In February my wife and I began to purchase a new home. A loan officer gave me a copy of my credit report that showed Franklin Collection Service listing a $498 unpaid BellSouth Telephone bill in a state that I have not lived in for approx. 14 years. I contacted them directly to show proof that this was a case of identity theft. They sent me a fraud packet which required an official police report to be filed and returned to them.
I contacted my local police and they gladly completed the police report and I obtained a copy once approved by the police supervisor and attached a copy to the fraud packet with proof of my residency approx. 400 miles away and my employement during the time the alleged telephone was active in my name. I also completed online disputes with the credit bureaus and sent certified letters directly to Franklin Collection Service in Tupelo, MS to remove the derogatory collection information from all national credit bureau files.
I followed up with several phone calls and they simply informed me to pay the bill and their client would be satisfied. The police officer who completed the identity theft report stated they complete numerous of these reports daily because Bellsouth accepts anyone information over the phone to open an account and sells the delinquent account to collection agencies in an effort to keep positive cash flow without really screening new accounts. This issue should be address at the national level. I saw several similar victims on the web with issues and law suits filed against Franklin Collection Services. I also didn't expect to go this far into this matter, but was necessary for the many innocent victims. Franklin should be sued over and over again until they are bankrupt or Mr. Dan Franklin, owner, is homeless.
Thanks.
0 comments