Advice please - possible fraudulent account

[02cdjohn]

After rebuilding for 6 years--I had a clean credit file. All late payments from 2013-januart 2016--hell period of my life dropped off my report. since January 2016, I've made every payment on time. 

2 days ago I get an alert from credit monitoring services that a collection was place on my account. It is Centurylink from when I lived on the west coast. I left the west coast in April 2016 and moved back east. I canceled centurylink and returned their equipment given my out of state move. I kept my last century link bill from April 2016 until last summer when I moved out of state again for a job opportunity. So I no longer have documentation. I literally clean out my files and said "I guess I don't need this anymore." I had heard horror stories about centurylink and kept my last bill for 6 years. 

anyway, the collection agency has not sent me a notice. I also seem to move every 2-3 years for job opportunities. But I always do mail forwarding for a year. Nothing. They just placed this on my credit report and my score dropped 56 points. The CA claims I owe $5600 to centurylink. That is hogwash for sure. My monthly bill with them was $72 after taxes and fees. So what would they be charging me $5600 for??? 

part of me thinks this is fraud. In 2019 someone opened a comcast account in ny name in another state. I filed identity theft and disputed. The CRAs gave me hell to remove it. And I still have the fraud alert on my credit report (until 2025). Is this happening again? 

OR is centurylink up to their trash billing practices? They have been sued and have received several complaints for billing people years later after disconnecting service. I did some googling and saw similar complaints. I do remember not getting a bill from them during my first four months of service back in 2015. But then we straightened it out. So did they determine I still owe them? 

so my gut is to file a police report and go through the process of setting this removed through identity theft. My hesitation is what if they actually pulled the stunt of billing me years later? Still not legit. But I don't want anyone saying I filed a false report. 

im panicking a bit because I need to move again (for a big promotion). The rental company uses screenworks pro screening services. With a fresh collection they could deny me--despite my high salary of $163k. My credit utilization is 70% because my spouse got laid off. But regardless of utilization, I don't have a late payment.   I've never had eviction or been late with rent in my life. This is frustrating. I've been doing right for 7 years and this crap is happening again. Ugh. 

Any thoughts? 

[Apexdv]

It sounds as if you are positive this is not your debt therefore, I would dispute it with the CRA immediately. Their job then is to reach out and request documentation from the collection agency to prove the debt. Also, if you pull your full report from annualcreditreport dot com it should show some information such as the date that it is scheduled to fall off your report. A creditor has 30 days, I believe, to respond to the CRA. If it is returned as valid then I believe that is the point that I would contact the CRA, authorities, etc letting them know you're reporting it as identity theft, fraud, etc. Also, you might want to reach out directly to CenturyLink to see what they have to say. My suggestion, dispute it today with the CRA and make a phone call to CenturyLink.

[Apexdv]

PS - I forgot to mention, about 6 or 7 years ago I had a CenturyLink collection added to my report. I have never even been a customer of CenturyLink and disputed it immediately. It was gone within 2 weeks. I don't know what happened perhaps it was an error somewhere but it was removed.

[02cdjohn]

Thank you! I did pull my annual credit report. It says my fall off date is in March 2029. That definitely would not be me. I also wonder if that date just aligns with the date the CA reported it to CRA. 

if this is somehow tied to my old account from 2015. But ain't no way I'd owe $5600 after all this time. They are smoking something. 

[Apexdv]

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@02cdjohn wrote:

It says my fall off date is in March 2029.

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 That would put your DoFD in 2022. CA cannot re-age; their DoFD, I believe, should coincide with the OC. Dispute away! (and call CenturyLink)

[02cdjohn]

My thought exactly! I filed my disputes. Let's see what happens. It may be too late to fix for my apartment application. They will probably pull screening reports on Monday. But I'm hoping I can get approved with a $163k salary, no other late payments (besides this hogwash collection) and no evictions. 

[vntrsc]

According to the new rules added to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the Code of Federal Regulations and which went into effect November 21, 2021, a collection agency is supposed to communicate with you about the debt either by phone or letter before reporting to credit reporting agencies.  If they send you a letter about the debt, they must wait at least 14 days before reporting in case the letter is returned as "undeliverable".  If the letter is not returned to them as "undeliverable", the collection agency can then report.

The CFPB has determined that "about the debt" includes the validation notice (name of creditor, 30-day right to dispute and request verification, etc).  They don't have to wait 30 days for you to request verification.  They only have to wait the 14 days to assume you received the letter.

Now, a collection agency will claim it sent a letter.  It's a sort of "he said/she said".  But if your apartment application is denied due to that collection account, you should speak to a consumer attorney.  You could have FDCPA violations based upon the lack of  communication before reporting and for reporting an obsolete account.

Yes, go ahead and file a dispute directly with the credit reporting agencies (CRAs).  That is necessary because if the collection agency verifies the account with the CRAs and it's not removed, you might want to sue the collection agency, and a dispute filed with the CRAs is the only way you could claim the collection agency violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

[Apexdv]

Another item that could possibly help you: if after speaking with CenturyLink they can confirm there is no past due account or that you are in good standing perhaps they could send an email stating the same? You could possibly then use that to show the screening agency / apartment manager that this is indeed under dispute, etc especially if that's the only thing holding you back. I had a situation years ago before I was aware of how credit reporting worked where an old apartment had placed unpaid rents on my CR - it was incorrect and an error entirely on them which they admitted and corrected. In the meantime I was able to use a letter they sent to me validating this to get into another apartment. Just a thought.

@vntrsc is spot on

[02cdjohn]

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@vntrsc wrote:

According to the new rules added to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the Code of Federal Regulations and which went into effect November 21, 2021, a collection agency is supposed to communicate with you about the debt either by phone or letter before reporting to credit reporting agencies.  If they send you a letter about the debt, they must wait at least 14 days before reporting in case the letter is returned as "undeliverable".  If the letter is not returned to them as "undeliverable", the collection agency can then report.

The CFPB has determined that "about the debt" includes the validation notice (name of creditor, 30-day right to dispute and request verification, etc).  They don't have to wait 30 days for you to request verification.  They only have to wait the 14 days to assume you received the letter.

Now, a collection agency will claim it sent a letter.  It's a sort of "he said/she said".  But if your apartment application is denied due to that collection account, you should speak to a consumer attorney.  You could have FDCPA violations based upon the lack of  communication before reporting and for reporting an obsolete account.

Yes, go ahead and file a dispute directly with the credit reporting agencies (CRAs).  That is necessary because if the collection agency verifies the account with the CRAs and it's not removed, you might want to sue the collection agency, and a dispute filed with the CRAs is the only way you could claim the collection agency violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

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ooh! I'd love to sue them. They make me sick with this crap. So... i texted my former west coast landlord (also a good friend) yesterday to ask if her tenant has a centurylink account and has been getting billed. This tenant moved in after i left for the east coast. this tenant has been at the property for 7.5 years now. 10 months after i left she complained to the landlord that she was still getting my mail. I only did mail forwarding for 6 months instead of a year. Anyway, i texted my former landlord because i wanted to be sure centurylink didn't mix up the current tenant's account with my old account at that address. my former landlord reached out to her tenant. she said that she transferred her own account and has been paying and do not owe. So now i can confirm that centurylink did not mix us up. so it's one of two things: 1) someone fraudently opened an account in my name; or 2) centurylink decided to make up some charges  months and years after i moved. Again, i kept my last bill until last summer and it showed current balance $0.0 this was one month after i canceled services and moved.There is just no way in hell i now owe $5,600. And if it is #2, then SOL is up. the west coast state i lived SOL is 6 years. and i havent lived there for 7 years now. if they verify, the dispute should force them to provide the real DOFD, right?

your comment about notifying me in writing struck a chord. If the current tenant had gotten more mail for me, she would have probably told the landlord last night. so i assume this collection agency never notified me--unless they sent it to one of the other addresses on my credit report. When i pulled my report through annualcreditreport.com, i see that this collection agency did a soft pull on me in January. then placed the collection on my report in March. if they looked at my credit report in january they would have my current address. i have still received nothing in writing. 

submitted dispute last night. credit score decreased 7 points **bleep**. but whatever, it is what it is. 

[02cdjohn]

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@Apexdv wrote:

Another item that could possibly help you: if after speaking with CenturyLink they can confirm there is no past due account or that you are in good standing perhaps they could send an email stating the same? You could possibly then use that to show the screening agency / apartment manager that this is indeed under dispute, etc especially if that's the only thing holding you back. I had a situation years ago before I was aware of how credit reporting worked where an old apartment had placed unpaid rents on my CR - it was incorrect and an error entirely on them which they admitted and corrected. In the meantime I was able to use a letter they sent to me validating this to get into another apartment. Just a thought.

@vntrsc is spot on

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great point. however, i have no faith in centurylink. but i will give it a try.