How can I assist or speed up the process of removing an unpaid, delinquent account that way put in collections by error. My debtor agrees th...

Question

How can I assist or speed up the process of removing an unpaid, delinquent account that way put in collections by error. My debtor agrees that the collection agency placed my account in collections based on incorrect information. The debtor sent an email to the collection agency that says, "it was not my fault that (my) wrong address was on file". (The reason for the delinquency is that I never received a bill. The debtor had my wrong/outdated contact information on file.)

In the past, the collection agency has been extremely adamant that they will not remove my account from collections despite the known errors. I haven't talked with them since the debtor sent the email because it doesn't seem to do any good to talk to them. Do you think I should call them again since the debtor sent them the email? What can I say that would be helpful? Is there someone else I can contact?

I wish to apply for more credit soon and need to get the errant delinquency removed ASAP. Does it normally take a long time for the credit bureau to remove a delinquency? Can I help to speed up the removal process? Can I write a note on my credit report saying that I disagree with the delinquency?

I greatly appreciate any knowledge or advice on this issue.

Answer

Unfortunately, your question is slightly difficult to answer as I believe you switched and/or confused a few terms. I will assume you meant creditor instead of debtor. The debtor is the person who owes or is alleged to owe the money.

First, I will say a creditor saying that a collection agency incorrectly placed it in corrections is a lie you were told. The collection agency could not have the account unless the creditor sent it to them...if there was a mistake, it was with the creditor.

Unfortunately, without hiring an attorney, there is not much you can do to "speed" up the process. It seems you are saying you fell behind in payments because you weren't getting statements. Unfortunately, I am unaware of any Court decisions that found this to be a defense. Even if statements weren't received Courts have found that a reasonable person would still make payments or demand the statements. Even if the cause was not your fault, if payments were not sent to the credit agency, the information is unlikely to be removed.

You can file a dispute with the credit bureau but evidence that you don't owe the money is required to remove the information. Contact a lawyer to assist you.

Answer

There is nothing you can do to "speed" up the process. If the creditor agrees with you that this was an error, then they need to fill out the information on the form they use to submit this electronically to the credit bureau and remove this.

If you have a letter from the creditor saying this was an error, then you can take this to any lender or finance company (if this is a mortgage) and they have a feature called "rapid re-score" and they will re-score you as if the alleged delinquency is not there. I don't know if this feature is available for car loans or not. I would think any type of loan with a bank would have something like this so ask.

But you need to get something from the creditor in writing. Verbal is not enough. Nor is an email. You need a written letter on company letterhead.

Your post is not clear about who is the debtor, creditor and collector.

If the creditor erred, the creditor is who reports this to the collector and the credit bureaus. As I said, this can easily be fixed. The creditor has to notify the credit bureaus to remove the negative information. If the creditor still owns the debt, you can pay the creditor directly and get your information updated. The creditor can also pull the account back from the debt collector so you should not have to deal with them at all.

Where a debt is properly in collections, then you may have to deal with the collector as far as paying the debt goes. You need a copy of your credit report. Who is reporting? Collector or creditor? If the creditor, then they need to fix this and you can get them to do that. If this is the debt collector and this is properly your bill, then ask the debt collector about a "pay for delete." Meaning you pay the bill and the debt collector will delete the negative information. They should do this anyway since you claim that the creditor sent this in error.

Again, if this was an admitted creditor error, then the creditor needs to pull the account from the collection agency and you pay your bill with the creditor and get the creditor to remove the negative information with the credit bureaus.

You get a letter from the creditor saying that this was all a big mistake and that the credit bureaus have been advised to remove negative info. You follow up with the credit bureaus in 30 days to see if it is off there. Meanwhile, you have the letter from the creditor which you take to your bank or lender and see if they have rapid re-score.

If they do not, then you get a letter from the bank advising that they are rejecting you because of this delinquency or charging you a higher interest rate because of it.

Then you send a letter via certified mail to each of the credit bureaus along with a copy of the letter from the creditor advising that this was a mistake and demand removal. If the item is not removed then you repeat the letter but send certified to the creditor. Include a copy of the letter from your bank advising of the denial of credit or higher rate, advise that they caused the problem, that the credit bureaus still report wrong/incorrect information and demand either your actual damages or $1000.

If that does not work then you go see a lawyer who handles FDCPA/FCRA violations. Keep copies of the letters that you sent. The lawyer can recover counsel fees under the act so if you do this and have the proof it will make your case very easy.