Here is my last letter I sent to them, they received it on July 2nd, we are now at 6 days. The letter is below and it explains the entire process we have gone through. So, if they do not respond... what is my next step?
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06/28/2010
Equidata
P.O. Box 6610
Newport News, VA
Account #:
Due to the actions you have taken and the negligence of the situation I have been forced to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and with the State of Texas Attorney General.
I have given you a sufficient amount of time and have yet to receive proper validation. You have lied about when you received my letter asking validation and because of this I am no longer going to sit by and allow these illegal actions to take place. You have now received (including this letter) 5 total letters, each of which have been sent certified with return receipt. Your first response was to seek more information, I gladly accepted this response and sent the information, your second response, was not a response at all, it was an attempt to collect the debt, this was done twice, a direct violation to the FDCPA. After 33 days I sent a letter asking why I have not received validation and why you have attempted to collect, you responded by lieing about when the dispute was opened and lieing about the validation, the information you have provided was not from the original creditor and is frivolous. I sent you a fourth letter demanding proper validation or removal, if neither were done, a complaint would be filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Texas Attorney General, and the Better Business Bureau. I will not be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau unless you fail to comply to this letter.
I have attached a copy of the complaint filed to the State of Texas Attorney General and also the reference number to which you can obtain the complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.
Federal Trade Commission Complaint Reference #: 26850356
This is a final warning, You have violated the FDCPA in two ways (attempt collection while I was seeking validation, and reporting to the credit bureaus while I was seeking validation). You have also broke Texas State Law, after 30 days of not being able to validate the debt, it is no longer legitimate and you can no longer collect and report this debt, it must be removed from my credit file and from your archives. I will be giving you another 15 calendar days to remove this item from any of the credit reporting agencies you have reported to and also send a letter stating that it will be removed. You will also remove any records of me from your archives, and cease all collection attempts. If the information is not removed within the 15 days I will have no choice but to file a lawsuit.
Sincerely,
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Thanks!
reply
Hi Boxingabag,
Wait for a few days, and see if Equidata takes any action. After which you can go forward and sue them. In the meantime discuss about this with a lawyer.
Thanks,
Aaron
do you have all your credit reports?
what state are you in? Texas
what is the original creditor?
what is the date of first delinquency? 30 days after last payment
Misinformed debt.
As you have already given extra fifteen days time to Equidata to delete the misinformed debts, you must wait till then. As 30 days have already passed and they did not provide you with any proper validation, it will mean that the debt does not belong to you and the negative report will be deleted from your credit report. If Equidata still do not comply, you may sue them.
Ok, my question now is, is this something that I will have to file a small claims for, or is it something that I should get a lawyer for.
since this is tx, I think you can file a small claim. You need to read up on TX Law.
Sorry I missed your first post, heres the answers to your questions;
I do not have all of my credit reports, but I do have the one from the very beginning at the end of December 2009. I can get my most recent one as well.
The printout does not specifically say when the first delinquency was, looks like it was 02/27/08.
The state is Texas
The original creditor was Suddenlink.
Another thing I never checked was to see if they were even licensed to collect in Texas, do you know how I would go at doing that?
I am a little scared about sueing, not gonna lie lol. Is it worth it? Or should I attempt to settle this with a PFD letter?
reply
Hi Boxinabag,
I don't remember if I had mentioned about a different kind of debt validation strategy. This can even help you in removing the item from your credit report.
What you need to do is send a debt validation letter through certified mail, requesting a return receipt (CMRRR). After you get back the return receipt, immediately send a dispute letter to the credit bureaus CMRRR. Whenever you send disputes to credit bureaus, they notify the collection agency of this. As a result, the collection agency will have to verify the debt within 30 days.
Now, before the collection agency can verify the debt with credit bureaus, they will have to validate it with you, else it will be a violation. This puts the collection agency in a time crunch. If they fail to verify the debt with the bureaus within the 30 days, the bureaus will automatically remove the item from your credit report. Try this as the last resort.
However, if you want to go forward, and sue, I think it is better to consult a lawyer.
Thanks,
Aaron
Go to "https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp" and get hard copies of all your reports. it is important to get hard copies of all your reports so you have an accurate picture. You have the right to get at least one free copy of all three reports each year.
federal law says that you can win up 1000 per violation. you need to read tx law to find out what damages are available. depending on the amount it may not need an attorney
Aaron, can I do teh 1-2 punch (that is what you are talking about correct?) after the 15 days I have given them is up, or do I have to wait 30 days after last communication to send a DV letter?
Cinnamngrl, I mis understood your question earlier, I do have all my credit reports (I thought you meant from this entire experience), I go through USAA and have credit monitoring of all three major bureaus with them. But I do have all 3 reports.
reply
Hi Boxinabag,
1-2 punch (that is what you are talking about correct?)
Yes, I am talking about the 1-2 punch :)
As you have mentioned about the 15 days in the letter, you can try the 1-2 punch after the 15 days. Hope that this works out for you.
Regards,
Aaron
I am also hoping this works out, I will try the 1-2 punch after the 15 days if they do not delete.
If that fails, I may try to do a PFD, but can I do the PFD with the OC instead of the CA? From my understanding, could I call the OC, explain the situation, offer payment in full as long as they take the debt back from Equidata and remove Equidata from my credit report? And of course get all this in writing first.
OC rarely do a PFD. for several reasons.
they are big companies and the person you negotiate with does not have authorization to change credit reporting, and they generally have no idea who does e-oscar.
they are hurt when people whitewash their credit and then come back and rack up more debt whereas CAs just get more business out of it.
small companies actually take it personally.
people hate CAs and will make an effort not to pay them but it may not be what is best for your credit.
http://www.puc.state.tx.us/ocp/complaints/complain.cfm
you can try filing a complaint against suddenlink with the PUC of TX
Also there is a federal law that states that the SOL on telecommunications is 2 years. sometimes it is tough to apply but it's there.
although I think TX law is actually pretty favorable to you
here it is
TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
SUBCHAPTER IV--PROCEDURAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Sec. 415. Limitations of actions
(a) Recovery of charges by carrier
All actions at law by carriers for recovery of their lawful charges,
or any part thereof, shall be begun within two years from the time the
cause of action accrues, and not after.
(b) Recovery of damages
All complaints against carriers for the recovery of damages not
based on overcharges shall be filed with the Commission within two years
from the time the cause of action accrues, and not after, subject to
subsection (d) of this section.
(c) Recovery of overcharges
For recovery of overcharges action at law shall be begun or
complaint filed with the Commission against carriers within two years
from the time the cause of action accrues, and not after, subject to
subsection (d) of this section, except that if claim for the overcharge
has been presented in writing to the carrier within the two-year period
of limitation said period shall be extended to include two years from
the time notice in writing is given by the carrier to the claimant of
disallowance of the claim, or any part or parts thereof, specified in
the notice.
(d) Extension
If on or before expiration of the period of limitation in subsection
(b) or (c) of this section a carrier begins action under subsection (a)
of this section for recovery of lawful charges in respect of the same
service, or, without beginning action, collects charges in respect of
that service, said period of limitation shall be extended to include
ninety days from the time such action is begun or such charges are
collected by the carrier.
(e) Accrual of cause of action for transmission of message
The cause of action in respect of the transmission of a message
shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to accrue upon
delivery or tender of delivery thereof by the carrier, and not after.
(f) Enforcement petition
A petition for the enforcement of an order of the Commission for the
payment of money shall be filed in the district court or the State court
within one year from the date of the order, and not after.
(g) ``Overcharges'' defined
The term ``overcharges'' as used in this section shall be deemed to
mean charges for services in excess of those applicable thereto under
the schedules of charges lawfully on file with the Commission.
(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title IV, Sec. 415, 48 Stat. 1099; Pub. L. 93-
507, Nov. 30, 1974, 88 Stat. 1577.)
Amendments
1974--Subsecs. (a) to (c). Pub. L. 93-507 amended subsecs. (a) to
(c) generally, substituting reference to two years for reference to one
year wherever appearing.
GREAT NEWS!
Today (the 15 day mark) we received notice that my wifes report has changed. I went to update it and it looks like Equidata has REMOVED their tradeline from Experian and all KD marks and ND marks, just blank. It is still there on Equifax and Trans Union BUT, there is no data, just says open, and the amount. I am hoping within the next week it will be gone completely!!
Do you think I need to send a follow up letter? Or give it some more time?
Also, WE GOT APPROVED FOR A AUTO LOAN!!! AND I GOT A CREDIT CARD!! It looks like we have repaired our credit good enough to be able to comfortably and confidently request loans and credit cards! This is great, I will be attempting to get a few more cards after a few months to establish more positive credit. I have restricted the use of my card to gas only lol. I will also be paying it off every month so I dont have to worry about the APR. It is only $1000, but its better than "DENIED" lol.
removed from report
Hi Boxinabag,
I think you should wait for some more time before sending in the follow up letters. However, this is great news :)
Regards,
Aaron
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