Update to my initial message below.
This morning I received in the mail a letter from Diversified Consultants stating the account Sprint had referred was returned back to the OC, no further collection action would be taken, and that my credit reports had been cleared of the negative tradeline. The letter advises it can take up to 30 days for the change to reflect on my reports.
Not being the most patient person I pulled my 3 full reports; the tradeline is finally gone (my score hasn't updated yet).
Thinking this is to good to be true, I called Sprint's Corporate Office and was transferred to their legal department (the last Dept. I'd written and threatened to sue in small claims court). Sprint legal had researched the account and determined they had in error placed an account with their collection agent and had removed the acct from collections and cleared the error on their end.
Once again I requested Sprint send a letter verifying they had made these corrections in case the tradeline shows back up on my CR. I was assured a letter to that affect would be sent.
An hour later Sprint emailed me a letter confirming exactly that with a notation the letter would also be sent snail mail.
It's my lucky day!! 
Nice to meet everyone.
I'm beginning the process of rebuilding/repairing my credit after a divorce and long-term severe medical issues. One of the first items I attempted to have removed from my CR is an item being reported by Diversified Consultants from Sprint an item I can prove, without a doubt, I do not owe. This should be a simple error correction and yet I've had no luck. Any advice on further steps would be appreciated.
Four years ago I opened a no-credit check account with Sprint and purchased (paid in full) for an older/refurbished iphone 5s. I began auto pay and my account was paid in full, on-time, every month. A year later I noticed the phone would no longer receive a signal in my home or inside stores and after months of tech support I was told I needed to upgrade the device to connect with upgraded towers in my area. To upgrade my phone I also learned I needed to convert my no-credit check account to a full account which I did a week before the closing date of the account. Sprint closed my old account, opened the new account and 24 hours later I had no access online or through the mobile app to the old account. I set up autopay for the new account before new charges hit. A week later I received 2 msg's from Sprint. First was to show the months billing for my new account. Second one said I owed for a new month on my old closed account.
I contacted Sprint about the error and after getting the run around from CS for over a week Sprint cut my service for non-payment on the old account that I had no access to and had contacted them about over 8 times (documented).
Finally out of frustration I contacted Sprint Corporate when they suspended my svc. I was put in touch with an account rep in the VP's office who looked at the account and saw the error. The next day she sent me an email letting me know:
1. My old Sprint account balance (prorated to $51) was transferred to my new account.
2. The ability to autopay from my old account was cancelled
3. She had credited onto my new account $50 to offset the old billing
4. Restored my service and included an additional $10 credit for the inconvenience
5. Admitted the error was all Sprint's fault and assured me that 1 day svc suspension would not negatively reflect against me
To make a long story short, after 9 months with Sprint I'd had enough and cancelled my account and moved to another carrier. At the time I cancelled I had a credit balance and had never once had a returned autopay payment and I did NOT purchase another phone with them. I went with another carrier who I'm happy with. A month after changing service I received a check from Sprint for the credit balance I had when I canceled service. The check in the memo section specifically states Refund Credit Balance. I received no further communications in any form from Sprint.
6 months later I received a letter in the mail from Diversified Consultants stating they were attempting to collect a debt from Sprint for $51. The letter was followed the next day by a phone call from Diversified. I verbally disputed the bill over the phone and followed up my dispute the following day with certified letters to Diversified and Sprint. Included with the dispute was a copy of the check I'd received from Sprint and all emails from Sprints corporate office. A month later I was sent another letter by Diversified saying Sprint had validated the debt and checking my credit reports I learned they were reporting on all 3 bureaus a collection account for Sprint for $51. I received no communications back from Sprint.
I immediately disputed the tradeline with all 3 bureaus in writing including print-outs of my Sprint account showing a $0 balance and a copy of their credit balance refund check and emails. I followed up the dispute with another certified letter to Sprint, this time to their legal department.
After another month TU and Ex contacted me, they had removed the tradeline. Equifax validated the debt and kept it on. I've heard nothing back from Sprint.
Diversified has contacted me back and this time they are demanding payment of $237 for the initial balance, fees and interest. Out of frustration I called Sprint to try and pay the original $51 that I don't owe but think its worth paying to get the collection account off my report. Sprint won't take a payment because they can't find any account I owe them any money for!!!!
So now I'm stuck and need advise on how to proceed. My options are to take Sprint and Diversified to small claims court (I've told them that would be my next step). Should I go this route or make one last ditch effort to get Sprint to correct their error? If so how?
I'm a year in on rebuilding credit and this tradeline is really hurting my FICO score. Sorry this is so long!!
For the one that is not yours it would be considered ID Theft and you need to follow these guidelines to get it excluded from your CR
Have you contacted Diversified?
I would contact them and provide your proof the debt was paid to Sprint directly.
