[Elle2075]

A couple years ago, I cleaned up our (mine and dh's) credit reports from reading AOC and Credit Boards. I have an issue that I thought I had resolved rear it's ugly head again.
Long story as short as I can make it...We had a certain cell phone company when we lived in IA in the boonies. We had a lot of billing issues with roaming and stuff so we watched our cell bill like hawks. They changed our plan around a few times to "fix" it. Dh was a DOD employee and an Army Reservist. He was getting called up as a reservist so he decided to return to active duty. With the return to active duty came our transfer to TN in Oct 2003. Cell phone company didn't provide service in TN. We cancelled. They tried to charge us tons of roaming, cancellation fees, ect. Fought the issue for 1 1/2 year and it was resolved after filing a complain with the State Attorney Generals office (of IA, since dh was still an IA resident but at this point overseas). Cell company sends letter to AG that says" ...have adjusted all charges on his account. Additionaly, we have initiated a request for a recall of the account from all collection attempts." This letter is dated April 2005.
The account disappeared from credit reports and we never saw another bill. In Jan. it popped up under AFNI for $57 on credit reports. We disputed and it went away. Then it popped up again this month. I called them and told them about the letter for AG. (I know, I know- stay off the phone and cmrrr but I didn't). I asked them if they were collecting for Alltel and was told no- they owned it. EQ &EX are marked disputed. Had to dispute for TU. Then we get a letter from AFNI that says"

Dear Valued Customer,
This is in response to your recent inquiry regarding Afni account #xxxxxxxxxx. We have verified with the creditor the following information:
Creditor: Cell company
Original Creditor: Cell company
Cell company address
Creditor account # XXXXXXXXXX
Balance : 57.61

This letter serves as verification of the debt. Upon mailing of this letter, in accordance with 15 USC 1692g, Afni will resume collections activities.
If you have any questions, please contact our office toll free at 800XXXXXXX MOnday through Friday 8am-5pm CST.
This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. You have the right to inspect your credit. This letter is from a debt collector.
Sincerely,
Afni, Inc.

Sounds like they are trying to claim that cell company is the one still collecting on this account.
I can easily send a copy of the letter from AG office and I'm sure it will go away BUT I want to make sure it doesn't come back and if it IS cell company that is collecting, I want to hang them for selling a debt that doesn't exist.
I also want to hang Afni because dh is in the middle of his security clearance investigation right now and this could negatively affect it.
Any advice on where to go from here is appreciated.

[Hedwig]

The best thing you can do right now is go talk to the JAG officer (better yet, have your DH go talk to JAG).

It appears to me that the cancellation was because of his entering active duty. In that case, the Soldier's and Sailor's Civil Relief Act may apply here.

It's possible that a letter from the JAG office will end this. At least he will have the letter to show to the investigators for his security clearance. That is probably all he will need to do to get the clearance (assuming that is the only problem, of course). The security adjudicators take these things into consideration.

[Pale Rider]

Originally Posted by Elle2075

This letter serves as verification of the debt. Upon mailing of this letter, in accordance with 15 USC 1692g, Afni will resume collections activities.

Dear AFNI,

Thank you for admitting to violations of the FDCPA including but not limited to continued collection activity, reporting false information, misrepresenting the character and legal status of the alleged debt, and deceptive trade practices. This letter serves as notice that you will be sued if this alleged account is not removed immediately and permanantly from the CRA's. A formal complaint will be filed with the IA AG, so that he/she may file appropriate sanctions against your company also..........

Sincerely,

Joe Consumer

[Elle2075]

JAG is useless. We are remote so it's 3 hours to the closest JAG office and in our experience, they are only good for POA's and writing a will.
The charges were written off because they were sick of dealing with me and I wrote a complaint to the Attorney General's office, not because dh went AD. Some of the charges they wrote off were legit and some were bogus. I was disputing the contract cancellation fees because we weren't on contract, roaming charges when our plan was "no roaming", and they didn't provide service in our new area. THEY are the ones that chose to "adjust ALL charges". Since they adjusted all the charges out of the goodness or their hearts <g>, we don't owe any debt to them.

I found out some new info today though. Called the cell phone company and they still had a record of it. They say that they sold the account 2/2004. The letter and resolution from the AG office wasn't until 4/05- more than a year later. I do have copies of 2 different CA's that send dunning letters in 2005. I have dv'd both of them and they both disappeared when I did it.
The cell company say for some reason, the $57 remained but they adjusted the other amount.
I don't know what that means for me though. As far as Afni knows, we still owe that $57.
I do know that I disuputed and had to have the original TL removed with the letter in 2005. I sent copies of the letter to the CRA's. Do they keep these things? I'm sure if I look hard enough I can find the green receipts where I sent them copies of the letter adjusting and recalling the account. Do they keep these on file? Do I have any recourse against the CRA's for allowing this account back on the report?

[Pale Rider]

Originally Posted by Elle2075

I found out some new info today though. Called the cell phone company and they still had a record of it. They say that they sold the account 2/2004. The letter and resolution from the AG office wasn't until 4/05- more than a year later. I do have copies of 2 different CA's that send dunning letters in 2005. I have dv'd both of them and they both disappeared when I did it. The cell company say for some reason, the $57 remained but they adjusted the other amount.

So the OC misrepresented themselves to the AG after the account had been sold. You may want to file a new complaint with AG based on this info. Was the account in dispute at the time they sold it? They had a duty to report that dispute to any 3rd party. I would tell AFNI that they need to contact the OC if they still think they are due $57, because you do not owe it.

Originally Posted by Elle2075

I don't know what that means for me though. As far as Afni knows, we still owe that $57.
I do know that I disuputed and had to have the original TL removed with the letter in 2005. I sent copies of the letter to the CRA's. Do they keep these things? I'm sure if I look hard enough I can find the green receipts where I sent them copies of the letter adjusting and recalling the account. Do they keep these on file? Do I have any recourse against the CRA's for allowing this account back on the report?

The CRA should have records to show it was removed previously. They also have a duty to inform you that it was reinserted within 5 days. So they are in violation also, but it would probably only help you with removal and not an award of damages in court.

You can dispute directly with the data furnisher under the FACTA rules and they have to reply in 30 days. I would dispute with AFNI and include a copy of the letter from the OC. I would send a simutaneous dispute to the CRA reminding them that it was previously removed, and it is still not your account.

[Elle2075]

So I've tried to do as advised here and worked with the TX laws some too. It's a freaking mess - a $50 something dollar collection that isn't valid is really causing me headaches. Crap I may have owed was easier to remove than this.

Anyway- so I sent a copy of the OC letter and letter from IA AG (moved to TX a couple years ago) back in April. I had already disputed with CSC/EQ. Got a letter from them saying they were verifying that a request to delete the account from credit bureaus in late April. Last week I get a copy of my cr from CSC and statement saying account was verified and it remains. It had a May date but the account had a last updated as 4/2007. I sent another email to Afni and told them it was still reporting (pulled another CR online and sent a screen shot and ordered hard copies the same day). I told them they had ample time to remove and under TX law it should've came off within 5 days of them realizing it wasn't a vailid account. Gave them another 3 business days to remove it. Hard copies came yesterday and still show account. Called and emailed Afni again. They claim it's CSC's fault and said they sent deletion through e-oscar in April and May.Basically told me too bad- not thier problem. Called CSC and they said fax them letter from Afni. Faxed it to them yesterday with note saying I wanted it removed by close of business today. Called this evening and spoke with a woman in their "legal" dept. She said that it appears I disputed it again on May 25th and it takes 30 days. I told them I did NOT dispute it again as I am waiting for Afni to pull it off. She said Afni updated it May and is sending a new report out to show it. Also said they would supress the info.
So Afni blames CSC and CSC blames Afni. I don't give a rats ass whose fault it is- I just want it gone. I applied for a couple cc's and low and behold- got offered 18% from the company that pulled EQ and 1/2 that from the companies that didn't.
So ANYWAY- what the hell is supression? Is it as good as deletion? Or is it deletion (in that they actually never delete anything- it only gets supressed)?
Also- gonna file suit against Afni and any help drafting a complaint would be appreciated. Never gave the 30 days I read about on CB for TX county court but I figure maybe they will offer to settle to get rid of me. I think county court has got to be easier than federal court since I've never done this before.
Any help is appreciated. This board seems to have better info than some of the others and I was a huge AOC fan and very disappointed when it vanished.

This is the only bad thing on my reports (aside from high utl but working on that). My wife's reports need cleaned up though. She might post here too for help with that- she went and paid some CA's though and those accounts are sticking like glue.

[jlynn]

Originally Posted by Elle2075

So I've tried to do as advised here and worked with the TX laws some too.

I don't give a rats ass whose fault it is- I just want it goneSo ANYWAY- what the hell is supression? Is it as good as deletion? Or is it deletion (in that they actually never delete anything- it only gets supressed)?

Suppression means its there, you just can't see it.

Also- gonna file suit against Afni and any help drafting a complaint would be appreciated. Never gave the 30 days I read about on CB for TX county court but I figure maybe they will offer to settle to get rid of me. I think county court has got to be easier than federal court since I've never done this before.

If you are going to file suit at any level of court, you best be prepared to go all in. Some of these JDB's and such will fight until their dieing breath. If you were at AOC, you might rember Realtor Ken's long drawn out battle...

If you want to get rid of this once and for all, then I would suggest you go here:
Office of the Texas Secretary of State on the right side is a debt collector bond search.

Find AFNI's bonding company. because of all the aka's and alias', I would suggest entering any zip codes that you have for AFNI first, and then scanning the results. Name searches are not reliable - they tend to give false negatives (no bond).

Write a very well thought out letter, explaining your complaint based on TX Finance Code. There are many reports of positive results for the consumer, once a collector's "insurer" is brought into the picture.

[Elle2075]

Already know who the bond is with. I doubt Ms. Anderson will change her mind. She asserts that they have done all they are required to do because they can't remove the account. The problem is that they haven't done anything except update it- not remove it. They also haven't sent my updated cr to anyone but CSC said they would.

What should I do about the supression? Should I insist it be deleted? I specifically asked if it could be seen in regards to security clearance investigations and she said no but for some reason- just don't trust them

[hannah]

Originally Posted by Elle2075

Already know who the bond is with. I doubt Ms. Anderson will change her mind. She asserts that they have done all they are required to do because they can't remove the account. The problem is that they haven't done anything except update it- not remove it. They also haven't sent my updated cr to anyone but CSC said they would.

What should I do about the supression? Should I insist it be deleted? I specifically asked if it could be seen in regards to security clearance investigations and she said no but for some reason- just don't trust them

I believe Jlynn's suggestion of a well thought out letter is right on the money. You should write a letter to AFNI detailing everything that has gone on. Include copies of all "evidence". Then tell them what you want them to do - delete, etc. Tell them that you don't want to have to take legal action but that you will should this matter not be resolved in 30 days. Copy the legal department of CSC and AFNI's bonding company with this correspondence in it's entirety. Send to all CMRRR. Then the ball is in their collective corner. If they don't comply with your wishes by the end of those 30 days, file suit. Make sure that you send the letter to AFNI's lawyer, CSC's legal department, and the bonding company. You may want to include a cover letter with the AFNI letter to the bonding company and CSC. Make them really believe you are serious.

Since AFNI is located in Illinois, I would also send a complaint to the Illinois AG. I hear she is quite proactive against debt collectors.

BTW - I asked a EX about suppression once and was told that if something on your CR is suppressed, that means no one can see it. However, there has been a lot of discussion about what a creditor actually sees and for a security clearance, I bet with all the Homeland Security rules and regs that nothing is suppressed from them.

[Elle2075]

All the correspondence I've had with Afni has been with their legal department! Ms. Anderson is their paralegal and she maintains that they have done all that they are required. I wrote her a couple nice letters detailing what I wanted done (specifically that it should be deleted since it wasn't valid). I've repeatedly said I would like to have this matter resolved without having to go to court and what could they do for me.
The letters asking them to delete havin't worked even though they KNOW the debt isn't valid. They claim they are deleting it but they are in fact updating it. CSC was ok about the situation. I asked for something to show that they are updating and she said she couldn't give me a print screen unless I did go to court but they would provide it then (with a subpoena of course).
They've already had way more than 30 days to fix it. My original dispute was in Feb. They "verified" with a bs letter saying - this is your account. Then I sent copies I had from OC and AG.
I feel like I am spinning my wheels and they are blowing me off because I just keep sending emails/letters saying that I would like to resolve it blah blah. maybe a letter to the bonding company with an attached complaint would be better?


Anyway- I'm betting you are right about the supression. If it screws up my security clearance it will be interesting. I wouldn't be able to access certain systems. It's likely that even if I go to court with this thing, it will be resolved before the investigation is complete but I want to make sure that if I get denied it's because of my wife's a die hard democrat and not some freaking collection account I don't even owe.

[jlynn]

Bonding Company: Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America
Bond No: 775224183TX

[Elle2075]

I don't know what to freaking think now. Scorewatch with EQ says it went down 10 points because acct info change. Myfico.com says it went up 10 pts because of acct info change- problem is the accout info is the SAME for both of them. Showing this stupid Afni account being disputed but still SHOWING it. Guess I will have to see what happens when I get the hard copy. I would think it would disappear from the monitoring systems though.

[MadinKS]

I just wanted to give my input on the security clearance. I too am military and just went through a 10 year sec. clearance. If you can show the investigator that you have taken care of this and have all documents available to them, there should be no problem. All they want to see is that you are being proactive in dealing with your creditors and, IMO, will see that you are doing everything possible to remedy the situation. Good luck.