Newbie credit problem

[kkv1]

I got a free report last week and came to know that there is one derogatory remark on it. A chargeoff for $45 from a collection agency for a verizon account.

The problem is when I closed the phone service, I called them after a month and paid the bill. Now after two years (collection agency has the date of open as April 1, 2009) suddenly this CA says I owe them some money.

My questions are :
1) Can somebody explain what I can do ? I dont think I owe them and thinking of disputing the account with Experian.
Should I start with DV etc - they have a way I can view my CA account online - it just lists the amount and verizon as the one i owe to. No justification of what I owe this for.

Isnt there anything illegal that they are doing ?

2) Will it make a difference if I pay it (so it doesnt show more delay) or should I try to deny the charges ?

3) what is the likely impact of this on my credit score. Is it ~50 points or > 100 points ? Considering this one item - what is used for the score - the # of days delinquent at CA or the original one which is > 2years. I have several cc with >10K limit (no balances) and employed with 6 figure salary)

Thanks a lot

[jjgross]

Originally Posted by kkv1

I got a free report last week and came to know that there is one derogatory remark on it. A chargeoff for $45 from a collection agency for a verizon account.

The problem is when I closed the phone service, I called them after a month and paid the bill. Now after two years (collection agency has the date of open as April 1, 2009) suddenly this CA says I owe them some money.

My questions are :
1) Can somebody explain what I can do ? I dont think I owe them and thinking of disputing the account with Experian.
Should I start with DV etc - they have a way I can view my CA account online - it just lists the amount and verizon as the one i owe to. No justification of what I owe this for.

Isnt there anything illegal that they are doing ?

2) Will it make a difference if I pay it (so it doesnt show more delay) or should I try to deny the charges ?

3) what is the likely impact of this on my credit score. Is it ~50 points or > 100 points ? Considering this one item - what is used for the score - the # of days delinquent at CA or the original one which is > 2years. I have several cc with >10K limit (no balances) and employed with 6 figure salary)

Thanks a lot

Didn't you pay it?If you paid it find your records and show it to them.:huh:

[kkv1]

I had called them to pay over phone since they had not sent the bill. Thats what they told me was the last one. So to my knowledge there is no balance.

But as the CA (AFNI) says they bought this from verizon and show this as a chargeoff.

My immediate question is should I pay it now or am I opening up some dormant thing ? As I understand the SOL is 2 years and this is past that.

What are the rules past SOL. Can they still keep spoiling my history ? Cant I refute it with the CRA ? No letter from Verizon on all these things.

[CreditCrisis]

in my experience, i would say if you have a bit of time, dispute it.

if you are looking for a quicker fix, call verizon and see what the heck is up? let them know you paid it. if it was over the phone, you shuold still be able to track down some kind of draft out of your bank account?

if that doesnt work, either try to speak to someone in management and tell them that this is intolerable and you are going to file a complaint. but be as nice as possible. just let them know, you know its not the individuals fault, but the company is damaging your credit worthiness. chances are, they will remove it.

or if you just want it to be quick, send a PFD letter to VERIZON (you can find some good ones on here) send a copy to the CA also and just state in the letter that when verizon cashes your check for $40 (could probably even do like $20 at this point) verizon agrees to remove the account in its entirty from your report as well as stop reporting to any third parties and that they must also delete the damaging account. (because if the money isnt owed, the CA cant collect)

good luck!!

[kkv1]

Thanks for your detailed response.

I have maybe a month or two in time since I am looking to find a house and then the mortgage.

I am thinking of disputing the charge by this weekend with the CA - they seem to need a file # which I dont have yet.

Sorry some more questions :

1) Should I send the PFD to VERIZON or to AFNI ? Verizon says they dont have any info about this.
2) What is the role of SOL ? Where can I find the # of years of SOL for a phone bill. I mean is there a link to a gov site ?
3) How will my credit improve - there is just one spot and that is this one. Can it account for 100 points ?
4) Is it a waste of time to go for Validation letter etc ? My thought is that maybe when they purchased from verizon they may have a copy of my last statement (when they can get my ssn this looks simple)

[CreditCrisis]

Originally Posted by kkv1

Thanks for your detailed response.

I have maybe a month or two in time since I am looking to find a house and then the mortgage.

I am thinking of disputing the charge by this weekend with the CA - they seem to need a file # which I dont have yet.

Sorry some more questions :

1) Should I send the PFD to VERIZON or to AFNI ? Verizon says they dont have any info about this.
2) What is the role of SOL ? Where can I find the # of years of SOL for a phone bill. I mean is there a link to a gov site ?
3) How will my credit improve - there is just one spot and that is this one. Can it account for 100 points ?
4) Is it a waste of time to go for Validation letter etc ? My thought is that maybe when they purchased from verizon they may have a copy of my last statement (when they can get my ssn this looks simple)

if verizon says that they dont have any info regarding the debt, you need to get that in writing and send it to AFNI. they cannot collect on a debt if there is no creditor to back it up.

its really hard to try to figure out how tehy come up iwth the scoring for the FICO. i have been trying to figure it out myself, but it really could be anything. and depending on how old it is, it could not improve at all.

also, you want to get the mortgage approval before you find a house. get pre approved for a certain loan amount, then go shopping. that way you arent dissapointed when you find the house you really want but just cant qualify.

[kkv1]

I have a preapproval - buti am afraid of not getting the right rate - at these prices even a half % results in several hundred $.

I guess my first conclusion is that paying the bill now is not much use since it has done as much harm as can be. By paying I am not really changing anything about the score. Instead I guess I have to refute the charges and hope to remove them.

About SOL, can anybody point me to a site that gives the SOL for phone bill. I read in other posts that it is 2 years since its federal law - not by state. But so far I could not find a gov site giving this info.

[CreditCrisis]

i believe it depends on your state.

as Chane always says on these posts, i would not pay the debt unless they agree IN WRITING to remove it completley from your report.

[kkv1]

I header two versions of SOL -
One is the FCC rule on telephones - 2 years
Another is the state law which for NJ is like 4 or 6 yrs.

This issue is a residential phone line aka telephone (not wireless)
So is it 2 yrs ?

Thanks CreditCrisis you have helped a lot. I have sent a DV and PFD to them together. Hope they take the PFD.

[jjgross]

Originally Posted by kkv1

I header two versions of SOL -
One is the FCC rule on telephones - 2 years
Another is the state law which for NJ is like 4 or 6 yrs.

This issue is a residential phone line aka telephone (not wireless)
So is it 2 yrs ?

Thanks CreditCrisis you have helped a lot. I have sent a DV and PFD to them together. Hope they take the PFD.

Federal law is over state law.