Understanding credit report items

Well to start off, what state is she/you in?

You will have to go over all 3 credit reports and start disputing incorrect information such as names addresses, phone numbers and you will have to correct them.

Next, why didn't your girlfriend go after that friend of hers after it happen? If it has been 4 years then most likely there is nothing she can do. States have other limitations that you can sue a person on, such as an automotive injury. Being 4 years, your girlfriend is now most likely responsible for the debt.

You can do a few things. Find out who owns the debt and pay it. But first send them a debt validation letter proving they own the rights to the debt. If they provide the proof you request, you can pay them. I have enclosed a sample debt validation letter, modify it to your needs and send it certified mail return receipt requested.

If the debt is past the SOL you can ignore it and wait for it to fall off her credit report. If she is contacted on it, send a cease and desist letter stating the SOL has expired and not to contact you in any way shape or form.

Lastly regardless if the debt is passed the SOL or not just wait it out. If you get debt collection letters in the mail and if it is the first letter from a debt collector, it should have a 30 day dispute period in it. RESPOND in the first 30 days, same way, send the debt validation letter CM RRR.

As far as that entry on her credit report. It is a charge off account. It was charged off most likely in April of 2005 considering 180 days from date of last payment, 10/2004...SOL is from date of last payment so if it is 4 years in your state, the SOL is passed and the debt is time barred.

Items fall off a credit report at about 7.5 years. Regardless of the SOL and the debt falling off your credit report, if 20 years from now someone try's to collect on it, she does still owe it but by law they can not sue her on it. It would be personal choice to pay or ignore.

If you ask me, I would never pay a debt that has gone past the SOL. Here is the debt validation letter, format it to your needs and remember, Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested.

Your Name
Your Address
CITY/Town, STATE ZIPCODE

Date: March 9, 2005



Collection Agency Name
Address
CITY/Town, STATE ZIPCODE

Re: Acct Ref. # XXXXX and XXXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a alleged debt. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for verification or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you
.
What I need you to provide as the debt validation is as follows:
1. What the money you say I owe is for;
2. Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
3. Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
4. Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
5. Identify the original creditor;
6. Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
7. Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
8. Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent
9. Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt. (You are legally entitled to collect this particular debt from me.) This is basic contract law.
10. Complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. (I need to have proof of my payment history with original Creditor, what the amount of the debt was when the creditor assigned the debt to your company, and what fees/interest has been tacked on to this debt and how you/they determined these fees.) This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004..
11. Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. (My contract with the original creditor establishing the debt between us.) This is also basic contract law.

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau's (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent

I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
1. Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
2. Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
3. Defamation of Character

If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following declaration, I will require at least 30 days investigating this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.
If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS.

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.



Best Regards,

The state is TX where I believe the SOL is 4 years correct? This is why we are curious what course to take. As I said she doesn't feel she should pay the debt as it was an unauthorized user and she didn't sign for it. I wasn't around then so I can't say exactly why she didn't take action against the former friend but I believe that friend is actually in a jail somewhere now for other crimes. In any case, nothing was done back then. So really the question on if we pay or not becomes a question of what could potentially happen if she choses not to pay at this stage? She now has a young daughter and her life has turned around for the better. Our biggest fear is if there is any chance of being jailed or have any future assets or income taken away? is that just us worrying or is that a real possibility? Also, if we were to get married either today or a year from now is there any chance that I could become liable or whatever? Obviously I wouldn't want to get married and find out the next day that I or we now need to pay this debt because of some law we missed.

Thanks for the letter and the tips. On the timing of the requests, I know she has received collection letters in the past but has basically just thrown them away. Does this mean now that we have missed the chance to do the validation? or again, because it's so close to the SOL on the debt should we wait it out and then just send them a cease and desist letter if they contact her again?

Quote:

Thanks for the information, it is very helpful. The last clarification that has us most concerned is if there is any chance of arrest for something? Does this happen or what does it take before someone may be arrested for not paying a past debt?

After reading a few other threads I also came to the question of using a Pay For Delete letter? does this have to be done before or after a debt validation letter? does it make sense to just send that to ask that the entries be removed? can it be used to reset any SOL on their behalf so that it remains longer? Lots of questions I know but we really are trying to determine the best course of action to let us move forward with a healthy financial life and get away from the fears of the past catching up in some form and destroying the future.

Hi,

I haven't heard anyone getting arrested by not paying debt.

Here are some information regarding pay for delete letter: -



Here's a sample of Pay-for-delete letter: -

Should a DV letter go to the CB AND the OC/CA? i know the SOL in 'my' state is 4 years. And ( I think..) if you send out a DV letter, they have 30 days to respond. If the OC/CA does NOT respond in 30 days, how do I deal with the debt, from 'here'? Do I send ANOTHER letter,etc?

You may also go through the following: -

A Sample Letter for A Pay for Delete Settlement

YEP...PHOENIX, I've seen 'sample letters' like this, too, on the forum. But.....let me ask ya?...is it 'realistic' that a OC/CA will remove the debt if you pay it off? I've read 'pro's and con's' about this issue. have you had any 'personal' experience doing this?

I'll not call "Pay-For-Delete" to be a totally unrealistic one but a tough proposition. For getting this you really have to bargain hard.

For the DV and referencing chapter 392, how would you fit that in? I've started a draft of the letter based on the one above and inserting the appropriate names and accounts for at least 2 of the debts and will do for at least one more as we can't figure out what it's for.

One that I think is now past the SOL totally is from Portfolio Recovery and I'll try to paste it below here. To me I'd say it's no longer within statute but can someone confirm with their opinion?

PORTFOLIO RECOVERY A
US CELLUL-XXXXXXXXX

PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOC
Riverside Commerce Center
120 Corporate Blvd Ste 100
Norfolk, VA-235024962
????
Account Number: US CELLUL-XXXXXXXXX Current Status:
Account Owner: Individual Account.???? High Credit: $378
Type of Account : Open Credit Limit: $0
Term Duration: Terms Frequency:
Date Opened: N/A ???? Balance: $378
Date Reported: 08/2008???? Amount Past Due: $378
Date of Last Payment: Actual Payment Amount: $124
Scheduled Payment Amount: $0 Date of Last Activity: N/A
Date Major Delinquency First Reported: 06/2008???? Months Reviewed: 2
Creditor Classification: Activity Description: N/A
Charge Off Amount: $0 Deferred Payment Start Date: ????
Balloon Payment Amount: $0 Balloon Payment Date:
Date Closed: Type of Loan: Factoring Company Account (debt purchaser)????
Date of First Delinquency: 04/2004????
Comments: Collection account ????

So based on a DOFD of 04/2004 it should be well past the SOL right? Is it worth sending a DV or is there any way to get it removed? She's not sure if that's hers or not but suspects it may be. It looks like they may have just picked up the debt around June of 08 oddly enough, maybe as a last attempt to get payments before the SOL? I am worried that the date of last payment and last activity are empty, shouldn't that info be there? even date opened is missing.

BTW I hope I'm not violating any terms of use of the website by posting this stuff? If I am please let me know or if there is another forum I should using for specific items.

They do not show the date of last payment on this tradeline so I can't verify the SOL. The DOFD is 4/04 so this would have to come off 10/11 (7 years + 180 days). I would DV Portfolio and then dispute the tradeline as "Incomplete/Multiple Inaccuracies - verify all data fields" and make them verify every field and fill in the blanks.


As far as adding reference to the TFC to your DV's, I'll post on eof mine shortly.