Midland pulling some funny stuff....TX

If you are 100% sure that the last time you paid on it was more than 7.5 years ago and that the original creditor has dropped off your credit report I would put up a fight. MCM cannot put that back on your credit report.

What you need to do is first send a debt validation letter to MCM. Send it certified mail return receipt requested, you can find a good template in the do it yourself section at the top. Do not sign your name on it. Once you get the green card back you should wait about 20 days or so. After that then dispute the entry with the credit reports. If it gets deleted, good for you. If it gets verified and stays, even better news for you.

If they do verify it as correct and it stays on your credit report, you can now sue them. Go to NACA.net and look for an attorney in your area that specializes in the fdcpa and the FCRA.



The reason I suggest this is because there is a very good chance they will put a fake payment in on your file restarting the SOL and keeping it on your credit report. If you just let this go, it will most likely haunt you, show them who's boss.

Thank you for your reply.

I signed up with truecredit and received a 3 in 1 CR.

SURPRISE! Midland is not on TU or Equifax anymore.

Unfortunately it is still on Experian. The 3-1 doesn't really give good info so I pulled an Experian CR dated today, 1/3/08, and it reads as follows.

MIDLAND CREDIT MGMT
This item is currently being investigated.
Status: No Status
Date Opened: 06/2005
Reported Since: 12/2002
Terms: 1 Month
Original Creditor: Fingerhut Credit Advantage
Status Details: This item was verified and updated on Sep 2008.
Credit Limit/Original Amount: NA
High Balance: NA
Date of Status: 12/2002
Last Reported: NA
Recent Balance: NA
Recent Payment: NA
Statement: Account in dispute under Fair Credit Billing Acts.

I assume Midland didn't verify with TU or Equifax but they did with Experian. How can it be currently under investigation and verified back in Sept. I dunno.

That will most likely get removed. Take a look at the listing, they have no amount owed and notice the date the account was opened compared to the date they reported. Unless they have a time machine then it's not possible. If they verify it you will need to sue them.

Do you have a copy of a credit report from before you disputed? I ask because if you do have to sue, it is nice to be able to show what it looked like before you disputed and what they have done to it AFTER you have disputed. I noticed on my own reports that when I DV and then dispute with the CRAs, when it comes back verified it not only comes back verified but updated with new information as well...all the more ammo for me to shoot them out of the water. Sharks? When you get through with them they will be guppies....

Here is the listing from Sept. 08 prior to my dispute.

Type of Account: OPEN
Date Opened: NA
Date Reported: 8/2008
Current Status: (blank)
High Credit: $554
Balance: $980
Amount Past Due: $980
Date of Last Activity: NA
Months Reviewed: 15
Type of Loan: Factoring Company Account (debt purchaser)
DOFD: 12/2002

After dispute it looks like this.....

This item is currently being investigated.
Status: No Status
Date Opened: 06/2005
Reported Since: 12/2002
Terms: 1 Month
Original Creditor: Fingerhut Credit Advantage
Status Details: This item was verified and updated on Sep 2008.
Credit Limit/Original Amount: NA
High Balance: NA
Date of Status: 12/2002
Last Reported: NA
Recent Balance: NA
Recent Payment: NA
Statement: Account in dispute under Fair Credit Billing Acts.

So all that extra stuff suddenly showed up on it? Weird. Did you dispute with the CRAs after you sent a DV or before?

When this account went bad my daughter was in diapers and we were living in a different city here in TX. My daughter is a SR. in HS now. This is absolutely CRAZY!

Midland ignored DV back in Sept. I disputed with them and the CRA's at the same time.

I disputed online today with Experian and the reason I used was that it had been illegally reaged, no DOFD, no balance listed, report date is prior to open date.

Well I disputed and Midland updated. Everything is listed. This "should" fall off in June 09 so I guess I'll fight it again then.

I have a new dilema now though. I wrote a PDF to Financial Corp. of American over a $54 collection on my hubby's CR. Offered to pay the full amount and they replied no, it was against fdcpa law but that they would report the debt as paid in full as soon as payment is received.

This doesn't look like its going to work for me.

Midland HAS to delete if they did not provide validation, per Texas law. What you should do is send them another letter, and cite Texas Finance Code, that they had 30 days to provide validation. Since they did not, you are now demanding that they remove this entry from your credit report, that they have 60 days from the date they receive the letter. If they do not, you will take them to your county small claims court and sue them for triple damages, as allowed by Texas Business and Commerce code, chapter 17.

Put this at the end of the letter:

Written Notice:

This letter is written notice pursuant to Texas Business and Commerce Code, chapter 17, Deceptive Trade Practice:

You have 60 days from date of receipt to remove the entry on my credit report or I will take you to court for not less then $100 per violation, subject to trebling as this chapter allows.

Make sure you send it CMRR.

If they don't remove it, then you can send them an Intent to Sue Letter and attach of the small claim forms you will be filing.
You could easily sue them for at the LEAST $900 plus all costs of court and you would win hands down just by using Texas laws and not even touching federal laws.

As for Financial Corp:

Did you DV them? Texas law allows you to really put the screws to them, so exercise your rights! Send them a DV letter, cite Texas Finance Code that requires them to comply within 30 days or remove the entry from your credit reports. Heck, you could play hardball and even include the written notice so that if the 60 days go by, you can then sue THEM. (Don't forget to dispute with the CRAs after they get the DV, that way if they update or verify it is another violation you can tack on to the suit.)

Even if they provide validation AFTER the 30 days, you still have them for not removing it at the 30 day mark and for updating a disputed account....you could still take them to court and win hands down, it would only be about $200, but boy would that stick in their craw.

If they DO provide validation, then you start bugging the everliving crap out of them. Send them a letter, with a pay for delete offer with an included basic contract that upon acceptance of payment, they will remove the entry from the credit reports.

Also dispute the entry with the credit reporting agencies, but only one at a time and a couple weeks apart...only dispute one small item.....take the listing apart and dispute anything that isn't right (CA's are notorious for posting wrong).

If it comes back verified, wait about 30 days and do it again, with another small item that is wrong. Rinse repeat.

Also send the company the pay for delete offer about once a month..doesn't have to be CMRR...so only the cost of a postage stamp.

Either way they will mess up and it will drop off, they will finally accept the offer just to shut you up, or the CRAs themselves will get tired of it and remove the entry.

And all this could have been avoided with a simple acceptance of your money...it is total BS about being against FDCPA to do a pay for delete...it is not..they only have to report correctly, NOTHING says they have to report at all.

Gonna have to print this post for reference goldenbast, lol.

I've been reading and learning these past two weeks and I jumped the gun before I truly understood protocol so now I need to read and learn more and start completely over. The only thing I have done is ignore phone calls and I sent them all PFD letters and so far 2 of these CA's have declined to accept.

My husband's CR has 4 collections, all 4 are Medical.
CB Medical Collections, $208 (denied PFD)
Diversified Credit Systems, $0 (paid collection before I knew better. They are still reporting. I have disputed with CRA's.)
Fin. Corp. of America, $54 (denied PFD)
Fin. Control Svc., $83 (haven't heard back from regarding PFD)

One CA named Medical debt management, Inc. just sent us a letter wanting $470 but they are not on the CR yet.

One poster directed me to a forum where I have been reading about HIPAA.

What I am struggling with is timing mostly and which account I should HIPAA or DV or both. Am I trying to do too much too soon? Should I pick one collection and see it through to the end before starting the attack on another? It just seems like it will take forever doing it that way.

On my CR there is one Medical collection to Medical Data Systems and the stupid, illegally re-aged Midland-Fingerhut collection so basically I'm dealing with 5 medical collections with amounts that I can pay immediately and in full but it looks like they prefer to punish us instead of accepting our money.

If someone could pick apart these and advise me on the best course of action for each account I sure would appreciate your time.

Ohh oh...medical you say?>?? then you CAN get them deleted using the HIPPA method...I will research it and post something...but basically what happens is you pay the OC off, then you demand removal from the CRAs because they are sharing private medical information without having a buisness contract (the business contract was the debt itself..if the debt is paid that reason goes poof and as per hippa laws, the account has to be removed.) There is a specific way to do this however..let me research it and I will post about it.

I think I know which hippa site you are referring to, if it is, use that method it is a rocking way to get medical collections removed. You have to pay them, but it seems one you already paid so the hippa method should work. Use it.

Thanks! I was directed to the myfico forum where if you do a search for HIPAA there are step by step instructions. My question is, do I do all the collections at one time or one at a time?
I seem to be confused on mostly timing. I do not want to repeat my recent mistake of sending PFD's before DV's. I want to make sure I have this down pat before acting.

well there is a specific method for sending Dvs in the HIPPA method...I will see if I can dig up the method and post it here, may take me a few days though.

Here's the link on how to clear up Medical Collections. I hope this is not against the Forum Rules.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=27537&jump=true

Received the green cards back today for Midland and NCO. Midland signed for on the 7th, NCO on the 8th. Do I need to dispute with the CRA's again?

Give it a couple days, then go ahead...if you do it right when they get it, they can still try to claim a 'bonifide error' IE - they verified before the DV letter got into the correct hands.