Wyndo
05-03-2002, 09:59 PM
I had posted my full story in the other forum... basically, I did debt validation on a "Citibank" entry on my credit reports. I sent one letter, certified, waited, sent the follow-up, waited, sent my "proof" to the credit reporting agencies. What I was told was a little surprising. They said that my mail receipts weren't proof at all. I was told that as long as the collection agency responded to *them* (the credit reporting agencies) simply to say "yeah, that's a valid debt" (no proof or anything), the entry would remain on my report. Well, fortunately, they received no reply and the entries did drop off... leaving me pleased, but a little concerned that the CRA's said that any "validation" I do on my own would have to be in the form of a letter from the collection agency stating "woops, we made a mistake" -- their lack of response, I was told, was not "proof" that the debt was invalid. BAH!
So, my question is, suppose later this year the collection agency decides to pull my credit report again, notice their entry is gone, and put it back? Would I have to go through debt-validation again? Or do I *really* have the proof I need (their lack of response to 2 certified letters) to show that the debt was never verified, yet they purposely placed the entry back on my report? Could I skip the whole mess and just sue them?
With luck, that won't happen -- but I'm *VERY* cautios. 3 years ago, I had about 16 negative entries on my report, ranging from a half dozen weird, small collections I didn't even recognize, to defaulted student loans (multiple entries, even, place by different lenders for the same loans), and a credit card. Now, 3 years later through persistence, disputing, and even the lapse of time, I now have around 13 positive entries, and NOTHING negative (other than the length of time for my open accounts, ranging 2 to 3 years). I just don't want to take any chances, since we'll be buying a house around this time next year. :)
So, my question is, suppose later this year the collection agency decides to pull my credit report again, notice their entry is gone, and put it back? Would I have to go through debt-validation again? Or do I *really* have the proof I need (their lack of response to 2 certified letters) to show that the debt was never verified, yet they purposely placed the entry back on my report? Could I skip the whole mess and just sue them?
With luck, that won't happen -- but I'm *VERY* cautios. 3 years ago, I had about 16 negative entries on my report, ranging from a half dozen weird, small collections I didn't even recognize, to defaulted student loans (multiple entries, even, place by different lenders for the same loans), and a credit card. Now, 3 years later through persistence, disputing, and even the lapse of time, I now have around 13 positive entries, and NOTHING negative (other than the length of time for my open accounts, ranging 2 to 3 years). I just don't want to take any chances, since we'll be buying a house around this time next year. :)