Questioning where I stand, need advice

[greenbuggy]

Hi guys, new to this forum it looks to be a wealth of information and I look forward to learning from all of you!

I have recently gotten a copy of my credit report and on it is a collection agency with no contact number listed. The reason its there is that a bank account I don't use that often went into the red, and I didn't realize it until I got a letter (from the bank) stating it was about to be charged off, by the time I made it to the bank to rectify the situation it had been charged off, but I was within 3 days of that and got the bank to re-open the account and put enough money in there to avoid having this happen again.

Since then, this CA has posted negative information on my Equifax credit report (an account in collections, P-paid off), however, they have never contacted me, I did not pay them, and rectified the situation with the bank. They also posted some things that are not technically correct about the bank account (that it is a joint account - which is not true, I am the sole owner of the account, nobody else's name is listed or authorized on the account)

I realize that if I still owed money to this CA I would have an easier time making a pay-for-delete offer, but as I've returned the bank account to its normal state I don't know how to approach the collection agency, and don't particularly feel like opening my wallet and asking how much they want to bend me over to remove the offending information. I suspect that since they don't profit by it just asking them to remove the information wouldn't get me far either. Do I have any ground to stand on to demand that they remove the information, as the situation with the original creditor was returned to good standing before the CA ever got involved (as an aside, I have never received any contact of any kind from this CA, no mail no phone calls nothing, ever)?

I had to google search to even find this companies phone number, not sure if its real as this was after normal business hours today, odd seeing as clear contact info for every other creditor or CA was present in all 3 reports except this one.

I have another past debt that is similar but different, again, paid off with the original creditor (a hospital), this time I had gotten a letter from the CA, but it was for considerably more than the debt from the hospital, so I went to the hospital and paid it off, now says P-Paid but if possible I would like to have it removed, do I have any recourse now that the debt no longer exists, or am I doomed to have it for the next 5 years?

Thanks for your help and advice.

I should add, I currently live in Iowa, the bank is in MN and so is the CA for the bank, the hospital is in Iowa and the CA is in Illinois. Don't know if that changes anything but I thought it a good idea to add that info

[Lian]

A couple of issues.

First is that of their compliance with FDCPA 809(a), which they apparently have failed to do. That section of statute requires a debt collector to send you a formal, written collection (dunning) notice within 5-days of any initial communication with you. Reporting to a CRA has, in both FTC decisions and numerous legal precedents, been recognized as a "communication" that triggers the section 809(a) dunning notice requirement. One component of a dunning notice is advisement on your rights to request debt validation, and their written communication provides you an address to use regarding communication with you. So, in addition to failure to comply with the statute, they have put you in a position of no notice of how to communicate with them. I would file a formal complaint with the FTC for FDCPA violation. If you obtain an address for the debt collector, include a cc: to them. It will get their attention.

Second is what does their collection reporting now show? The asserted debt in arrears has apparently been squared away with the OC, so the debt collection should now report that it is closed, with a $0 balance due on the debt. Have they updated their reporting to reflect this?

Third is the issue of whether their reporting itself was proper. From the day they received assignment of collection authority from the OC, it became reportable as a collection. When, if, and how it was settled does not affect the fact that it was referred to them for collection, so I don't see any impropriety in reporting the collection itself, even after the debt was satisfied with the OC. So I don't see grounds for getting the collection deleted as improperly reported.

Maybe your FTC complaint will persuade them to delete their reporting as a means of covering up their FDCPA violation, so that is why I would suggest sending them a copy of your FTC complaint. I think that is the best way to get it deleted.