Agency no longer has the debt, but is reporting

[C_DUBYA]

So I am dealing with ASCI who is on all 3 of my reports for a $225 medical bill.  I called them today to do a PFD and they say its no longer with them and to call the OC.  So I then asked for them to delete the credit line from my reports.  She says "they" as in the OC will help with that.  I said, no.  Its under YOUR business name as the collection.  NOT the OC.  

Can someone help me understand this?  Arent they the ones that delete it since they reported it, not the OC?  In this case the OC is a hospital.  ITs a medical bill.

Thanks

[RobertEG]

You are correct in that the OC cannot delete credit reporting that they did not make.

It must come from the reporting party.

Since they are stating that the debt is with the OC, that means that the debt collector never owned the debt, but was only an assigned collection agent of the OC.

Either the OC terminated the assigned collector authority, or the debt collector chose to withdraw.

Regardless, the collection is terminated.  Upon termination of collection authority, one thing is certain under the FCRA.  Any party who has reported information to a CRA is required, under FCRA 623(a)(2), to promptly update that reporting as necessary to maintin its current accuracy.

Thus, the debt collector has a stautory requirement to at least report the collection as closed, and the amount now under their collection as $0.

The issue of whether the debt collector has a requirement to then delete their reporting is a contested issue.

There is clearly no statutory requirement under the FCRA that they do so.  Their reporting of having had collection authority is not negated by the termination of that authority.  Their obligation is to update their reporting to show closed, $0 under collection.

However, the CRAs apparently have a procedural instruction in their credit reporting manual ("Credit Reporting Resource Guide") advising debt collectors to delete their collection upon termination of their collection authority.  Some aruge that as a basis for requriing deletion.

To date, I am not aware of a consumer dispute asserting a requirement to delete based on the CRA policy as having been granted by a CRA.

My suggestion is to send a dispute to the CRA and see if they will delete based on their reinvestigation authority, using their internal policy as justification for affirming the inaccuracy of the lack of deletion.

[guiness56]

There is no requirement under the FCRA for them to delete but there is under the Credit Reporting Guide.