In the last week of March I signed up for a free, one week trial at the free credit report web site. Everything, was not as I expected. My credit score had dropped about 60 points since I had checked it about 2 years ago. Two years ago, I had one negative entry from 1991. Now, there was a new entry, dated December 01. That entry was made by Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC.
I was able to find their web site and eventually a phone number. I called their office the next day and talked to a person in customer service that would not give their name or employee ID number. I gave her the account number that was posted from the credit report web site. She said that was not the actual account number and would need my social security number to look up the information. After confirming my SS # to her, she told me that the bad mark was from a medical bill from Oct 16.
I told her that I did not use any private doctors in 2002. That I have VA privileges and only use the VA Hospital in Louisville. She asked if I was disputing the bill and I told her that I am.
When talking to the person at the corporate office, I told her that I had never received anything from Portfolio Recovery asking for a payment of a outstanding debt. She acknowledged that nothing had ever been sent, asking for payment or notifying me that they had bought a debt that I owed. I asked if Portfolio made normal practice of putting a bad entry on someones credit report without notifying the person first. She gave no answer. I asked her why Portfolio Recovery put a negative entry on my credit report nearly 16 months ago, yet had never had any correspondence with me, before or since they put on this negative report. No answer.
On April 07, I received a letter from Portfolio Recovery. Their letter was dated April 03. They acknowledge verbal receipt of my dispute. What I find very strange, is according to the letter they sent, that they purchased the account from the original account owner on 12/26. Portfolio Recovery put the entry on my credit report on Dec 01. According to the letter that they had sent, they actually put a bad report on my credit report, 25 days before they owned this account. I do have dated documentation from Portfolio Recovery as to the date they bought this account (Dec. 26) and documentation from the credit report that the entry was made on Dec. 01, under the name of Portfolio Recovery Associates.
In their letter, they wrote that I had 20 days to respond, or the investigation would be terminated and the account would be returned to the floor for collection. I did write and send a certified, return receipt letter to them. I followed links off of Google, to write a letter of dispute. I asked for validation of the claim, as suggested from the example letter. There was even a link that suggested they statute of limitations had run out for my location. According to the link, a bill from a Doctor would be a contract and that has a four year Statute of Limitation in Kentucky. Since this disputed bill was over 4 years old, why would Portfolio put it on my credit report, after the Statute of Limitations had run out on the original bill owner? I may be wrong on the SOL figures if someone else wants to look into it.
As I wrote in the letter to Portfolio Recovery, I was not claiming fraud, but there may have been unintentional fraud made. According to Portfolio, the original Doctors bill was from Oct. At that time, my Son was living with me. He has the same full name as I do, except he is the III, while I am a Jr. He tells me that the bill does not belong to him.
My biggest issue is that Portfolio Recovery made an entry on my credit report without ever making contact with me. They never gave me a chance to address this issue before they made the entry on my report. According to their own paper work, they made this negative entry, 26 days before they bought this account. They made this entry without any correspondence to me before or since the entry. Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. Can anyone give any suggestions on who to contact?
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