<p>I was recently denied credit because of derogatory statement on my credit report(s). I was of course surprised. In reading the report I saw an old dispute I had with TMobile 2 years ago.</p>
<p>When I terminated the service with TMobile, I was told I was not under contract. I also received a final bill from them to state as such. A few months later, to my surprised, they claimed I was still under contract, so I owed them another $1000 (for 5 phones) for termination fees. Since then they have sent my bill to various collection agencies. I have received many phone calls from them at various hours, and some of them were out right rude. One of those agencies actually reported it to a credit agencies 2 years. I disputed it and the negative report was taken off.</p>
<p>One of the rules with those credit agencies is once a negative rating is removed, it couldn’t be put back on again. Another word, if TMobile had reported it, I got it removed, then it will always stay off. I think TMobile was well aware of it and that is why they send those unpaid bills to different collection agencies. Each time a collection agency would threaten to report me, and I wouldn’t take them seriously. I was not aware that credit agencies did not view it as TMobile reporting on me, but as each individual collection agency that’s reporting, so as far as credit agencies are concerned it was a new event. The collector also reported non payment as few months ago, not 2 years ago, therefore it was also more damaging.</p>
<p>My credit score dropped by 100 points because of TMobile. I started disputing this with all three credit report agencies this Monday (5 days ago). They all have free online dispute center. In one week, I got it all cleared up with all of them. My scores are back up and the negative rating has been removed. To try to permenantly resolve this, I have contacted the Better Business Bureau. It is a form of harrassment from some of those big businesses. The amount of energy I have spent on this, I probably would have been better off to settle, but I really didn’t want to give in to their blackmail tactic. </p>
<p>I am not looking for any advice per se. I know many parents on this board maybe looking for loans to pay for kids tuition. It is wise to keep on top of one’s credit report and try to resolve any issues as early as possible. A word of encouragement is negative credit report can be removed, if you have proper documentation.</p>
<p>What’s the line from Alice in Wonderland? “All ways are the Queen’s ways!” Or as my Dad used to describe The Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.”</p>
<p>Customers are rarely consulted when it comes to rule-making. I’m pleased that you were able to get this cleared up, and your story provides an indication of what’s involved in resolving this situation. But (a) you didn’t create the issue, and (b) there’s really nothing you can do to prevent an institution from inflicting this sort of situation upon you in the future. After all, you’re the only one with anything to lose when companies take these sorts of actions. (I believe it’s called a “negative sum game.”)</p>
<p>I knew someone who ended up in court over 14 cents that might have been due to his local phone company. And to me the words Southern New England Telephone Company - SNETCO to the initiated - cause an involuntary clenching of fists. </p>
<p>Have you ever seen Lily Tomlin’s Ernestine the Phone Company Operator from the Laugh-In show? “We don’t care. We’re the phone company. We don’t have to.”</p>
<p>As consumers, we are guilty until proven innocent. Those big companies have more resource, they don’t have to show any evidence to report non-payment. We don’t usually know there is any negative report until we apply for credit. </p>
<p>A few years back, when I was applying for mortgage, I found out a department store had reported 60 days delinquency. It turned out they had credited a wrong account, we corrected the problem when it happened, but their computer system still automatically reported negative rating to credit agencies.</p>
<p>I would really like some regulations to prevent companies in wrongfully reporting negative ratings to credit agencies.</p>
<p>I am currently engaged in a dispute with Honda Finance over end of lease charges. They have reported the amount as an “unpaid loan” on my credit report. They offered to split the difference with me but even if I paid that amount they would still report the full amount on my credit report. So I asked, why should I accept the settlement if the derogatory information remains on my credit report? Even with the bad report, my credit score remains high.</p>
<p>I would like to see someone who wants to make a point, and is willing to burn some money on a team of hot shot lawyers, file a massive lawsuit against a company for libel. </p>
<p>The way some of these companies spread around negative information that they know (or have the responsibility to know) is false is sickening. Personally I think the whole credit rating industry needs a massive overhaul. Recent legislation forcing the agencies to give you a free report once per year is a step in the right direction, but much more still needs to be done.</p>
<p>Why is it considered my responsibility to pay money to track and make sure that information others decide to report about me is truthful and accurate? Surely the responsibility should be the other way around!</p>
<p>I had same thing happen but with aT&T. I wrote a firmly worded letter to the legal department. I was able to outline areas of weakness in the billing structure and in my theory I was only a sample of error. But I would be glad to solicit “similarly situated customers” which is code word to a legal department. I received a letter acknowledging that my account is paid in full and i said I could use the letter if another collection agency called me. Two years later a collection agency called me and I had the letter.</p>
<p>1) You are entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the 3 major credit reporting companies – if you stagger this among each of the companies, you can pull up a report from one for free every 4 month. Do it. </p>
<p>2) You do have the right to dispute negative information on a credit report, and as Oldfort’s experience demonstratese – the dispute process does work. When you initiate a dispute the clock starts running – the credit agency needs to investigate the claim and will have to remove the information if the time runs out; and of course they will need to remove it if the investigation shows you are correct.</p>
<p>3) Oldfort’s post also shows the value of keeping written records. If you receive a statement on any account that is likely to be disputed that shows a paid in full or zero balance, hang on to it. (Just make a file that says “closed accounts” somewhere). Keep copies of any correspondence you have back and forth with any sort of collection agency. You will be successful in any dispute if you have the written evidence to back you up – but you are on weak ground if you are relying on your memory as to oral representations.</p>
<p>4) Don’t ignore communications from collection agencies – but DO try to convert phone calls to written communications. That is – when someone calls, ask them to send you a letter and give your current mailing address. Respond to the letter in writing. Keep copies of all correspondence. If you don’t know what the charge is about, write and ask for documentation of the debt. If there is obvious misinformation – write and tell them what it is. Keep on top of it. If you receive a letter, respond to it and never hear from the company again – you are probably in good shape – but if you receive a letter and toss it in the trash because you know that the claim is bogus – you’ve left things open in away that can be taken as acknowledging the debt. </p>
<p>5) Don’t freak out or be cowed by threats from collection agencies. If you are in the right, and you can document your position – you have nothing to be afraid of. It is a pain in the rear to have to be writing letters about debts you don’t owe – but I think it helps if you try to avoid getting angry or emotional. Just look at it as somebody screwed up their paperwork, and you are giving them the correct info to fix it. The happy ending to Oldfort’s story is that it only took 5 days to fix the problem.</p>
<p>LOL! Can you say, “Class Action Lawsuit” ? Nice move! I will keep that phrase in mind. My wife suggested filing a complaint with BBB. I did find several hundred complaints vs Honda Finance on BBB website.</p>
<p>Nice. I do tend to find that when a company is giving you the cold shoulder or generally just being arrogant a tactical letter to the legal department and/or one that just uses legal terminology tends to do wonders. Often these shady companies seem to forget that the law and terms of contracts apply just as much to them as it does to the customer. </p>
<p>Simply pointing out that you know they’re in the wrong, have evidence to prove it and will actively seek damages if they don’t sort themselves out is often all it takes to get some of these annoying issues resolved. </p>
<p>I once had a friend that was getting pushed around by a shady property management agency for his apartment. I sat down with him and went through his lease and we documented every tiny little thing that this agency had done in violation of his lease (e.g. sending construction workers around outside the hours agreed to in the lease). </p>
<p>I helped him write a letter that was basically a notificiation of intent to pursue damages for breach of contract. Boy did their attitude change quickly (perhaps due to the fact that a bit of background research showed that they had recently been successfully sued in small claims court by previous tenants for similar issues). </p>
<p>I guess the take home lesson is to just keep a cool head, but don’t be afraid to aggressively pursue and defend your own rights.</p>
<p>The sad thing is that in the “good old days” of customer service (read 3-5 years ago) you didn’t have to resort to legal threats. Usually the companies actually WANTED to create customer goodwill.</p>
<p>Not anymore. I’ve been with ATT since the 80’s. Counts for squat. They used to try to work with us to retain us as customers. Now I’m counting the days until our contract is up.</p>
<p>Final update. I just got a call from T-Mobile to let me know that Better Business Bureau had contacted them and they would like to waive my termination fee, and I have agreed to pay for the usage fee. I am glad this will be finally behind us. I never thought BBB would be of any help and I was ready to hire a lawyer to get this resolved.</p>