Disputed account being collected on

[mobbdeep]

What is the name of your state? AZ

Hello,

For the longest time, a debt collector of an account I went into collections with has been trying collect their money. 2 years ago (February 2019), I disputed the account and I got a letter from the agency on March 13th, 2019 approving the dispute and ceased collection of the account in which the account was removed from my credit profile. In July 2020, I got notified that my credit score profile had changed and upon checking, it was back again but under a different agency. I swore that this was taken care of and I disregarded it because I thought maybe I was thinking of a different situation.

I was going through a bunch of paperwork today and noticed I found the original letter dated 3/13/19 from the original collection agency who approved the dispute.

It reads exactly..

"Our offices are in receipt of your dispute and request verification of the debt. Please be advised we have reviewed your dispute and will be updating your account as disputed. Therefore, we have ceased collection of this account."

So, here I am now wondering what I should do to get this rectified or if I'm understanding this correctly.

Thanks!

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? AZ

Hello,

For the longest time, a debt collector of an account I went into collections with has been trying collect their money. 2 years ago (February 2019), I disputed the account and I got a letter from the agency on March 13th, 2019 approving the dispute and ceased collection of the account in which the account was removed from my credit profile. In July 2020, I got notified that my credit score profile had changed and upon checking, it was back again but under a different agency. I swore that this was taken care of and I disregarded it because I thought maybe I was thinking of a different situation.

I was going through a bunch of paperwork today and noticed I found the original letter dated 3/13/19 from the original collection agency who approved the dispute.

It reads exactly..

"Our offices are in receipt of your dispute and request verification of the debt. Please be advised we have reviewed your dispute and will be updating your account as disputed. Therefore, we have ceased collection of this account."

So, here I am now wondering what I should do to get this rectified or if I'm understanding this correctly.

Thanks!

Have you contacted the agency? I would start there, after reviewing your credit bureau reports (from TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) to see what shows up.

The fact that this particular agency noted the dispute does not mean that the debt wasn’t later verified.

 

[LdiJ]

Have you contacted the agency? I would start there, after reviewing your credit bureau reports (from TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) to see what shows up.

The fact that this particular agency noted the dispute does not mean that the debt wasn’t later verified.

Also, the fact that they ceased collection on it because it was disputed, still doesn't mean that the original creditor could not turn it over or sell it to another collection agency. It's unfortunate, but the previous collection company can also sell it to another collection agency. That is common industry practice.

 

[quincy]

Also, the fact that they ceased collection on it because it was disputed, still doesn't mean that the original creditor could not turn it over or sell it to another collection agency. It's unfortunate, but the previous collection company can also sell it to another collection agency. That is common industry practice.

Right. The debt can continue to be sold to other collectors, for pennies on the dollar. If there was ever a judgment (default or otherwise), the debt is unlikely to go away any time soon.

 

[LdiJ]

Right. The debt can continue to be sold to other collectors, for pennies on the dollar. If there was ever a judgment (default or otherwise), the debt is unlikely to go away any time soon.

That is one of the things in the law that I would really like to see changed. I don't think that debts that can't be validated or are disputed should be allowed to be sent to collections at all, and if they are, they should not be able to be passed on to a second/third/fourth etc. debt collector.

 

[quincy]

That is one of the things in the law that I would really like to see changed. I don't think that debts that can't be validated or are disputed should be allowed to be sent to collections at all, and if they are, they should not be able to be passed on to a second/third/fourth etc. debt collector.

I think the type of validation that needs to be provided to a customer needs to be changed/improved. A creditor and subsequent debt collectors only need show a customer that an account existed and a balance was at one time owing. The credit bureaus will note that the debt is “disputed by customer” but the account continues to show on the credit report, often re-aged by a nefarious few collectors to indicate collection on the debt is not time-barred.

The FDCPA helped eliminate some problems and provides some legal recourse for consumers against collectors - but problems remain.

 

[zddoodah]

I was going through a bunch of paperwork today and noticed I found the original letter dated 3/13/19 from the original collection agency who approved the dispute.

It reads exactly..

"Our offices are in receipt of your dispute and request verification of the debt. Please be advised we have reviewed your dispute and will be updating your account as disputed. Therefore, we have ceased collection of this account."

I'm not sure why you're characterizing this as "approv[ing] the dispute." It's simply an acknowledgment of the existence of the dispute. Nothing more.

So, here I am now wondering what I should do to get this rectified or if I'm understanding this correctly.

You can dispute the debt until the cows come home, but you disputing the debt doesn't automatically get it off your credit report. As long as it's properly noted on your report as "disputed," there isn't much of anything you can do about it.

 

[quincy]

For more information on how to handle a debt collector, here is a link to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/debt-collection/

 

[mobbdeep]

Update on this.. I disputed it through Experian and uploaded the letter and the dispute came back today as deleted which should reflect on my next credit report update. Hopefully it stays that way this time.

 

[quincy]

Update on this.. I disputed it through Experian and uploaded the letter and the dispute came back today as deleted which should reflect on my next credit report update. Hopefully it stays that way this time.

Thank you for the update, mobbdeep. It is always nice to hear that disputes have been satisfactorily resolved.