I moved from an apartment in November 2007. In February 08, i received a letter in the mail from Fair Collections & Outsourcing saying that I owed $174.92. So as is my right before paying, I asked what the debt was about. They responded with information from my apartment complex saying they had to repair some dry wall after I moved out and this is what the bill was for. So I went ahead and paid it. I was reviewing my credit reports and noticed that this company made a hard inquiry to my Experian report on 04/03/08. I wrote them last week requesting that the inquiry be removed, they sent me a letter in the mail which I received yesterday simply verifying that the account has a zero balance but didn't address the issue of if they are going to remove the entry. So I mailed off the letter below today to them (i came across it on one of the forums and tweaked it):
To Whom It May Concern:
In my letter dated 05/01/08 I wrote and requested that the illegal inquiry that your organization placed on my Experian credit report on 04/03/08 be removed. I have since received a response in the mail from your organization dated May 19th verifying that there was a 0 balance. So I am writing once again to request that my original issue (the illegal inquiry) is resolved. As you probably know, Credit Reporting Agencies treat inquiries as a statement of fact and will not allow a consumer to dispute them. Since it is against federal law (Fair Credit Reporting Act -- 15 USC § 1681n(a)(1)(B) for an entity to view a consumer’s credit report without a "permissible purpose," As is my right, I requested that the debt you were claiming that I owed be validated. You responded with the validation and it was during this time that you also placed the inquiry in question on my credit report. I am writing to ask that you immediately remove this inquiry as it is clear that your organization is in violation of the FCRA which protects consumers from institutions like yours who choose not to abide by the laws. I also want to add that I have never applied for employment nor did I request credit from your organization.
Based on the evidence in my possession, this inquiry was performed under false pretenses as described in the clear language of the law. 15 USC §1681n(a)(1)(B ) states, in part, "in the case of liability of a natural person for obtaining a consumer report under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or $1,000, whichever is greater;"
This will be my final letter requesting that this inquiry be removed immediately. I will check my Experian report again on May 30th. If the inquiry still has not been removed at that point, as advised by my attorney, I will be taking legal action against your organization. You are civilly liable to me in the amount of $1,000.00 for your willful violation of the law -- performing a "hard inquiry" on my Experian file without my permission. It is my hope that we can settle this matter amicably. You can remove the inquiry within one (1) business day of the receipt of this notice. Or, we can meet in court at a later date where you will end up removing the inquiry, paying me the civil liability fine, punitive damages for my score drop, plus court and attorney fees. The choice is yours. You can contact me at the address listed below.
Has anyone had experience dealing with this company? What should be my next course of action if they don't budge?
