Trouble with Asset Accept and Experian

Asset Acceptance starting calling me earlier this year saying I owed a debt from 3 years ago. I asked them why I never received anything and come to find out, I have never lived at the address where they claim the letters were going to. I told these jokers where to go b/c I was refusing to pay a debt that they can't validate :evil:

I find experian the most difficult to work with! And I'm thinking yes u may have to sue them to have this removed! Sorry to say. I've been fighting for months now on a medical bill that experian refuses to delete... the other 2 had NO problem getting it off. I'm almost at wit's end with experian and spoke with an atty on this, now it's in his hands. Hope he has better luck than i did.
Good Luck,
Ang

Hi cellular, welcome to the forums!

Ok, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a federal law, comes into play here. The FDCPA requires that any information that cannot be properly substantiated must be removed from your credit report. As proof of this, here is something you need to read--this is an opinion letter written by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is the organization that oversees this whole issue of debt collection. Their opinion letters, while not law, are routinely used in court as evidence, because they are the authority on the matter. Anyways, here is a link--be sure to put "www." in front of it.

cardreport.com/laws/fdcpa/ftc-opinion/fdcpa-opinion.html

That is a list of FTC opinion letters. The one you are looking for is under the heading:

[quote]Section 809 [1692g]
Debt validation [/quote]

It is the very first letter in that group--'Cass', and this is what it says:

[quote]II. "Is it permissible under the FDCPA for a debt collector to report, or continue to report, a consumer's charged-off debt to a consumer reporting agency after the debt collector has received, but not responded to, a consumer's written dispute during the 30-day validation period detailed in ???? 1692g?" As you know, Section 1692g(b) requires the debt collector to cease collection of the debt at issue if a written dispute is received within the 30-day validation period until verification is obtained. Because we believe that reporting a charged-off debt to a consumer reporting agency, particularly at this stage of the collection process, constitutes "collection activity" on the part of the collector, our answer to your question is No. Although the FDCPA is unclear on this point, we believe the reality is that debt collectors use the reporting mechanism as a tool to persuade consumers to pay, just like dunning letters and telephone calls. Of course, if a dispute is received after a debt has been reported to a consumer reporting agency, the debt collector is obligated by Section 1692e(8) to inform the consumer reporting agency of the dispute.
[/quote]
The question was asked--"can a debt collector continue to report a debt to the credit bureau even after they do not respond to a validation request". The answer was NO. The FTC considers reporting to the CB's as "collection activity", and the FDCPA clearly does not permit any collection activity to continue once a validation request has been received, until that validation is provided to the consumer.

My best advice at this point is twofold--first, send a letter, CMRR, to the CA that is reporting on your credit file. Inform them that, according to the FDCPA, they are not allowed to continue reporting the debt on your credit file because the FDCPA prohibits such activity without validation having taken place. Tell them that they are to immediately remove any reports on this specific debt from any of the three major credit bureaus that they have reported it to. You want it removed within 30 days from the date of receipt, and you also request that they send you notification in writing of this deletion. State in this letter that if the entries are not deleted from your credit files in 30 days, you will submit the matter to your attorney to file suit for FDCPA violations. Be sure to send them a printed copy of the FTC opinion letter I just linked here as well. And make sure that you send this letter via certified mail, RRR, so you can prove when they got it.

Second, you should send a letter to the credit bureau. Again, certified mail RRR. This letter should say that the debt collector who reported this entry to them is in violation of the FDCPA for reporting it. State to them that under the FCRA, both the credit bureau and the reporting party are responsible for the accuracy of the entries, and since this entry cannot be positively validated as yours, they are obligated to remove it. Send them a copy of that FTC opinion letter as well to illustrate the point. Then, explain that they have 30 days to remove the entry from your credit file, or you will submit the matter to your attorney to file suit against them.

I suspect that the CB will be less willing to act, but this way you have covered all the bases. The more important thing to do is to send the letter to the CA. If you need anything else on this one, please let me know and I will be glad to provide whatever I can find. Let us know how it turns out.

The cra is only acting on info from data furnisher.They do have liability in this matter,but unless you have a good attorney with an airtight case stick with the collector. You need to send a strongly worded letter to asset informing them that they are violating both fdcpa & Fcra by verifying account without validation. Send a copy of this letter with all your documentation to the Michigan Attorney general.He is their ag for their head office.

Thanks

Your very welcome, if you have any more questions or need anything please feel free to ask away!
Good Luck and plz let me know how u do with experian!
Thanks,
Ang