topic Collection Problem in Rebuilding Your Credit

Collection Problem

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:23:34 GMT

I have a collection which appeared on my credit report for Sprint through 401yc18535 (THE RECEIVABLE MANAGEMENT I think was what my report from Experian showed; don't have it in front of me right though). I'm pretty sure it's not mine (neither Sprint nor The Receivable Management could find a past due or collections account with my name, SSN or address). I do have and have had Sprint service, but I've never had a payment issue as far as I know. Anyways, I disputed it with Experian and they removed it from my report. Yay!

BUT, now it's back again. Do I simply dispute it again? What's to keep these people from adding it back again if it is removed again?

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:32:13 GMT

mail a DV to the CA reporting CMRRR.

I would also get 1 up on them and mail a letter to sprint (main office) asking that they check your name addy and SS # for any collection account. You want an answer in writing. IF they answer that they have nothing then you have proof that it isn't your's!

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:14:55 GMT

When I DV, is it essential that I have all of the account information? I can't seem to find the entire account number. MyFico only shows the last 4 digits, and Equifax only shows part of it (I'll have to look again to see how much is on there). Is that sufficient, or do I need to find the entire account number? If I need the entire account number, how can I get it?

When I did the original dispute, I only included the last 4 digits, so I assume that will be sufficient, but I wanted to get an opinion other than my own.

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:56:42 GMT

You only need the account # that is on your CR. Usually they are incomplete #s.

Only give your SS # to the OC. Never ever give it to anyone else.

Have you pulled your free CR from all 3 CBs? You can do so once a year and it always has complete info.

www.annualcreditreport.com

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:24:50 GMT

So, I received a response from my DV. They sent me a copy of the Sprint bill. It has my name on it AND someone elses name on it. It also has an address that I have never lived at and I don't recognize. I'm not sure what my next step should be. The letter sent back to me says that the debt was valid, but I don't understand how they can say that with just my name on the bill (or, rather, a name that matches mine).

Re: Collection Problem

AndySoCal — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:37:36 GMT

I would call Sprint and explain the problem. See if they can find the account that is in collection. If they have your SSN see if matches the one on that account. I take it you do not recognize the other name on the bill. Also see if Sprint willl send you the account agreement that set up the account. I would think there has to be a way to get you off this account.

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:05:42 GMT

Thank you for your advice. Sadly, I haven't had a ton of time to deal with this recently and I really just want to make it go away. If Sprint will take a payment from me for the account, will the collections agency have to delete it, or do I need to try to PFD them (the CA) instead? The amount isn't that much, and I'd really rather just spend the money to get it taken care of rather than try to fight to get it corrected.

Will that work to get it off of my credit reports, or do I need to spend the time trying to fight it with Sprint in order to get it removed?

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:01:12 GMT

If the account is not yours, I would not pay them.

They would have to prove that it is your account, and you are saying the name and the address aren't yours, so I don't see how they could prove that.

I would try to spend a little more time addressing the identity issue first.

Re: Collection Problem

llecs — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:02:36 GMT

Josh_A wrote:
Thank you for your advice. Sadly, I haven't had a ton of time to deal with this recently and I really just want to make it go away. If Sprint will take a payment from me for the account, will the collections agency have to delete it, or do I need to try to PFD them (the CA) instead? The amount isn't that much, and I'd really rather just spend the money to get it taken care of rather than try to fight to get it corrected.

Will that work to get it off of my credit reports, or do I need to spend the time trying to fight it with Sprint in order to get it removed?

If you pay Sprint, the CA will still report, but as $0. Whether you owe $0 or $10,000, the point damage to your score is the same. You'd want to do a PFD. If Sprint is reporting too, then your only option is to send them a GW letter to get them removed too. A PFD to the CA won't remove the OC too.

If not yours, have you filed a police report yet? Could be an ID theft issue. You can easily get it removed with the help of a police report.

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:24:49 GMT

Just a side comment - identity theft is such a scary thing!

It seems way too easy nowadays for people to get your info and open fraudulent accounts.

I hope Josh_A is able to get this resolved and get to the bottom of it - scary to think there is someone out there using his info!!!

Re: Collection Problem

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:39:10 GMT

Ok, I finally figured out what happened here. And I'm thinking that PFD may be my only option - maybe I'm wrong though.

Over a year ago, I worked for Sprint. Sprint employees could add friends/employees to their accounts for a steeply discounted rate - only exception was that the employee was financially responsible for the account. This was one of those accounts. I started to have issues with this friend, and I kicked them off of my plan and onto a standard plan. At some point in time, the name and address were changed on the account- but that is another issue entirely.

Anyways, apparently there was a balance left on the account that I didn't know about. Sprint started trying to contact me (the employee and owner of the account) about it in November 2008. However, they tried contacting me at my sprint.com e-mail address. Which would have been fine, except I left Sprint in October 2008, so I never received any notifications of the past-due balance. According to the rep I spoke with, Sprint never tried to contact me except via e-mail.

Is there anything I can do at this point, or is PFD with the collections company my only option? Thanks again!