I have a collection account that is being handled by Asset Acceptance, LLC for an old home phone account with Ameritech. The account was legitimate, but I am 99 percent certain that I had settled it in 2003. I purchased a car through Ford Credit in October and I believe I made sure to have all my collections paid off before I applied for that credit. However, I have no receipt of this. But in I began receiving new notices from the collection agency regarding this account. I spoke with them on the phone (which apparently I'm not supposed to do), telling them that I was disputing their claim and asked for documentation of the bill. They sent me a copy of three months of bills, the last one dated August 10. The bill was for 272.49. I also have several statements from Asset Acceptance dating back to September. The balance on each of these bills keeps going up.
In the September statement, they say I owe 330.93.in the latest one they sent me last month, my balance is 356.73. My Experian credit report states that the account is in dispute, but it is still hurting my credit scores for all three bureaus. There seem to be inconsistencies in what each agency reports, however. For example, Equifax reports the high limit on the account to be $317, while Experian says it is $356 and Transunion shows nothing at all. And while Transunion and Equifax both say the account was last reported in July Experian says it was last reported in May.
Also, while Equifax does not show a date the account was opened (I'm assuming this means the collection account), Experian and Transunion both say it was opened in August. Like I said, many inconsistencies, although I'm not sure if they are relevant. This is hurting my credit scores, and I'm not sure if I should just settle with them to take care of it once and for all (even though I know I'm getting ripped off), or actually fight it. And assuming I did pay on it, can they charge me more than the documented balance on the phone bill itself? Any advice would he appreciated.
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