How to deal with MCM/Midland Funding

[BrownBee]

Today I received a settlement offer from MCM for an old T-Mobile account from 2007.  T-Mobile charged off the account on 12/21/2007. Charge off notwithstanding, the SOL for a written contract in FL is 5 years, so this debt is beyond SOL. MCM reports the date opened as 04/25/2012 and date reported as 09/16/2012. I'm confused as to what my first step should be, given the charge off and SOL issues. Any help is appreciated!

[lks638]

Have you made any payment to the account? If not, I'd start with a Debt Verification Letter, make sure you send it certified.  Chances are they don't have much information on you regarging the original debt. If that doesn't work I'd file a complaint with the BBB.  

I am working on getting rid of a Midland Funding account as well, it's the last collection on my report, they are reporting on a Verizon Wireless account from 2005, reporting it as newer than it actually is. I submitted a DV which they ignored, so i recently filed a complaint with the three credit bureaus and the BBB.  Hoping to squash them like a bug.   The FTC has fined them for their deceptive practices and failures to comply with federal regulations.  I'd use whatever force you can against them.

[Anonymous]

They are monstrous. They are reporting a 2007 T Mobile debt for me as 2011, and they are reporting it as two debts instead of one, same amount, different dates. Saying the account was opened in 2012 and the most recent activity was 2010. Ridiculous. I've gotten it removed multiple times only to have it show up again. 

Ask for debt verification, and in the meantime dispute it. 

[guiness56]

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@BrownBee wrote:

Today I received a settlement offer from MCM for an old T-Mobile account from 2007.  T-Mobile charged off the account on 12/21/2007. Charge off notwithstanding, the SOL for a written contract in FL is 5 years, so this debt is beyond SOL. MCM reports the date opened as 04/25/2012 and date reported as 09/16/2012. I'm confused as to what my first step should be, given the charge off and SOL issues. Any help is appreciated!

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Let me help you understand what is happening. 

When a CA acquires a debt from either being assinged or purchased, that date will be reflected as the date opened.  That date has no meaning whatsoever on your CR.  It just lets you know when the CA acquired it.

The date reported to the CRA would be 9/16/2012.  This date only impacts your score because it will be a new collection on the day it is reported.

Neither the date assigned nor the date reported have anything to do with when the TL will be excluded from your CR.  That date is the DoFD - date of first delinquency.  This date is established by the OC and cannot be changed.

Somewhere on your TL there should be a date that corresponds with the DoFD.  EQ actually shows the DoFD whereas TU and EX show the removal date.

[BrownBee]

There is no TL on any of the three bureau reports from the OC, TMobile.  I actually called them about this account, and they confirmed the account was cancelled on 11/19/2007 and was charged off on 12/21/2007. The reason I cancelled this account is because, when my previous 2 year contract ended, they auto-renewed it for another 2 years without my consent. This generated an early termination fee for TMobile. (The incident wasn't the first of many shady billing practices I encountered with TMobile, hence why I fully intended not to renew a contract with them.) The TMobile rep couldn't give me an original DoFD per se, citing her limited access to the records because it has been turned over to a CA.

[guiness56]

Even though the OC isn't reporting the DoFD should be on the CA TL that is reporting.  By federal law, the OC is required to submit a DoFD and the CA has to use the same one.

[Shogun]

+1

Any debt that has been CO'd must have a DOFD.

[BrownBee]

Is DoFD the same as DLA (Date of Last Activity)?

[Shogun]

No they are not.  DOFD is the date of first delinquency.  It is when the debt first went into arrears and was never brought back to current.  The DOLA really doesn't mean very much.

[BrownBee]

There is no DoFD information on any of the entries on the reports I'm looking at. It came from Credit Technologies, Inc. Do I need to purchase a current FICO report from each individual CB myself? Or can I get at least one of them free of charge since I'm still receiving denials from various companies in relation to my recent new vehicle purchase?