I've had a bad payment with a company, it has been about 10 yrs but im still getting letters from collections

Question

It seem like every time i turn around they are sending it to a different collection agency. How can I get it to stop if they keep changing the date because they keep changing agencies, is this legal. It should've been off my credit hisdtory a lon time ago. What can i do?

Answer 1

If your credit problems have progressed to the point where your creditors have turned your case over to collection agencies, it is important to know your legal rights.

Collection agencies are not allowed to:

1. Call your office;

2. Call your home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.;

3. Address you in an abusive manner;

4. Call family or friends in an attempt to collect your debt;

5. Harass you;

6. Make false or misleading statements; or

7. Add unauthorized charges.

If any of the above is happening to you, tell the collection agency to stop harassing you. If it continues, ask for its name and address and report it to the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state's attorney general's office. These telephone numbers can be found in your telephone book or by calling directory assistance.

The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act  also states that you can demand that the collection agency stop contacting you, except to tell you that collection efforts have ended or that the creditor or collection agency will sue you. You must put your request in writing.

Then file a complaint-in writing. You can even file a complaint if you don't have a witness, but a witness helps. File your complaint with:

Federal Trade Commission

6th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20850

202-326-2222

http://www.ftc.gov

Answer 2

Are you sure it's still on your credit file?  A debt can age off your credit report and even be beyond the Statute of Limitations (SOL), the timeframe to bring lawsuit, and collection agencies can still try to collect.  They can hound you to the grave.

If the debt is definitely beynd the SOL in your state (check here:  http://www.bcsalliance.com/statute_of_li... send them a certified, return receipt letter requesting they cease and desist all contact.  They have to stop.  But they will probably sell the debt to another zombie debt collector.

If the item is still showing on your credit report, dispute it with the credit bureau as being beyond the 7year reporting period.

Answer 3

Hi Sabrina. This tends to happen a lot in the collection company business. As mentioned above it is called re-aging. Now if it REALLY is 10 years old it has most likely been charged off and the SOL has indeed run out on it. I own a credit.debt consultation company. This is what I indeed specialize in fixing.

Feel free to email me. I do not charge for consultation by email

[e-mail]

Answer 4

Slimick is correct, as always.

Answer 5

A creditor can NOT re-date any debt to keep it on  your credit report as per the follwing.

RE-DATING OF THE DEBT IN VIOLATION OF

[CITE: 15USC1681s-2]  Ã‚§ 623. Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies

a) Duty of furnishers of information to provide accurate information (1) Prohibition (A) Reporting information with actual knowledge of errors A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate. (B) Reporting information after notice and confirmation of errors A person shall not furnish information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if-- (i) the person has been notified by the consumer, at the address specified by the person for such notices, that specific information is inaccurate; and (ii) the information is, in fact, inaccurate.

If they have done so, then you can take legal action to bring suit against them:  as per: § 1692k. Civil liability

Now this only covers derogatory accounts and public records.   some debts can remain on ones credit report for a longer period of time such as Unpaid Tax Lien - Indefinitely

Chapter 7 Bankruptcies - 10 years from date filed.

and Closed or Inactive Accounts - 10 years from the date of last activity.

They can sell it again and again forever, but they CAN NOT redate it!!!!!!

I would contact the CRA's via certified/return receipt mail and ask them to validate this entry.  Try and find any records that show the date of last payment (this is when the reporting period starts).  I am sure that once they see it has been redated they will remove it and send you a corrected credit report.

Hope this answers your question.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:  The advice contained herein is for informational purposes only.  It is not to be construed as Legal Counsel nor Legal Advice.

Answer 6

There is only one 7-year reporting cycle for credit reports...This cannot be restarted under any circumstances. Changing the dates is called "re-aging" and it's against the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Send the credit bureaus a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt stating:

Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, I am requesting validation that this item is being reporting within the 7-year time frame as allowed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Send the collection agency a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt stating:

Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I am requesting:

- written validation of this alleged debt

- written validation of the original "date of delinquency"

- Cease all verbal communications with me about this alleged debt.

Answer 7

I agree with Slimick, as it appears they are reaging this debt. That's a big violation of the FCRA and you could sue the collection agency for that.

The statute of limitations on this debt has likely expired too, so check the link below for the SOL in your state.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/...