Question about collection agency and mistake on credit report?

Question

Ok here's the deal...

My husband and I both have memberships at a local gym. When we joined, we authorized the gym to automatically withdraw our monthly fees from our checking account. Both membership fees were withdrawn smoothly for the first 6 months or so.

All of the sudden, it "stopped withdrawing" my husband's membership fees. It continud to withdraw mine but his came back saying "insufficient funds." They are being withdrawn from the same checking account, and at the time that the membership was to be withdrawn there was like $3000 in the account.

They have turned us over to a collection agency which is hurting our credit. In my opinion they are at fault b/c the money was there!

How can I proceed with getting this deleted from our credit history? I don't just want to pay the bill - I want them to be responsible for it.

Answer 1

I agree that the gym messed up....but I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a second.

You knew for several months that money was not being withdrawn from your account.....and that the gym was not getting paid.  And you didn't try to resolve this during this time?  Didn't ask the gym what their problem was?

At this point, you need to contact the collection agecy and agree to pay the debt, but they must agree IN WRITING to delete the bad credit item.  If they refuse, don't pay them.

Answer 2

Never pay a bill collector, you'll lose all self respect.

Answer 3

I would first contact the gym in writing and provide proof that at the time the dues were payable, there were sufficiant funds in his checking account.  Get your bank to provide letter stating this fact.

Sendcopies of  the letter certified/return receipt mail (for evidence) to the gym.   Advise the gym that you will seek legal damages from them and the collection agency if this is not removed from your husbands credit report.  Also send a copy of the letter to the collection agency (certifed mail/return receipt)

This should shake them up enough to get it resolved.  It may be some idiot clerk made an error and turned it over to the collection agency.

Next step would be to send copies of the same evidence to the CRA (once again certified/return receipt mail) that is reporting this derogatory item and dispute it with the CRA.

If you can prove it was the gyms error, I am sure they will take care of it right away, and the CRA will find that it is an unverified debt and remove it within 30 days.

Hope this helps

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