cell phone charges after acc was clsd, ca hounding me

[joeaverage]

What is the name of your state? NC

I closed a cell phone account in Feb 2003 after an argument over charges for night minutes that was supposed to be free. I was not in any binding contracts with them at that time. I paid the full amount including the amount in question that their representative said was owed. Never received any bills or contact of any kind from them after account was closed.
In late 2005 I was turned down for credit because of negative activity. I pulled my free annual credit report on 12/21/2005 and found that the cell phone company had listed me on Equifax as a charge-off for $543.00.
Delinquency first reported 11/2003 and date of last payment is listed as 04/2003 and a scheduled payment amount of $0. The date of the last payment is listed two months after I closed the account and paid in full.
I called the company and asked for verification and an itemized bill. While on the phone they kept demanding that I pay it now. They never sent me any proof or verification of the debt.
On January 24, 2006 I received a letter from a ca that the debt had been placed with them for collection. The amount shown as the original balance due is $543.07. I sent them a certified letter disputing the validity of the debt or any portion there of. I asked them specifically to provide me with any and all verification of this alleged debt. I have the tracking and proof of delivery conformation from the USPS. I never received any verification or proof of any kind from that ca that the debt was valid, nor have I had more contact of any kind from that ca since that.
On January 23, 2007 my credit was pulled and it had no mention of this debt on it, I was granted a home mortgage.
On February 8, 2007 received another collection notice dated 2/4/2007 from a new ca. I called the oc, asked if they could help me stop these collection notices. This time they assured me that they have no records of me ever owing this debt. They requested that I fax them all of the proof and paperwork that I had on this matter. After they reviewed all of the information that I had faxed to them they phoned me and told me the matter was taken care of and it would never come up again, and to disregard the collection notices.
Around November 14, 2007 my business surety bond company sent me notice of cancellation due to negative activity on my credit report.
On January 4, 2008 I received another letter from the same second ca offering me a settlement amount of $271.54.
On January 4, 2008 I pulled another 3-in-1 cr. The ca has listed me as derogatory and seriously past due on Equifax with no opened date and a reported date of 03/2007 under one ca name, and phone number, and listed on Transunion and Experian as derogatory,with an opened date of 12/27/2006, reported date of 03/12/2007 under a different ca name, same address,but different phone number.
I need advice. I have the oc telling me there are no records of it, I've got the original ca that I requested verification and proof from and never received, and I've got the oc that told me it would never come up again and to disregard the collection notices. Now it is on my credit again and they want me to settle, but I still don't know why they claim I owe any debt to them. I am an average guy and I have done everything I know to reasonably solve this problem. Any help and/or advice offered will be greatly appreciated.

[TiredOfAbuse]

I believe your goal here is to clean up your credit report, correct?

I was not in any binding contracts with them at that time. I paid the full amount including the amount in question that their representative said was owed. Never received any bills or contact of any kind from them after account was closed.

Do you still have documentation showing your final payment? Do you have the final statement from the cell company showing you a $0 balance? If so, this paperwork will go a long way in helping you.

I called the company and asked for verification and an itemized bill. While on the phone they kept demanding that I pay it now. They never sent me any proof or verification of the debt.

If you can, try to get things in writing. It is a CA's job to try and collect on Consumer Debt using any means possible. Sometimes these means go beyond the law. It is in your best interest to create a paper trail so that it will either a) help you if you sue them, or b) in the event the worst happens - they sue you.

This time they assured me that they have no records of me ever owing this debt. They requested that I fax them all of the proof and paperwork that I had on this matter. After they reviewed all of the information that I had faxed to them they phoned me and told me the matter was taken care of and it would never come up again, and to disregard the collection notices.

Is it possible for you to get this statement from the OC in writing? This can be something you can show the Credit Reporting Agencies when you dispute the Trade Lines on your Credit Report.

Around November 14, 2007 my business surety bond company sent me notice of cancellation due to negative activity on my credit report.

I've got the oc that told me it would never come up again and to disregard the collection notices.

It looks like this situation is really affecting you and possibly your livelyhood. My advice to you would be to seek an attorney with knowledge in this field.

[url]www.naca.net[/url]

In your shoes, I would get legal council and find out what my options are. They are hurting your credit. You have done your best to show them this bill was taken care of and yet they persist.

So what you want to do is first get it in writing from the OC that you were never late and your business with them ended with the bill paid in full. Next, take a copy of that documentation and send a letter to each of the Credit Reporting Agencies. Dispute the Trade Lines and ask for them to be deleted. Then write each Collection Agency and ask them for Debt Validation.

Document all the responses, or lack thereof, and then go see a naca.net attorney for a free consultation. It is my belief the CA's and CRA's will and have violated the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), and it is possible the CA's have violated the FDCPA as well (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). An attorney will be able to assist you at this point because you may have a cause of action.

Please note it should have never gotten this far. How did this account, after it was paid in full, get into the hands of a CA? Only the OC can answer that. Do not hesitate to name the OC in a lawsuit.

TiredOfAbuse

[joeaverage]

How do I use the gray quote box? This is the first forum that I have ever posted on.
Thanks

[TiredOfAbuse]

When you type your response there is a text bubble graphic in the same row you can BOLD or UNDERLINE stuff. It's the last graphic on that row. Highlight what you want to quote and click it!

TiredOfAbuse

[joeaverage]

to TiredOfAbuse,

"I believe your goal here is to clean up your credit report, correct?"

Yes. But I'm not trying to remove something that should be there.

"Do you still have documentation showing your final payment? Do you have the final statement from the cell company showing you a $0 balance? If so, this paperwork will go a long way in helping you."

Can't find it. I do have the last billing statement for Feb. 2003, but not the receipt where I closed the account in person. Not an excuse, but it was over 2 years before I discovered that I had a problem, and now it's over 4 years. If the OC had just sent me a normal March 2003 bill I would have been alerted to a problem.

"If you can, try to get things in writing. It is a CA's job to try and collect on Consumer Debt using any means possible. Sometimes these means go beyond the law. It is in your best interest to create a paper trail so that it will either a) help you if you sue them, or b) in the event the worst happens - they sue you."

The first CA never responded in writing or on the phone after I requested verification in writing of the debt details. I never contacted the second CA in writing or on the phone because the OC contact told me to ignore the collection notices because the matter was solved.

"Is it possible for you to get this statement from the OC in writing? This can be something you can show the Credit Reporting Agencies when you dispute the Trade Lines on your Credit Report."

Maybe, but I doubt it.
The only contact numbers that I have access to are just generic account info lines. The only way to even get a human is to intentionally keep hitting 0's on the menu. That's how I got the original phone tech on the line with me in the beginning.
Without any way of getting around the phone tech that just kept asking me to pay now (10000 different ways), what I did was go to one of the OC's store fronts and discussed the problems with the store manager.(actually, I went to four or more before I found a manager that would even listen to me.) He understood the whole mess and worked very hard to resolve it. He and I both thought that it was all cleared up. And it appeared to be cleared up. I got a home mortgage and nothing was on the CR about it.
When the second CA sent me collection papers I called the OC manager back and discovered that he had transferred to Oklahoma. A former co-worker had his cell number and gave it to me. When I called him out there, he requested that I fax him all the paperwork. He is the one that called me back and said it won't ever come up again. And it appeared to be solved again for awhile. When I was served notice that my surety bond was going to be canceled and I got the papers from the CA wanting to settle, I knew that it had hit me yet again. When I tried to call my OC manager this time, the store front had been closed down. So now I'm left with no one at the OC that knows any thing about any of this.

"It looks like this situation is really affecting you and possibly your livelyhood. My advice to you would be to seek an attorney with knowledge in this field."

My bond ran out Dec 31, so I could not renew my business license. My suppliers require me to be licensed. Yep, it has taken a toll on me. From the time that I found out that the problem was back to now was less than a month. Couple that with the holidays, my actual working time to solve all this was not very much. I didn't make it before the bell dinged.
I probably do need an attorney. I need to begin that process.

"Please note it should have never gotten this far. How did this account, after it was paid in full, get into the hands of a CA? Only the OC can answer that. Do not hesitate to name the OC in a lawsuit."

I guess it got in the hands of a CA because I tried to do the right thing and clear all this up with the OC before they turned it over to a CA. When I contacted the OC back in 2005 I must have awoken a sleeping dog in their computer system.
If the OC had just sent me a bill in March of 2003 I could have solved all of this before it showed up on my CR. Something in the OC's system had to stop the generation of my monthly bill. My billing address on file with them never changed (even to this day). It is (remotely) possible that I do actually owe the debt. Heck, I'm even willing to pay it whether I owe it or not. But the way the system works, if I pay anything then I suffer for 7 years minimum.

Thank you TiredOfAbuse for your suggestions

joeaverage

[Chien]

Why haven’t you disputed this directly with the CRA?

Why was your bond cancelled – a CRA record or some other reason?

(Those may be in the wrong order, but I won’t know until you explain.)

[joeaverage]

Why haven’t you disputed this directly with the CRA?

Because I'm not a lawyer. If I tried to dispute this directly with the CRA's I would have a fear of saying something wrong that would/could make my situation worse. It's real easy to screw up if you don't know what you're doing and it is very dificult to fix a screw up if you make one. It's all in what you do everyday.
I'm sure that anybody might could do what I do for a living. But I would probably have a lot better chance of succeeding. Bottom line is can anybody do it? YES! Do I recommend it? NO!

Why was your bond cancelled – a CRA record or some other reason?

The exact words on the the notice is
"CANCELLATION IS DUE TO:
UNFAVORABLE CREDIT INFORMATION."

The only thing that has changed negatively on my CR is the cell phone deal.

Thank you Chien for taking the time to respond to me. I look forward to hearing from you again.

joeaverage

[TiredOfAbuse]

My bond ran out Dec 31, so I could not renew my business license. My suppliers require me to be licensed. Yep, it has taken a toll on me. From the time that I found out that the problem was back to now was less than a month. Couple that with the holidays, my actual working time to solve all this was not very much. I didn't make it before the bell dinged. I probably do need an attorney. I need to begin that process.

I completely agree that at this point you should stop posting here and talk to an attorney. This has directly affected your livelyhood and should have never happened.

Present this to the attorney as you have to us. I firmly believe the CA that has caused you to lose your bond and therefore your business license as well as the Original Creditor should be named in the suit. Ignorance of your account/situation is no excuse - the CA obtained the account from them, and they have not put a stop to it.

Good luck, and I hope you are able to fix your situation.

TiredOfAbuse