UPDATE! Question About DV Letter for Account Past SOL

[JuJuBee84]

I have been working REALLY hard to get my credit back in good standing. I received a copy of my Equifax report last month and have been working diligently to get the last of the baddies gone. However, today when I logged onto the site with the confirmation# from my report, I noticed a new collection. When I checked it against the hardcopy I had from last month, it wasn't there before. The odd thing is that the collection agency is reporting saying it has been assigned since 2009. I have lived at the same address and never got a "dunning notice". Why would they wait so long to report with the credit bureaus? Also, I live in CA and the SOL is 4 years which has now past but I am unsure of what this collection is for. Can I still send a DV letter and/or would it do any good?

This is what the report shows:

National Recovery Agency

Assigned 12/2009

Creditor Bradford Exchange

Amount $103

Status Unpaid

DOFD 9/2006

[RobertEG]

That is a primary reason for the requirement to send timely dunning notice... to advise consumers, once collection is initiated, of the alleged source of the debt and its amount.

Posting to your CR triggered their requirement to have sent dunning notice within 5 days.  They are apparently in violation of that requirement?

Yes, any DV you send will be timely until such time as they have sent dunning notice and you have not requested DV within 30 days of that notice.

It is rare for a debt collector to wait years to report, particularly when the delay permiited SOL to expire.  It kinda suggests they are not agressively pursuing the debt.

Sending dunning notice will prevent them from conduction any further collection activities until such time as they have provided debt verification.  However, it wont compel them to delete their prior reporting.

So you know the name of the OC and the reported DOFD on that account?

[JuJuBee84]

Yes Equifax states the OC is Bradford Exchange. When I looked them up online it seems to be some sort of mail order program for various types of merchandise. The report states DOFD is 9/2006 and during that time my sister was living with me. I had a similar incident a few years back when I got a collection notice for a BMG music account which I never opened. My sister had taken the mail received in my name and ordered CD's. I did get it rectified so now I am wondering if the same was done in this situation. Should I still send the DV letter?

[RobertEG]

I suggest that you first make a decision on how you want to proceed.

If getting affirmation of the name of the creditor, and itemization of the debt, affirmation from the credtior that the debt is legit, or barring continuing collection activity until verification is received, then send a DV.  No one wants to just pay a debt that might not be verifiable as theirs.....

However, if you wish to immediately offer a PFD, and thus move directly to getting their reporting deleted, sending a DV would be at least a temporarty impediment.

The cease collection bar that it will impose, assuming it is timely, will bar any negotiations with you until such time as they choose to provide the requested debt verification.

[JuJuBee84]

Thanks for the advice! I definetly know this account is not mine, so I think I am going to send the DV letter and wait for thier resonse.

[JuJuBee84]

UPDATE!  So I sent the DV Letter to National Recovery. They signed for it on 6/8/2012. They also placed a comment on my CR stating consumer disputes account info. It has now been a little over a month and I have received nothing from them other than a dunning notice dated 6/10/2012. I did file a complaint with the BBB and FTC as I know they should not have sent this with the cease and decist bar in place from the DV letter. My question is, what do I do now? Do I just continue to send DV letters?

[RobertEG]

Dispute comments pertain to disputes under the FCRA.  Their reporting of a dispute based on a DV request is improper.

However, that places the consumer in the proverbial catch-22..... dispute to remove the reporting of a dispute? 

Win-lose.

Additionally, you can send a complaint to the FTC for failure to have provided dunning notice within 5 days of inititiating collection activity by reporting to your CR.

Not a hammer blow, but at least an aggravation to them.

[JuJuBee84]

Thanks RobertEG. I did include that fact in my complaint to the FTC that they failed to provide a dunning notice within 5 days of communication and then did so after receiving my DV letter. Do I just wait it out now? I would REALLY like this off my CR's and they are reporting to all 3.

[JuJuBee84]

UPDATE!  I received a response from the BBB today regarding my complaint. National Recovery stated:

Our office is in receipt of your correspondence dated July 16, 2012 regarding the above-referenced complaint.  In acknowledgment of the complaint and to maintain client satisfaction, the referenced account was closed in our office and returned to the creditor.  Since the account was only assigned to us for purposes of collection, we have no control over whether the creditor will pursue collection of this account by placing it with another collection agency or law firm.

We have also requested that the account be deleted from any consumer reporting agency files to which we have submitted information.  Consumer reporting agencies may take 30 to 90 days to update consumer reports and this is also beyond our control. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact our office.

This may seem like only a small victory, but I am extremely happy!

[rckstrscott]

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@JuJuBee84 wrote:

UPDATE!  I received a response from the BBB today regarding my complaint. National Recovery stated:

Our office is in receipt of your correspondence dated July 16, 2012 regarding the above-referenced complaint.  In acknowledgment of the complaint and to maintain client satisfaction, the referenced account was closed in our office and returned to the creditor.  Since the account was only assigned to us for purposes of collection, we have no control over whether the creditor will pursue collection of this account by placing it with another collection agency or law firm.

We have also requested that the account be deleted from any consumer reporting agency files to which we have submitted information.  Consumer reporting agencies may take 30 to 90 days to update consumer reports and this is also beyond our control. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact our office.

This may seem like only a small victory, but I am extremely happy!

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This isn't a small victory, this is a major win!

Congrats!

-scott