JUNK DEBT BUYERS
Five Typical Junk Debt Buyer Violations
#1. Re-aging Accounts: Junk debt buyers attempt to force settlement on "time barred" or "Expired Statute of Limitations" accounts. The actual date that the debt becomes delinquent is supposed to be reported to credit reporting agencies under FCRA/FACTA within 90 days of the delinquency.
WARNING! Debt reporting re-aging is the practice of reporting a bad debt account as more recent than it really is. Re-aging causes the FICO score to drop dramatically since the scoring model interprets the re-age as a more recent default.
Junk Debt Buyers press for payment of some amount to bring the debt back under the statute of limitations after which they can sue you and have a chance of winning.
It is important to note that State statute of limitations (SoL) for collections are different from FCRA/FACTA statutes of limitations for reporting the debt on your credit report.
#2. Misreporting the legal status (e.g., an open chargeoff that was actually discharged in bankruptcy) and also misreporting the "open date" and "date of last activity" on an account are two favorite "illegal tactics"!
WARNING! Junk debt buyers purchase debts that are outside the statue of limitations for lawsuit (legal enforcement of the debt) but not outside the statute of limitations for reporting the debt on your credit report! They like to report this debt as a revolving account, which is illegal.
#3. Various Code Violations: (e.g. consumers not being notified that their calls are being monitored or recorded) are also likely violations in almost all fifty states.
#4. Multiple Listings of the Same Debt: Junk debt buyers are often responsible for multiple reporting of the same debt as these change hands among buyers and sellers. Usually, these same debts are reported by the original creditor as well. Thus you could have the same debt reported multiple times! Increase your credit score by properly disputing your credit reports
#5. Collectors Pretending to be Lawyers. It does not improve a credit score to settle an old debt unless the item is completely deleted (not just reported as "paid in full"). Settling a debt with a junk debt buyer makes your credit score worse because the delinquency or chargeoff will now be reported as more recent!
e-mail me with any questions: sales@creditfixcd.com
