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Filing complaints with the BBB on Collection agencies?

Date: Tue, 09/18/2007 - 11:55

Submitted by JEN5276
on Tue, 09/18/2007 - 11:55

Posts: 394 Credits: [Donate]

Total Replies: 6


I currently have 3 CAs on my CR, Midland (2) and Arrow (1). I have disputed these several times with the CRAs, with not much luck. I have also sent them 3 or 4 DVs and never got a thing in response. 1 of the listings is past the SOL, but the other two are only a few years old.

I just filed complaints with the BBB and I am hoping that this will get me somewhere. Has anyone had any luck going this route?


You can relax over these items. You have not received any legal validation of the debts, so it is quite clear that the debts are not legitimate. Anyway, feel free to read the article I wrote which is relevant to your situation and it will give you an idea of how little you need to worry.
http://www.worldsentiment.com/Anthony%20Lemons/Bass%20and%20Associates,%20from%20Florida,%20are%20crooks


lrhall41

Submitted by Anthony Lemons on Tue, 09/18/2007 - 18:46

( Posts: 1828 | Credits: )


jen, the BBB is not what people think it is. The BBB is only in business because the very members you and I contact them to complain about pay them dues each year. I have personally dealt with the BBB before, and they are powerless to do anything unless all parties decide to go along with it. Companies that have tons of complaints against them often show up as having no complaints, or having a satisfactory record. I am currently dealing with the Indianapolis BBB on a matter, and have filed a formal complaint with them quite some time back. To this day, even though they closed out the complaint, they do not list my complaint(and several others) in the report they furnish to consumers. Why, you might ask?? the company I complained about has been a BBB-dues-paying member since 1969.

The problem with BBB is that there is no standard nationwide on how these offices are run. There are even places where the local BBB requires you to call a 900 phone number and pay 5 bucks a minute to request a report on a particular business!!


lrhall41

Submitted by on Wed, 09/19/2007 - 10:46

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well, the thing is this--they are illegally reporting this information at this point. You requested validation, they never provided it, but they continued to report on your credit file, am I right?

You need to send them each a letter, by certified mail, and demand that they immediately remove the listings from any and all of your major credit bureau files that they may have reported to. To support your case, all you need is one thing, and that is a FTC opinion letter. Do a search for 'FTC opinion letter Cass'--I tried to post a link to it but the forum wouldnt let me. So while I cant link it, I will quote it so you know what youre looking for--

Go to this letter, and you will find this question, asked to the FTC by some company's compliance officer:

Quote:

"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?"

Here is the FTC's response:

[quote]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]
In plain english, reporting to your credit bureau is considered by the FTC to be collection activity. And since all collection activity must be halted once you request validation, they are not allowed to continue reporting to your credit reports until they provide you with the validation you requested.

I would send them a certified letter informing them that their continued reporting to your credit files constitutes a violation of both the FDCPA and the FCRA, and as such they are to remove any and all references to the debt from your three major credit files within 30 days of date of receipt of this letter. If, after 30 days from date of receipt, the entries still remain on your credit reports, you will have no choice but to sue them for FDCPA and FCRA violations against you. Tell them that. At that point, they have only three things they can do...


1--ignore you altogether, in which case you should seriously file suit against them for damages, because you have an open-and-shut case as long as you can prove you sent them the validation requests, and that they received them.

2--reply with validation or some attempt at it, in which case you review what they sent and go from there.

3--remove the reports from your credit files to avoid you suing them for thousands of dollars--yes, I said thousands of dollars. FDCPA violations can cost them $1000 each, plus any actual damages you suffered from their actions. If I recall right, FCRA violations cost them more than that.

hope this helps, keep us updated!


lrhall41

Submitted by on Wed, 09/19/2007 - 14:11

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