Uh-oh, this could get ugly!

[Anonymous]

Okay, so there was this one scary account on DH's TU report. It was an old signature loan from a bank. I didn't know quite how to handle this, so I didn't contact them about it. I knew our SOL wasn't up yet (6 yrs) so I was just afraid of it actually. We cannot pay this.



Account No.: 1829***
Condition: Derogatory
Balance: $3730
Type: Note loan
Pay Status: Collection/Chargeoff
Past Due: $816
High Balance: $3729
Terms: 24 months
Limit:
Payment: $237
Opened: 05/20/2002
Reported: 05/14/2004
Responsibility: Individual

Late Payments (last 7 years):
30 Days Late:
60 Days Late:
90 Days Late:


Remarks:
[TransUnion] Charged off as bad debt
Profit and loss write-off
[Experian]
[Equifax]


But today I updated the report and it says this:


Account No.: 1829***
-Condition: Derogatory
- Balance: $0
- Type: Note loan
- Pay Status: Collection/Chargeoff
- Past Due: $0
- High Balance: $3729
- Terms: 24 months
- Limit:
- Payment: $237
- Opened: 05/20/2002
- Reported: 06/01/2003
- Responsibility: Individual

Late Payments (last 7 years):
30 Days Late:
60 Days Late:
90 Days Late:


Remarks:
[TransUnion] Payment after charge off/collection
Purchased by another lender
[Experian]
[Equifax]

Oh my gosh. I am so scared! Some law firm is going to be suing us I'm afraid. What should I expect? We wanted to buy a house this summer. Are we totally out of luck now?

[Anonymous]

Looks like the account was purchased by another collector. As far as what they'll do with it, that's unclear at this point. There's not much you can do except to wait for the dunning letter.

[Anonymous]

So I just checked all my records. We received a letter from Nelson, Watson, & Assoc. on Feb 5 regarding an account which could only be this bank loan (although the acct # doesn't match), and the name of the original creditor on their letter was not the bank. The credit listed was no one we'd ever heard of. So I DV'd them CMRRR (they signed Mar 8).

I got a response from them Mar 15 saying they would cease all collection activities until they were able to validate. So today is April 8 and nothing from them. Did they purchase this debt from the OC? Did the listed creditor purchase the debt and validate to NW&A?

I know someone bought this account from the OC. Does that mean my DV 30 days to NW&A is null?

I guess I'm just frustrated and impatient. And... too poor to PIF.

[Anonymous]

Keep all responses from all CA's.  By law you have 30 days to respond to the first letter from CA which it appears that you have done. If you receive any additional letters, don't ignore them.  ALWAYS respond, and ALWAYS make sure you receive full validation of account from the CA.

I prefer using this letter from Happy Days for DV's.  If they can't validate , they can NOT report to CRA's . 

If they report after 35 days from receipt of your DV and no response to you, they are in violation of FDCPA, and can be sued. 

The only problem with DV before SOL is if they CAN FULLY VALIDATE, you face the possibility of a lawsuit, and a judgment being entered against you.  You really should do whatever you can to avoid judgment, because this can be a major Derog on CR for up to 10 years after judgment is entered.