Ok, I wish you all luck. The credit gods fell into my favor.
First, Palisades I think is "under debt" to RPM Collectionss out of Portland, OR. When I called Palisades, they said I'd have to call RPM. Palisades said they couldn't find my info by the locator number they put on my credit report. Played these against each other in a time battle with the 30-day rule.
Called RPM, found out they couldn't locate me either, and when I called Palisades back, they admitted that the collections notice number included the phone number as part of the account number. They looked it up, belonged to someone else.
Long and short, they still wouldn't remove. I then went on a letter writing campaign. All 3 bureaus, state consumer affairs, and the national complaint was filed as well. All certified mail. Cannot identify me, cannot provide proof of ownership of debt, account number did not match, and cancelled check from original final payoff which was on time and 100% to ATT.
Cost half the amount of the debt, but Palisades after 3 years of harrassment doesn't get a THING.
Write, and "courtesy copy" each bureau, local BBB, state authorities, your congressman (kidding), and when all these people try to put 2+2 together, the best the collector can do is a 3.9