Raise It or You Waive It

Whether you are disputing information regarding a derogatory account from a creditor or an alleged account with a 3rd party collector, you need to be specific about what is wrong with how they are reporting that item on your credit report.  You need to raise the issues in your dispute letters and hold them accountable to prove it.

With an original creditor, you will most likely be disputing the amount of the balance they claim is owed after they charge it off.  Here are some thing you should be disputing:

• There is no balance because they claim to have charged off the account and it is a FACT that there is insurance on each account to protect the creditor  against asset loss.  Did they receive monies from an insurance claim that paid off the alleged account balance?
• Did they even fund the account or did you?  
• Did they take tax credits?
• Are they the creditor or really just the servicer?
• Did they disclose that they were charging you for the insurance premium to protect against asset loss?
• Did they get your approval in writing agreeing to the amount of the premium as require by law?
• Did they get the insurance payoff prior to charging off the account?
• Is the contract creating the account even valid since they lacked full disclosure and equal risk?
• Do they even have a certified copy of the original contract bearing both your signature and their authorized representative's signature?
• Can they provide a full accounting showing every charge, every payment, every fee, every interest charge, every credit -including the insurance claim monies received, and any other amount along with the date each event occurred? *This does not mean they get to send you monthly billing statements. They need a full history document).

All of these questions are threatening to an "original creditor" because if they are truthful, they will have to admit that the contract was not valid, they lent you nothing, you covered the premium for the insurance for their benefit, the insurance paid off the account prior to charging off the account, and YOU funded the account, not them.  They need to respond point by point on each issue raised and provide documentation for everything they claim. Plus, verification requires a sworn affidavit, so that's how you need to tell them to respond.

With a 3rd party collector you should be raising some of these issues if not all of them:

• Were you named on the original contract with the original creditor?
• If not, do you have a contract between your company and me, signed by both parties?
• If not, produce the document authorizing the release of my information from the original creditor to you (Power of Attorney), signed by me. It is against the law for a creditor to share your information to any party other than the account holder without their authorization. Giving your information to a 3rd party without your knowledge or consent is perpetrating identity theft,
• Do you have first hand knowledge about everything that has transpired with the alleged account, including when the account allegedly belonged to the original creditor and any other parties prior to your acquisition?
• Do you have written consent to collect information about me and to share information about me with the credit reporting agencies - in writing, signed by me? 

When you receive a response back and it doesn't respond to each issue raised and doesn't include certified documentation backing up each response, you must call them out on their failure to validate.  Again, verification is the sworn testimony so they also should be responding to you in that format. Validation is the documentation backing up their testimony. One without the other is hearsay and inadmissible.

You always need to respond to their response and raise the point that they did NOT provide the answers and documentation you requested. You need to raise the point that they did not respond with a sworn affidavit of verification. They failed to validate. They failed to prove their claim. They are in default in their response/lack of response to the dispute and issues raised.  If you do not respond and call them out, you waive your right to claim they did not prove you owe them or that there is a valid contract.

I ALWAYS include the Maxim of Law - Silence Equates to Acquiescence (Agreement) in each of my letters.  This tells them that if they don't address even one item as requested, they agree that your statement of fact is true.  It is part of your full disclosure to them that you require a response and lack of receiving what is requested or demanded from them proves you owe them nothing.

So raise your disputes. Don't remain silent. Always be the last to respond until they respond that they are removing the item from your credit report and closing the alleged account.

If you need assistance with credit repair and want an expert on your side, contact me for an audit of your reports and consultation to go over what needs to be done for your credit and pricing plans that can get you up and running quickly.  Just a reminder that Future Fico is a non-profit so your service costs are donations that are tax deductible for you!

Contact me today!