There is a collection agency that keeps calling my house wanting to collect on a debt from 2002 that I have no record of. I originally thought these phone calls were telemarketers and didn't bother listening to their messages until yesterday. Then I heard it was a collection agency. I called the company back asking about this debt I supposedly owed and the very rude lady said it was from 2002 and it was over $2000 on a mastercard that was never paid. I have no record or memory of ever having a mastercard. I told her this and she wanted me to give her my social security number. NO WAY IN HELL!! I was a little nicer than that, although she wasn't. I told her I didn't know who her company was, what this debt was or have any knowledge of ever having this debt in the first place.
Then, I think I made my mistake. I told her that there was also no indication of this debt on my credit report, which I check regularly. She then said, verbatim, "well, if its not there, we need to fix that." I told her no she didn't, this debt was not mine and it did not belong on my report. I then told her to stop calling my house and that if the calls continued, I would send a cease and desist letter to make the calls and harassment stop. She then started saying something in a raised voice, at which point I said "thank you and goodbye."
This morning, I get an email saying my experian report had changed. I check it and there is now a hard inquiry from this company. I was always under the impression that businesses had to have your consent to make the hard inquiry. I know for a fact I NEVER gave consent. Now my good credit score has dropped almost 30 points!! Are they able to do this? Is there a way I can get this removed? Where do I even begin? Would they be able to put this debt on my credit report?
I guess I should've just continued to ignore their messages. :(
I would appreciate any advice you guys can give.
I guess it could be disputed if you don't agree with what you see. Once you complain, the bureaus will verify it and you'll be able to find it in your report.
UPDATE: Capital One has no record of this supposed account existing. I called them personally and they could not validate the existence of the account by the account number provided to me by the collection agency AND they verified that I do not have a credit account with them by my ssn. of course, they would not send anything to me in writing, since there is no actual active account for me.
Any advice on what to do next?
You can send a request for validation letter to the collection agency via certified mail with a return receipt request. If they do not reply, then forward them a “Cease and Desist†letter. After that if they still harass you, you may contact with the State Attorney General or FTC as they have violated FDCPA laws. As your credit score has dropped because of making hard inquiry by that collection agency, you may send a request letter to the Credit Bureau to remove the hard inquiry from your credit report. You can enclose a relevant document with the letter as a proof.