Two reasons to pull your credit reports after beating a collection suit
Two reasons to pull your credit reports after beating a collection suit
You’ve been sued by a debt collector or debt buyer such as Midland Funding, LVNV, Portfolio Recovery, and you’ve won your case. What do you do next? Pull your credit reports.
Hopefully, you have looked at your credit reports before you get to the end of your lawsuit.
Even if you haven’t, go on and pull them now.
Whether you just won your suit yesterday or you won a few weeks ago.
The easiest way to get your full credit reports is to get them through AnnualCreditReport.com.
Right now, through April 2021, you can pull your full reports every week for free.
Once you have your credit reports, you will want to check for two primary issues.
Is the account marked as disputed?
If you have been sued, presumably you have responded to that lawsuit saying that you do not owe this debt.
You have disputed this debt.
When that company credit reported next, they must mark it as disputed.
If they do not, this is a violation of the FDCPA, specifically 1692e(8), which says a debt collector cannot credit report on things they know are false or should know are false.
This includes the failure to mark something as disputed when in fact it has been disputed.
If you file your answer on June 1st and you win October 1st, and you pull your report on October 1st and it shows that they updated your report on September 15th but the debt is not shown as disputed.
This is a violation of the law and they can be sued for this.
Is the account still showing on your credit reports?
Whether or not the account is marked as disputed, is the account still on your report even though you won your case?
If it is, this may be a violation.
If a judge has said you do not owe Portfolio Recovery and money, then they should not be reporting on your credit report.
Typically, we will dispute this through the credit bureaus – Equifax, Transunion, and Experian.
An online dispute option is available, but we typically do not recommend using the online option.
If you decide to dispute online, be sure you are screen recording or using screen captures so that everything you do – every document you upload, everything that you type – is recorded so the bureaus cannot lie about it later.
You could also dispute this by certified mail.
The dispute can be simple.
Tell them you have this Portfolio Recovery account on your credit report and that you do not owe them any money.
That you were sued by them and the judge rule in my favor.
You do not owe them any money and this account should be removed from your report.
Clearly, this is an unreliable company and the bureaus should not take their word for it.
If you can, include the order showing you won.
Once you notify the credit bureaus, the bureaus ask Portfolio what they should do.
If Portfolio tells them to keep it on the report even though they know they have lost the case, you can sue them for this.
Generally, the bureaus will take this off your report.
If they don’t take this off your credit reports, then you have a fantastic case against them. You almost certainly have both an FDCPA and an FCRA case against them.
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Thanks and have a great day!
John Watts