SUBMITTED: Friday, April 07, 2006
POSTED: Friday, April 07, 2006
Paula:
Don't call these guys again (it's hard to prove a telephone call). Instead, do the following:
Send a letter via certified mail return receipt directly to Palisades (address should be on your credit report). Tell them that you noticed that they had listed an account on your credit report(s). Tell them you are disputing the debt in its entirety. Request that they send validation of the debt within 30 days to your address.
Then a few days later, send a letter to the credit reporting agency disputing the debt. Tell them you never had an AT&T account.
Since the debt is obviously not yours, what SHOULD happen is that Palisades won't be able to prove that it's yours, and the credit reporting agency will have to delete the tradeline within 30 days of your dispute because Palisades can't prove that it's valid.
But, Palisades could very well decide to ignore you and re-verify the account.
If this is what happens, make at least 2 more attempts at the previous letter-writing campaign (to prove that they willfully violated your rights despite numerous complaints). Then make sure you gather up copies of all of your correspondence, mailing receipts, and credit reports and show them to an attorney specializing in consumer law/debt collection law. You can find one locally at NACA's website.
At that point Palisades would have committed violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as your state's debt collection laws. They will then be responsible for paying statutory, and possibly punitive damages, as well as your attorney's fees. Defend yourself and your credit score from these guys.