First I was surprised to find that Orchard Bank still existed.
I was under the assumption that they had sold out to another ompany.
Many years ago I had an Orchard Bank card, there was a dispute and I closed the account. They continued to add charge upon charge. I finally said I simply would not pay it, and I didn't.
At first they called and tried to wheedle a payment saying they would accept a lesser amount, etc. I don't know if this applies to every state, but I do know there is a statute of limitations during which they can try to collect from you and report to the credit bureaus and if at anytime during that period you make a payment to them, they can start all over collecting as if the time hadn't expired and the statute of limitations starts all over.
Anyway I simply refused to deal with them as they were rude, obnoxious and unwilling to act like real human beings.
Then I got a notice that they had sold out to another company. Recently I have been getting various bills from bill collectors that I don't owe and never heard of. I mostly ignore them as I had no idea who in heck they were. Now I notice that my credit report has the exact same charge by several different companies, the original stemming back to Orchard Bank.
Apparently they sell the accounts to different places and then they all report to the credit reporting bureaus in an attempt to ruin your credit. I have to write to dispute the charges but a friend told me she tried to dispute multiple entries of the same charge and the credit bureaus tried to tell her they were all
legitimate and not the same charges, so watch out and if possible unload Orchard Bank asap.
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