Quote:
Originally posted by robustpuppy
Before deciding on anything, as I mentioned before, you should dispute EVERYTHING the bank says in writing. Even though you signed on as a guarantor, you have some basis to complain about the bank's method of seeking to recover the debt from you. You don't know that a very assertively worded letter citing the crap out of state and federal fair credit reporting requirements won't cause them to step back. If you can cite a technical violation, you are on pretty good ground to get some concessions.
There is nothing to stop you from demanding that they remove the negative report from your credit report by sending corrections to the credit bureaus, and if that works (it very well may), THEN you can try to negotiate a settlement for x cents on the dollar. They can't do you any more harm with respect to credit reporting than they already have, so an assertive but not abusive letter may do you more good than you anticipate.
Only pay it off to avoid the negative credit report after you're certain you can't get it removed, even if only temporarily. That will buy you time to get into your apartment -- although it seems unlikely this could hurt your chances. The landlord should be more interested in your debt-to-income than in one aberrant negative report relating to a deadbeat ex.
And remember: calling will not preserve your rights.
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I hear what you are saying, and it is probably a good idea to send them a letter, but I was basically advised by my workout person here not to threaten any sort of litigation with them. I have mentioned FCRA generally on the phone, which led to the collection person saying something akin to "don't threaten me" and me saying that I was not threatening anything (I'm no longer dealing with her anyway, I've moved on to her superior). I've been biding my time a bit on the notice thing under state law because all I know is that it was reported to the credit agencies in July and they had 30 days from the date of reporting to comply. I don't want to tip them off before the period has run. Also I now need to see this purported July letter to see if they covered that requirement.
What would I do with the credit agencies? Dispute the report? I've never had to deal with this, so I'm not sure how that works.
ETA: It helps me not at all that Bank (and its affiliates) is a client of mine. So taking a tough stance with them may very well be frowned upon here.
