on this collection agency and on BBB I found this:

Additional Complaint Information

On January 14, 2013, BBB recognized a pattern of complaints from consumers regarding billing and customer service issues. Consumers allege they are billed by Convergent Outsourcing Inc for a debt they do not owe; when they call the creditor, they get confirmation they do not owe anything. Consumers claim they receive numerous calls from Convergent Outsourcing Inc, but when they attempt to return the calls, they cannot reach an operator and must leave a message. Consumers also allege the company will not send a copy of the collection letter when requested.

- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/collection-agencies/convergent-outsourcing-in-renton-wa-501066#sthash.HZs8zOFy.dpuf

What can I do next if the collection agency doesn't really cooperate?

Do I have a chance disputing this straight away with the CRA's ?

Any advice would be great

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

gdale6 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 05:10:09 GMT

@pat0812 wrote:
I have a collection from DIRECTV I don't recognize
The collection agency is Convergent Outsourcing Inc
I called them and they transfer me from rep to rep and nobody gives me clear answer about any debt and after a while they even hang up

I made some research on this collection agency and on BBB I found this:

Additional Complaint Information

On January 14, 2013, BBB recognized a pattern of complaints from consumers regarding billing and customer service issues. Consumers allege they are billed by Convergent Outsourcing Inc for a debt they do not owe; when they call the creditor, they get confirmation they do not owe anything. Consumers claim they receive numerous calls from Convergent Outsourcing Inc, but when they attempt to return the calls, they cannot reach an operator and must leave a message. Consumers also allege the company will not send a copy of the collection letter when requested.
- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/collection-agencies/convergent-outsourcing-in-renton-wa-501066#sthash.HZs8zOFy.dpuf

What can I do next if the collection agency doesn't really cooperate?

Do I have a chance disputing this straight away with the CRA's ?

Any advice would be great

Send the CA a written DV and see if they will respond to it. If I didnt hear from them in a reasonable amount of time I would then proceed to file the BBB report.

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

pat0812 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 06:49:48 GMT

Is a DV not within 30 days usually?

This collection is being there for a while

Could I pfd instead?

DV doesn't obligate them to reply right?

I was thinking about DV but I read it's only possible within 30 days

What do I do if I don't get a reply? What does BBB going to help me ?

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:25:31 GMT

Contact the BBB. Direct TV did this to me and I have NEVER had Direct TV. If you do a search of this and Convergent you will see that this is all too common.

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:26:30 GMT

well duh, I see you've already done that. this will not be a tough removal for you.

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

gdale6 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 18:35:29 GMT

@pat0812 wrote:
Is a DV not within 30 days usually? For it to be able to enforce no collection activity while they validate then it would have to be timely, some will respond to a DV anytime, if you are in TX you can envoke the TX State Finance Law and they must then respond by force of law.
This collection is being there for a while
Could I pfd instead? If you know its yours you could attempt the PFD but you state you dont recognize it and I am not one to pay something that isnt mine
DV doesn't obligate them to reply right? True unless in TX and DV is written under TX Finance Law

I was thinking about DV but I read it's only possible within 30 days
What do I do if I don't get a reply? What does BBB going to help me ? If its not yours filing the complaint can sometimes make the collection disappear. If all else fails then you can move on to filing a complaint with the CFPB on the entity(s) that are reporting on your CRs.

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

pat0812 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 19:15:52 GMT

I filled a BBB complain.
If they don't reply should I file a dispute with the CRA's?

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 12:52:13 GMT

Did you happen to read all of the other BBB complainants? I doubt you will have to even worry about a disput. Give the BBB a little bit of time though. I have had nothing but good luck with the BBB. No business wants to deal with them.

Re: What do I do when Collection agency not cooperating ? help pls

RobertEG — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:42:31 GMT

If you file a dispute and the inaccuracy you assert is that you dont recognize any debt with that creditor, then the debt collector must investigate and reach a determination.

They can verify the accuracy of their reporting if their investigation provides adequate documentation that the debt is yours. They are not required to provide you with that documentation.

Thus, dispute does not compel deletion if they are able to verify.

An untimely DV imposes no cease collection bar.

No DV, even if timely, requires a response.

If you assert that you never authorized or had an account for the asserted debt, the proper process is to use the identity theft procedure under FCRA 605B rather than the dispute or DV process.

You can obtain blockage of any reporting of asserted identity theft information without any involvement by or approval of the creditor or debt collector provided you are willing to file a police report putting your assertion of account/debt not yours into a sworn police report and submitting it to the CRA with a request for blockage of the information from your credit report.