Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband is going through a situation in which one of the well known communication companies falsely accused him of owing them money. After he was able to prove that he did not owe them any money and that they actually owed him money, they said they would rectify the situation. The problem? The erroneous bill had already been sent to collections and was reported on his credit report. This dropped his credit score from the low 700s to the low 600s. My credit score is now higher than his and I haven't worked in almost a decade.
Credit score means so much in todays America. It determines if you can buy a house or a car, the interest rates you pay, and in some cases, the job you can get. Essentially it is your financial reputation. When someone ruins that reputation with false claims, should you be able to sue?
I don't think there's anything procedurally stopping someone for suing a credit reporting agency for libel. The issue is that doing so would be a long, costly process, with not guarantee that the plaintiff would win, and even if they won, the amount recovered would likely not be worth the effort.
My husband is going through a situation in which one of the well known communication companies falsely accused him of owing them money. After he was able to prove that he did not owe them any money and that they actually owed him money, they said they would rectify the situation. The problem? The erroneous bill had already been sent to collections and was reported on his credit report. This dropped his credit score from the low 700s to the low 600s. My credit score is now higher than his and I haven't worked in almost a decade.
Credit score means so much in todays America. It determines if you can buy a house or a car, the interest rates you pay, and in some cases, the job you can get. Essentially it is your financial reputation. When someone ruins that reputation with false claims, should you be able to sue?
You can so this is a non issue, albeit inconvenient. He needs to dispute the account with the credit reporting agency in writing. Once he does that they have 30-40 days to verify the account or delete the negative information/trade line. If the creditor confirms the account or the credit agency doesn't delete the negative information that is a FRCA violation that you can sue for.
You have to be diligent. The communications company can still get this removed even after it was sent to collections.
This doesn't answer your question so to do that, yes there should be ways to more easily monetarily make up for mistakes that cost the consumer.
It's likely more important to get this removed though. I would badger and badger and badger the communications company until they get it removed. As I said, they indeed can.
You can so this is a non issue, albeit inconvenient. He needs to dispute the account with the credit reporting agency in writing. Once he does that they have 30-40 days to verify the account or delete the negative information/trade line. If the creditor confirms the account or the credit agency doesn't delete the negative information that is a FRCA violation that you can sue for.
ok. I wasn't sure. I google searched it, but only found answers on like Yahoo answers and places like that.
My husband is going through a situation in which one of the well known communication companies falsely accused him of owing them money. After he was able to prove that he did not owe them any money and that they actually owed him money, they said they would rectify the situation. The problem? The erroneous bill had already been sent to collections and was reported on his credit report. This dropped his credit score from the low 700s to the low 600s. My credit score is now higher than his and I haven't worked in almost a decade.
Credit score means so much in todays America. It determines if you can buy a house or a car, the interest rates you pay, and in some cases, the job you can get. Essentially it is your financial reputation. When someone ruins that reputation with false claims, should you be able to sue?
I think ther was, or still is, a class action suit filed against Equifax, so, yes, you can sue over an incorrect or false credit report.
Depending on the exact specifics of the situation your target may need to be the collection agency. If you or the original creditor have made them aware that the debt was referred to them in error they are required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt collection Practices Act to have the negative entry removed. Research these two laws. I would send the CA a certified letter, return receipt requested, explaining the problem. Be polite but firm, include a copy of whatever proof you have that they are in error, and demand they correct the credit record. Cite the above laws in your letter. Send a copy to the original creditor, also certified. If they don't fix the issue, you can and should sue the collection agency and the creditor.
However...have you disputed the error with the credit bureaus? If not, do that first. That might be all it takes. If that doesn't do it, then do what I suggested above.
611. Procedure in case of disputed accuracy [15 U.S.C. 1681i]
(a) Reinvestigations of disputed information.
(1) Reinvestigation required.
(A) In general. If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumer's file at a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency directly of such dispute, the agency shall reinvestigate free of charge and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file in accordance with paragraph (5), before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute from the consumer.
Why the hell do we meekly accept that a handful of private companies have this astonishing power over us, anyway?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
