Portfolio won't close accounts

[Anonymous]

This situation is a mess! My wife had two Portfolio collections from old Capital One accounts. In January of this year we paid off both accounts in full to Portfolio. Over the phone with one of the reps I confirmed both account numbers. After doing so I immediately paid both accounts electronically through my bank. That should have been the end. Nope.

A few weeks later I received a call from a Portfolio rep who would eventually give me her email address so I could communicate directly with her. She said that they had not received the payments. I contacted the bank who advised that Portfolio had indeed received both. The rep said I needed proof so I sent her my bank statement showing the transaction, a copy of the actual transaction and the bank's response to me.

While doing my best to prove the payments were sent I realized that I put the same account number for each payment. So the two payments went to one account. I explained this to the rep but she said no payments had been received. After that she would no longer call me back and never answered any of my emails other than to say she was out of the office at one point for vacation.

Several months later we were contacted again but this time the rep, different than the first, acknowledged that they received both payments which totalled approximately $900. However, because I put the same account number, they paid off the smaller acvount, took some sort of fee out of what was left over and then claimed to have sent a check back to me for approximately $500.

I told them I had not received any such check and still have not received one. In have sent them a certified letter documenting all my communications to include my sent emails and dates of phone calls. I sent my bank statements and the information from the bank to show proof of payment. They have not replied in email or letter as I asked them to stop the harassing calls.

We need to get this removed but I feel like I'm fighting the Jolly Green Giant. My next move is to send the same letter and proof of payment to the credit bureaus. I've seen where others have filed complaints with the BBB and Virginia Attorney General as well as with the Attorney General of their home state.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[gdale6]

You wont get anywhere with the CRAs they side with their customers all the time. Your next move is the BBB then your states AG.

[RobertEG]

Your next step should be to file a formal dispute with each CRA to which their reporting is inaccurate.

CFPB and/or BBB complaints are administrative, and dont provide the necessary basis for later filing a civil action to get the matter before court.  FCRA 623(c) prevents a consumer from pursuing civil action regarding accuracy of credit reporting until they have first filed a disptue with the CRA and received and investigation and formal verification of the accuracy.

If your formal dispute filed with the CRAs dont result in correction, you than have the right to file a civil action contesting the reasonableness of their investigation, and get a binding decision from the courts.

You can also file CFPB and/or BBB complaints after receiving results of your dispute, but that should not be your first step.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for the information. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Anonymous]

Are either of the accounts showing a balance on your credit reports?

[Anonymous]

The two collections are still showing although only one shows active with a balance. It is the larger of the two accounts. It's troubling to me that they tell us that they never received the two payments despite my proving they did and them they eventually admitting they did. Even then they only paid one of the accounts and have kept the balance of what we sent them which was supposed to pay the second account off.

[Anonymous]

Okay...I assume you've disputed this with the credit bureaus.  Depending on how you worded the dispute, you may be able to file a civil suit.  What state are you in?  

There are many FCRA attorneys that work on a contingency basis, meaning no money out of your pocket to pursue it.  

[Anonymous]

No, we haven't disputed the mistake yet but that is our next step. What do you mean "depending how you worded" the dispute? Are there key words and phrases I should use?

[RobertEG]

A dispute must identify the specific item that is asserted to be inaccurate, and the resolution of the dispute is then limited to the verification, correction, or if neither can be done, the deletion of that item of information.

Stated differently, a dispute does not extend to any other information that is not identified in the dispute, and thus the outcome of the dispute in both changes in reported information,and thus scoring, is limited to the subject matter that is disputed.

[Anonymous]

Ok. Got it. So basically I need to be very specific as to the information challenged and only that information can be changed and/or deleted which could untimately improve my wife's credit score.