Two companies reporting on the same account

I have an old Sprint bill that is about $900 that Sprint reported to the credit bureau about 5 years ago. Now I have Afni reporting to the credit bureau too for a "utility" account for about the same amount (I am assuming this is the same bill). Can two places report the same account? Can I get one of them removed??

Sprint is the original creditor to whom you owe the debt and so they've reported it to the bureaus. You cannot get the Sprint listing removed from your credit report before seven years and 180 days from the date of your delinquency, as the debt has already been sold off to Afni. Now, since the debt is now with Afni, they can also report it to the bureaus, and both of them can stay in your report for 7 years and 180 days. You can only get the Afni listing removed through PFD agreement, if you agree to pay off the debt in full.

Hi Guest
Can you please tell me the state you live in and the date of your delinquency?
I think that you should first check the SOL in you state. If the SOL has expired, you should not make any payment towards the debt and the creditor can never sue you to recover the debt legally. Since 5 years has already passed, you can wait for 2 more years and the debt would automatically be removed from your report.

Cell phones would be covered under the UCC SOL of 3 years in most states. And yes, both the OC and the CA can report at the same time. In rare instances, it is possible that you could have 3 different tradelines reported. If the OC sold to a JDB who in turn assigned it to a CA, then all 3 could report. Very rare but I have seen it before.

Nascar, could you please elaborate more about the UCC SOL of 3 years in most states? I have the same situation with the same CA on an old Cingular account from 2005 that an ex stuck me with.

Nascar could you please elaborate more on the UCC SOL being only 3 years in most states?

Ok, so in plain english... this means they have 2 years from date of delinqency to seek a judgement, but if it does get reported to a CRA by either the OC, CA, or JDB then it's still 7-7.5 just like any other baddie?

Correct