CA knowingly validating inaccuracies

[cambia46]

My 28yr old son is trying to buy his first house and has an old paid collection for a $102 utility that keeps getting validated despite inaccuracies with the wrong balance date, payment date and amount.  His last dispute in 2019 led to it being deleted on EXPERIAN, but not TRANS and EQ for unknown reasons. They simply changed some dates which were still wrong, which tells us they don't have any records for this account. 

He recently came across a copy of the activity payment summary for his original account that he received when he paid off the debt showing the amount and correct payment date. He also called the Original Creditor to see if he could get info on the account and learned that the company does not keep account records beyond 2 years.

So, that got us to thinking, not only does he have the only document available showing what he paid and when (along with his bank statement), if the Collections Agency is using anything different to validate then it's probably something that they created.

In that case, is it possible that any of the options below may work in his favor to get this deleted based on inaccuracies?

1.  Dispute the dates and amount again and allow them to validate it. Then send a letter to TRANS and EQ with a copy of the payment activity statement with the correct info showing that they are reporting incorrect info and request delete.

Concern:  Can the CRAs open a dispute and send the activity statement to the Collections Agency then  they use that info to update the dates, thus correcting the info, eliminating the inaccuracy?

2.  Dispute the payment date again and allow them to validate it. Then send a letter to CRA with a copy of the payment activity statement and info, let them know they violated FCRA guidelines by validating and demand  deletion with threat of legal action.

Concern:  Can the Collections Agency just ignore the letter and use the correct activity statement to update the information correctly?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

BACKGROUND INFO IF IT HELPS

When my son learned of the debt, he paid the Original Creditor, which they accepted and didn't tell him the account had already gone to collections. Mind you, it was 32 days late when he paid it and he later found out it went to collections at 15 days late. But he was never contacted by the Collections Agency and didn't know they had the debt until he got a CRA alert a few days after paying.  He called the Original Creditor, who only then admitted it had been sent to collections prior to him paying, but said they informed the Collections Agency it was paid and expected they wouldn't report it, although they had no control over that. So the Collections Agency literally reported it AFTER knowing it had been paid to the Original Creditor l, which was about 45 days or so after they were assigned the account. It was not reporting prior to this.  My son called the Collections Agency and asked them to delete, but they refused.

[Legally_Speaking2512]

I would be writing a letter to both the credit reporting agency and the original creditor and letting them know that the law is very clear and concise under the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) about the accuracy of disputed information and I would make sure to cite the following section of the FCRA below:

Procedure in case of disputed accuracy [15 U.S.C. § 1681i] which includes:

5) Treatment of Inaccurate or Unverifiable Information (A) In general. If, after any reinvestigation under paragraph (1) of any information disputed by a consumer, an item of the information is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall – (i) promptly delete that item of information from the file of the consumer, or modify that item of information, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation

NOTE: under this section above this in bold,  I would also include that you are requesting a description of the investigative procedure used which is your right under 15 U.S.C §1681i (6)(B)(iii) which states: "if requested by the consumer, a description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information shall be provided to the consumer by the agency, including the business name and address of any furnisher of information contacted in connection with such information and the telephone number of such furnisher, if reasonably available".

Furthermore, I would let them know that you will not hesitate to litigate this for furnishing inaccurate information and willfully damaging his name and credit file - despite the fact that he notified the credit reporting bureau and the original creditor along with the fact that the original creditor has no records if him, which means they have no way to verify who he is. This means they can be found liable under Civil liability for willful noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681n]. 

in your letter to the original creditor I would add that you (son) would like to know how they verified his information if they have no records on file for him and that verifying him with no admissible records showing a relationship between him and the creditor could be deemed fraudulent as well and absolutely can be pursued to the full extent of the law. As such I would demand that they remove that file from your son's credit report immediately - no exceptions!

Make sure he stands his ground because most credit reporting agencies use what's called the E-Oscar system two validate a debt, which is just an automated system.

Side Note; The Fair Credit Reporting Act was put together for consumers by Congress and is meant to protect consumers. It's actually a pretty easy read so I would recommend your son read through it and just see what parts apply to him but this act is what gives us the ability to dispute inaccurate information or charges.

I know this can seem like a lot but I would also file a complaint with the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) online because the creditor will have to answer to them as well. Next I would file a complaint with the better Business bureau - the creditor has to answer to them as well. So now they have to answer to the two different credit bureaus, the CFPB, your son, and the blBetter Business Bureau. Sometimes if you make enough of a headache for them they'll just delete it but the purpose of this is to jam them up. Creditors and collection agencies do not like when you make more work for them. Hope this helps and best of luck. Keep us updated. Keep us updated

[CorpCrMgr1]

@Legally_Speaking2512  Great advice! 

[cambia46]

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and provide a detailed response and instruction. I will share this with my son and have him follow it to the tea. Yes, it seems like a lot, but I also know that it's in his best interest to come at them with all barrels blazing. Thank you! 

Just a couple last questions fto make sure we don't mess this up, should he dispute again and let them validated before doing the steps that you've suggested? The last time it was validated as accurate was in 2019. Or can he reference that last dispute in the correspondence that he sends out now?  Also, if he does dispute now and they validate, which they will, will this drop his score?  Thank you 

[Legally_Speaking2512]

---

@cambia46 wrote:

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and provide a detailed response and instruction. I will share this with my son and have him follow it to the tea. Yes, it seems like a lot, but I also know that it's in his best interest to come at them with all barrels blazing. Thank you! 

Just a couple last questions fto make sure we don't mess this up, should he dispute again and let them validated before doing the steps that you've suggested? The last time it was validated as accurate was in 2019. Or can he reference that last dispute in the correspondence that he sends out now?  Also, if he does dispute now and they validate, which they will, will this drop his score?  Thank you 

---

You're quite welcome andYes he should absolutely dispute again. I apologize for the late reply I've been a bit under the weather.

He doesn't have to mention The 2019 dispute if he doesn't want to but one thing you can try first is to write the original creditor and ask them how he's being verified if they have no record. The goal of that is to trip them up and have them put it in writing that they have no record of him. If they don't have any record of him then I would have him send that to the credit reporting agencies immediately and again demand they remove it because at that point they are walking a very fine line of fraud. They have no way to prove it's his you know? Make sure to do everything in writing though because if it's not written down it didn't happen more or less. When he sends a letter to the creditor I would send it certified 100% - that way if he does decide to litigate this they can't say we never got it because you will have a return receipt of who signed for it.

It shouldn't make his score go down because the account is already on his credit as a negative mark So disputing it and then validating it won't have any effect on his score. I have to ask, is this with a collection agency by chance or is it still the original creditor?

I also wanted to let you know that they cannot change the dates that the bill went delinquent. The delinquency date is the delinquency date from the time they report it as delinquent for the first time to the time it comes off of his credit.

[Legally_Speaking2512]

---

@CorpCrMgr1 wrote:

@Legally_Speaking2512  Great advice! 

---

Thank you - Happy to help!

[coldworld]

Following

[cambia46]

Hi there, no problem about the delay at all. I hope you are feeling better.   I feel like I'm always in a cycle of having some type of bug in my system ever since I had covid.

In answer to your question, the account is with the collection agency. The way it was explained to me, when he paid the original creditor, Comed, the account was already in collections, but Comed didn't bother to tell him and he didn't find out until the collections agency began reported weeks after he paid. Then Comed also never recalled the account from the collection agency. So, that's where it stayed I suppose. But Comed is who he called last week to try to get info on the original account and they are who said they have nothing on file anymore.

So, is it Comed that he should send a letter to see if he can get them to admit in writing that they cannot verify? Then ahave him dispute the incorrect  payments and balance dates with the collections agency or credit reporting agencies directly? 

I don't think he ever said the delinquency date was wrong, so I don't believe he'll be disputing that. But I'll double check. 

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for you time and help with this!