These are what I call submarine collections..... reported and in your file with no dunning notice on their part, and thus no ability to address their inclusion unless you are lucky enough to have pulled your own CR. They are hurting your scoring without prompt ability to address them.
FDCPA 809(a) requires any debt collector to advise a consumer by way of formal collection (dunning) notice, once they have initiated communication with a consumer on their collection on the debt, informing the consumer of their name, the name of the creditor, the amount of the debt, and of how to invoke their debt verification rights.
Dunning notice is required to be provided within 5 days of their initial communication. Reporting to your credit report, while not specfically included in section 809(a) as an "initial communication with the consumer," has been interpreted by the FTC and the courts to consitute an action that triggers their requirement to send dunning notice.
The 30-day period for a consumer to request debt verification that invokes a cease collection bar on the debt collector is ONLY set by their sending of a dunning notice.
Absent dunning notice, and DV you send is timely, and thus invokes an automatic cease collection bar. However, such a bar only applies to further collection activities, and thus is not basis for deletion of their prior credit reporting.
Failure to have provided required dunning notice is not basis for compelling CR deletion, but it is basis for filing a formal complaint with the FTC for their violation of their debt collection practices. They must respond to the FTC, which might have impact on their dealings with you. It is a tool.
Whether to now send a DV depends upon what you are attempting to accomplish. If you dont acknowlege the debt or question its amount, a DV will bar any further collection until they provide that information. However, sending a DV will preclude you from negotiating with them, such as by sending a PFD offer, until they have addressed your DV request.
