The Most Bizarre Incident Ever

In all the years I have worked to clear my debt and improve my credit, the single most bizarre incident happened this week.

Last year sometime, a person called me from Total Card and stated my account was past due. I stated I don't have a Total Card. She stated it was a new account and other than the activation fee and interest charges, there was one charge on it for about $25 at a Target Store in Indiana. I again stated I live in New York and have never been in Indiana and never had this card. The woman stated she would look into it and call me back. A few weeks later, I received another phonecall from her where she stated she was zeroing the account and I need not worry any more. I asked her to please send me a letter stating this and she assured me she would. I never received it and completely forgot about it.

The account appeared on my credit report a few months later as past due. I disputed it and it was removed.

In February of this year, I received a letter from Zenith Acquisition (a subsidary of North Star Acquisitions) stating they had "purchased" the debt from Total Card/Plains Commerce Bank and I owed $503. I sent a cease and desist letter and again contacted the original creditor who stated they never sold my account...it was zeroed out. In March, Zenith sent me another letter offering a settlement. Livid, I sent another letter to them as well as to the original creditor and North Star Acquisitions. Again, I heard nothing.

Fast forward to this past week. I am at work and receive an e-mail alert from Equifax. The alert states a judgement/suit has been place on my Experian report. Interesting though is that on June 25 the judgement/suit alert was placed on my report and on June 26th, it was altered again. In a panic, I pulled my Experian report to find nothing. So I call this great lady at Experian who has been incredibly helpful to me in the past couple of years. She did some digging and saw that ZA filed a judgement on the 25th and revoked it on the 26th? She said I needed to contact them right away and let them know what had happened.

So I go home and craft a letter to ZA, North Star, Plains Commerce Bank, the AG of NY (where I am and ZA is) and the AGs in Michigan and South Dakota, where North Star and Plains Commerce are located. I also contacted a family friend who is a lawyer and asked his opinion. He said only to wait to hear from anyone I sent the letter to.

So on Saturday...I get my mail to find another letter (dated June 26th) from ZA offering a settlement again. Half livid and half amused, I called them. I told them the story in short and this poor sap on the phone was speechless. Before beginning my story, he said he had to tell me that the settlement offer was a last chance because their "client" was preparing to file suit. Then I launched into what I knew. I also has the judgement claim number. All I heard on the phone was "uh uh uh uh....uhm...hold on." Then some lady got on the phone and said I had "misinformation." I said I didn't...I have a judgement claim number, proof on the Experian report as well as the confirmation from the credit reporting agency that it had been filed. Well, she said...I think this matter is something our legal department would have to address. OK, I said...have them call me.

Now is this weird or WHAT!?

As I have said in the past...some collectors are ok, but some just get more ridiculous.