Debt Collectors Buying Old Debt

As per the FCRA laws, negative information stays in the file for a period of seven years from the date of first delinquency. If the said accounts have become 7 years old from the date of first delinquency, dispute with the credit bureau reporting it. They should have been automatically removed from your file by this time.

The CRA will run an investigation with your information providers and update your file if there is an error. You always have the rights to dispute whenever there is a discrepancy

debt collector bought my old credit card debts and succesfully garnished it :(

Did you pay them off? Or is it old debt that has been just sitting there?

steve morales--

you really need to check your local court clerk's office, ASAP on this one...because they woudl have had to sue you and win their case in order to legally garnish your wages. Check with the court clerk's office in your county to see if they ever filed a lawsuit against you--if you find that they did, chances are that you were never served. if thats the case, then send a certified letter IMMEDIATELY to that court requesting that they vacate the judgment due to improper service, and explain that you were never served the summons in the case.

It also wouldnt hurt to check other county courts as well, some collectors are famous for using old addresses, or even wrong addresses entirely, to try to sue you so that they can get a default judgment without you ever knowing they filed against you.

If anyone can answer this question, please do. I know we all 'dispute' items and we just ASSUME that the CB's are 'updating' our information. But,..ya know what?......how do we KNOW that this is really happening? When I disputed a few things, on my CR's ( with a OC and a CA reporting for the same account and the information was different. I know the CA's info was wrong), the CB's sent me back an 'updated' report.....saying the "account has been verified and updated ( with the CA's info being correct)." When I had PROOF that the CA's info was INCORRECT. What do I do then?

ok, here is the secret to this one...

when you dispute an item on your credit report with the CRA, they contact the creditor. They ask the creditor, "is the name, address, and SSN the same as what you have in your records for this account?" If the CA says "yes", then the account is "verified". Thats all they do. it isnt "validation", it is only verifying the basic info on the account. So, if the collector, for example, attached your identity info to a debt in order to fraudulently get money, then they can "verify" the debt all day long because thats all the CRA asks for.

here is the way around this---before you dispute with the CRA, you need to send a certified DV letter to the creditor. Then, wait until after you receive the green signature receipt card from USPS....then, I normally give them a week or three. And THEN, I dispute with the CRA. here's what happens--during that time, the CA is bound by the fdcpa to not take any collection activity at all against you--this includes verifying the debt on your credit report! SO.....when youre waiting for validation, they cannot do anything--but when they get the verification request from the CRA, they typically verify it without a thought. This is now a violation of section 809 of the FDCPA--they made collection effort without honoring your dv letter. Thats when you can roll out the ITS letter....

if all you want to do is correct the info on your credit report, then you will need to show the CRA that you have info proving your claim. if you still have the OC reporting on your credit file, or if you still have an older copy of your credit report showing the OC's report differing from the ca's claims on the same debt, then make a copy of it and send it by mail to the CRA, along with a letter stating that you are again disputing the debt on the basis of incorrect information. in the letter, state that you are providing a copy of the original creditor's reported information on the debt to show them that the ca, while reporting the same debt, is falsely reporting info on the debt. if you wish, you could also tell the CRa that the fair credit reporting act applies to them as well, and if they insist on continuing to report incorrect information on your file, they can also expect further action to be taken against them, including possible legal action. While the CRa is required to report what the creditors tell them, they are also responsible if they have proof that the info is bad, but they continue to report it anyways.

Of course, you can also send off a certified letter to the debt collector too--telling them that you can prove that they have falsified the records concerning this account. If you do that, be sure to let them know in strong words that they are a hair's width away from facing a lawsuit if they dont straighten up. Let them know that the fcra requires them to report accurately, and remind them that the penalties for FCRA violations can get steep in a major hurry.

Also, remember something else--whenever we're talking about your credit reports and errors, you need to check all 3 of your major reports. keep this in mind--it isnt like the FDCPA, if they violate the FCRA, the penalties are "per offense", not $1000 total regardless of the number of offenses. So, if they make the same mistake on all three of your reports, it could be $3000, OR it could be as much as $7500, because some offenses carry a $2500 penalty individually. think about how quickly that can add up!!