Same debt listed twice

[RBrown80]

My question is can the same collection agency list the same debt twice on my credit? It is the same account and same charge by the same collection company listed twice on my credit report, once in 2004 and again in 2009. The listing in 2004 has a date assigned:2004 and date reported:2005, the 2009 has a date reported: 2009 but still references the original assigned date of 2004. Can they do this and how do I get them to remove one of the reports? Also when would this debt fall off my credit, 7 years from 2004, 2005 or 2009?

[Hal Jordan]

Yes, I would recommend calling each of the bureaus and disputing them as duplicates this way. I've had success doing it like this and all 3 deleted the duplicate immediately while I was on the phone with them.

The date reported is not the date you use to determine when it falls off of your report. It should be 7 years from the date of your first delinquency (missed payment). If it was in 2004 it should fall off of your reports some time this year. You may want to go ahead and dipute it while you're disputing it's duplicate if you decide to do it via a phone call.

[RBrown80]

Thank you for the reply and advice, I was able to contact the 1 agency that I have a credit report for and they are disputing it. I am working on contacting the other 2 also.

[Lian]

There is a possibility that their reporting could be (almost) accurate.

First, when a debt collector reports to a collection to a CRA, and they are merely an assigned agent of the OC (i.e., they don't own the debt), the balance they report under their collection does not reflect the actual debt. It reflects the amount of the delinquent debt owned by the OC that they have been authorized to pursue collection.

It is possible that, for whatever reason, the original collection authority granted by the OC was terminated at some time, and then re-instituted at a later time. That became a new collection account. There is no provision that prevents the reporting of two collections on the same debt. However, in that scenario, the new date of assignment to the debt collector would become the date the second collection was opened. They cant go back and use the first date.

But, as has been pointed out, that is not really a significant issue. The date the CA was opened does not control its continued CR inclusion. Both CAs would drop on the same date of 7 years plus 180-days from the DOFD on the OC account.

[Hal Jordan]

It may be... but it may also be a duplicate. That's why you dispute with the CRA. Let them dig around and see what you can find out first. They both can't lay claim to the same debt.. What should you do pay two different people the full amount?

The CRA's will probably delete the oldest CRA reporting and verify the newer one.

Let us know how it turns out.

[Lian]

When a debt collector reports to a CRA, it does not necessarily mean that the amount they report is debt they own. It simply means that they are, at the least, authorized to collect on that sum. The amount a debt collector reports only becomes debt to them once they have purchased the debt.

If you dispute with a CRA, they are required to contact the debt collector and request that they verify the accuracy of their reporting. Both debt collectors can, and most likely will, verify that at the time they reported their collection activity to the CRA, they were authorized, either by assignment or ownership, to conduct collection activities. That is full and accurate verification of the accuracy of their reportings.

The CRA wont independently override the verification of accuracy provided by the debt collector.