Hi. I am new to all of this. Since the building I live in is going co-op and I really want to buy into it when it happens I started checking my credit reports for the first time in my life. I never thought about it before. I have to start paying off my credit cards and start getting my scores up. They're not good.
What I really need help with is a debt that is 23 years old. It doesn't appear on any credit report, but a collection agency did a check of my credit. I found out about it by checking my free annual credit report. The agency is Midland and they did a check in July fo 2007.
I think I might have opened a can of worms for myself. I didn't know about this site or that I could get the help from other people. I called Midland not realizing that it was a collection agency and they told me that it was for a debt from 23 years ago. They sold it to an agency called Recovery ...
Midland gave me the phone number and I think I did a stupid thing. I called them. They tried to get me to pay it. It was for a Citibank account - they said something similar to a fingerhut account. I told them I didn't know anything about it. It couldn't be mine and I disputed it. They still tried to get me to pay something. I told them that I never heard anything. No one ever called or sent letters.
I also told them that I wanted proof that it was my debt. They said that they would look into it and I would hear from them -- that they would send me a letter. When I get the letter should I respond or ignore it? Should I DV? What should I do?
On my annual credit report and the FICO report that I recently purchased, there's no Citibank accounts that were closed, only the one that I paid off years ago and closed on my own. The free annual report that's available to everyone, once a year, shows all the companies that checked your credit reports.
Since I am new to this, I don't know whether Midland or Recovery did a hard pull or soft. What is the difference and how can I tell the difference. I am really confused now. I am also worried, because I don't have over $1200 to pay it off it they do prove that it is my debt. I know the SOL in New York is 7 years and it is way past that. They said that the last payment on this account was in 1993.
What should I do?
Please help.