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Howdy,
I have an issue with a few Capital One accounts and I'm not sure what would be the best way to try and resolve them.
Forgive me if this seems a bit complicated.
To try and make a very long story short I have two cap 1 accounts on my credit reports.
One is an account showing a $1,848 balance charged off
and one showing a $1,643 balance charged off.
Back in December of last year 08 I received two dunning letters from a local collection attorney over these two accounts.
I promptly responded by sending debt validaition letters (one for each account) CMRR. That was the end of it or so I thought. Then in September of this year 09 I received a reply back from the attorneys office with validation for one of the accounts (The $1,643 account) and a lawsuit too. So I contacted the attorney and settled the account. The attorney replied with a letter that the account was now closed and they were notifying capital one that the account has been settled. Several weeks after receiving that letter Cap 1 changes the amount owed reporting on my credit reports from $1,643 to $396. I was under the impression that it should've been changed to Settled or Settled for less than owed, etc. but as it stands right now it is still showing a balance.
The second account $1,848 is still up in the air. I never received validation so thankfully there was no lawsuit but Capital One is still reporting it on my credit reports. What can I do about themreporting an account that they can't seem to prove exsists? Is there anyway to get this off my credit reports? I'm unsure as to what the next steps should be.
I'm hoping someone may have some ideas as my head is spining over this. I am trying to buy a house and these accounts are holding me back.
One more thing I should add is that the Statute of limitations is not up until December 2010 so if for some reason they can validate the other account they will sue. My worry is that if I start an investigation those missing records will be found and Cap 1 will sue.
Thank you and I hope I haven't confused anyone.
The acct that the attorney contacted you about...did you PIF??
The other acct is reporting as CO with a balance, correct??
Cap 1 still owns these accts & can continue to report the unpaid balance, but being CO's, if they don't sell to a CA, they cannot add int. If they sell, they must report $0 & CA can collect and add int..
If you want to buy a house, your LO might make you pay these up first. If I were you...start saving your money, you might need it. Cap 1 has been known for suing in the 11th hour! Unfortunately.
And as far as a PFD goes..... it's like hitting the Mega Millions... SLIM!!!!!
Hello,
Thank you for replying.
I was contacted by a collection attorney over both accounts. The sent two dunning letters and I responded by sending two debt validation requests.
Nine months later The attorney responded by only validating one account. I then called the collection attorney and they gave me a settlement amount of 1404 to which I promptly paid because I received a summons from the Sheriff stating that they were suing me.
The attorney then sent a letter informing me that they would notify cap 1 that the account was settled. However cap 1 did not update my reports with settled only the remaining balance it seems.
The second account was never validated. How can Cap 1 continue to report if they can't validate? To be honest I do not recognize this second account and don't think it's acceptable that I should have to pay it if it's not mine and cap 1 can't show that it does in fact belong to me.
Update: I just checked my Experian, Equifax credit files online and Cap 1 updated the account. It now shows zero balance paid in settlement.
I know it's not great but it should help put me one step closer to my goal of home ownership. I don't know if Transunion as updated as I can't pull a new report from Truecredit for some reason.
Now, I just have the one charge off also from cap 1. It is showing a 1848 balance as I've mentioned. The problem is I don't recognize it as being mine. I have no problem paying if it is mine but if cap 1 seems to have no records Any idea as to how to handle this?
@Anonymous wrote:Update: I just checked my Experian, Equifax credit files online and Cap 1 updated the account. It now shows zero balance paid in settlement.
I know it's not great but it should help put me one step closer to my goal of home ownership. I don't know if Transunion as updated as I can't pull a new report from Truecredit for some reason.
Now, I just have the one charge off also from cap 1. It is showing a 1848 balance as I've mentioned. The problem is I don't recognize it as being mine. I have no problem paying if it is mine but if cap 1 seems to have no records Any idea as to how to handle this?
A settled account is a big negative. It is looked at by FICO the same as a charge off. You need to try to get that completely removed via a GW (Good Will) letter.
I know all this is a big mess and I wish you luck.
Unfortunately, DV letters under FDCPA 809(b) never require the CA to respond in any set time period. All the DV essentially does is block further active collection activity (but not legal action) on the part of the CA until such time as they choose to validate. They can sue without prior validation.
IMHO, you have two options to obtain verification.
First, you can dispute the debt with the OC debt with the CRA under FCRA 611(a), which requires OC verification within 30 days.
But verification of a dispute under FCRA 611(a) is usually just handled by the automated dispute process called E-OSCAR, and you will probably just get, with no explanation, verification. Disopute under FCRA 611(a) is almost a joke.
Second, if the CA brings legal action, you can require, as part of the legal discovery process before trial, full validation. At that time, they will be forced to validate under direction of the court.
I know a paid charge off settlement isn't any good in eyes of FICO. Because this is Cap 1 and they were suing me I really had no choice but to pay it.
As for a GW I highly doubt Cap 1 will grant it so I'm not thinking I'm going to even try right now.
Thankfully according to my mortgage broker they just want to see the account/s paid off.
As for the accounts themselves they are Capital 1 OC accounts;there was never a CA on my reports
A local collection attorney was assigned the accounts and sent two dunning letters last December 2008
I promptly sent out two debt validation letters and never heard another thing until September of this year 2009.
Apparently the Attorney was able to obtain valiation for one of the accounts and as soon as they had sent me the information the county sheriff was serving me with a lawsuit for this debt. I then settled this validated debt with the attorney.
The other account was not verified so the attorney did not file a lawsuit
No documentation of any kind, so there is no way to prove that I legally owe the debt.
It took them nine months from the time I sent the DV letter till they verified the one account.
So, I'm sure if they had records for the other account they would have sent them and sued for the other account as well.
As for Cap 1 not having to validate an account how is legal? Doesn't anyone else think this is wrong? Why is there an OC letter then? What's it's purpose?
If they can't prove the debt and I'm talking about an OC accout here and not a CA doesn't the law say they must stop reporting?
Sorry for repeating myself it seems like no one understands what I'm saying.
I do apologize as this whole affair is confusing to me as well.
As for Cap 1 not having to validate an account how is legal? Doesn't anyone else think this is wrong? Why is there an OC letter then? What's it's purpose?
If they can't prove the debt and I'm talking about an OC accout here and not a CA doesn't the law say they must stop reporting?
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I understand what you are saying, and sympathize with your frustration.
As best as I can summarize my advice. the FDCPA is about fair debt collection practices, and NOT about credit reporting.
The FDCPA only applies to a third party collection agency, and not, in any way, to the original creditor.
Credit reporting is governed by the FCRA, and NOT the FDCPA. So any violation of collection practices under the FDCPA is separate from compliance with credit reporting under the FCRA. They may overlap, but only, in your case, through administrative interpretation of their right to report after a DV.
Yes, FDCPA says that a CA cannnot conduct further collection activities after receipt of a DV request until they respond, but it does not require any deletion of any prior reporting by anyone. Violation of reporting to a CRA after a DV is an adminiistrative interpretation of violation of the FCRA, and not covered explicityy under the FCRA.
IMHO, if you send any dispute to a CRA for deletion of prior reporting based on asserted non-compliance with the FDCPA, it will go in their circular file.
They are not administrators of the FDCPA.
Just my opinion.