Credit question

[Blk Death]

Upon deploying to Iraq, we were given 4 days notice, 2 of which we're a weekend/holiday. Needless to say, returning Time Warner's equipment to them wasnt a top priority to me (honestly didnt even think about it until I was already over here in Iraq). Within 2 weeks of deploying I sent them a email telling them to cancel the account and they informed me that I needed to return the equipment. I informed them that wouldnt be possible until I returned to the US due to the equipment being locked in my barracks room which no one but myself has access to. They sent me a email replying that was fine and they would make a note on the account that the equipment wouldnt be returned until I was home from my deployment.

Fast foward a year and upon checking my credit report, I find that they turned the balance of the equipment (not for services, they were current and paid in full) over to collections in July and has been killing my credit ever since. So I shot them a email explaining the situation and how they agreed to place my account on hold until I was able to return the equipment and am still waiting on a reply as to what they intend to do about it.

My question to you guys is, should I file a discrepancy report through Experian while waiting or should I wait for Time Warner and see if they will correct the problem themselves?

Thanks for any advice

[Blk Death]

Also, how long can I expect for this to be removed from my credit so its not negatively affecting me? I plan on purchasing a house soon after I get back from the states and this will obviously hinder that.

[Dragline]

Unfortunately, I doubt it will come off. Everybody reading this will understand the situation you are in. But the simple fact is you didn't return the equipment and no matter what the cirumstance, thats all Time Warner will see even though for now they put a hold on the account.

Having something taken off your credit report, even if it rightfuly should is a HUGE pain in the ass. My father and I have the same name. Some of his credit, one of which is a Hudson Belk card that was issued 4 years before I was even born is on MY credit report. I contested these things with all 3 credit beuros almost 2 years ago. Only one I think has come through and taken them off. Luckily, of the 3 or 4 things on there that arent mine only one has a balance. But that one makes me appear to be even more in debt than I really am so I have no doubt it could effect my score. The others, like the 34 year old Hudson belk card have had a 0 balance for years and arent hurting me. But I still don't want them on there.

[Blk Death]

I see what your getting at, however I have it on paper that they agreed to hold the account that means it never should've went to collections. It pisses me off that these fuckers are going to ruin my damned credit because I had to jump shit and leave to goto war for 15 months and they couldnt get thier damn equipment back.

I fuckin hate Time Warner.

Let me ask you this, is it Time Warner ill have to fight with, the collections agency or the bureaus to get it taken off?

[The Funkmeister]

You may first try and speak with someone (upper or senior management not some pee-on you get on the phone) from Time Warner to see if they would first be willing to request a removal with all the credit agencies.

I believe all you have to do is dispute the reporting with the credit agencies. Explaining your situation and the written letter from Time Warner as proof. They (Time Warner) would then have 30 days to refute your claims or the credit agencies would have to remove it from your credit.

I would fight this to the end...I can't imagine they would have any leg to stand on in a dispute. Especially if you have written documentation.

Dave

[AmericanCobra]

damn that sounds like a fucked up situation hope everything works out for the best man Good Luck!!!

[2002GreyGT]

Collections stay on you record for 7 years from day of reporting.

However it is NOT that hard to get a collections removed from your credit report if you have ANY proof it should not have been put to collections. I have had companies remove collections plenty when it was their mistake.

Take that email / paper you have saying they were going to hold you account.

1. Call TWC and ask why it was put to collections when you have proof they were to hold the account. They should either tell you why and most likely give you a letter saying it was a mistake by TWC. They might be willing to fix it for you.

2. Call the collections agency and NICELY explain the situation, and say you have a letter from TWC and you spoke to them and this should never had sent this to collections.

If you can't get then collection agency to remove the collection with just the letter. The collection agency will either ask you to pay the account in full and with that they will probably agree to remove/delete the collection record on your credit report. Make sure they send you a letter saying this, so if it is NOT removed you can send that letter to the credit agency that has it on your report and it will be removed.


If you don't get the response you like from either of them, call back and try again. All it takes is 1 nice manger to help you out, and I am sure you can find an ex-military person that will do you a favor.

If that does not work, there are steps about sending certified letters asking for info/proof of the debt and they have 30 days to respond and if they don't respond in that time frame the debt can be removed from a credit report.

Best of luck.

~K

[dlbrando]

file the dispute, I have had stuff happen where something got reported mistakenly, the company actually asked me to file the dispute because it got the ball rolling from both ends and it insures that it gets taken care of faster.

It wont hurt them to file it, and with the letter and such it should work out for you.

[saleen331]

sucks that they screwed you like that

[msydnor]

You may first try and speak with someone (upper or senior management not some pee-on you get on the phone) from Time Warner to see if they would first be willing to request a removal with all the credit agencies.

I believe all you have to do is dispute the reporting with the credit agencies. Explaining your situation and the written letter from Time Warner as proof. They (Time Warner) would then have 30 days to refute your claims or the credit agencies would have to remove it from your credit

I would fight this to the end...I can't imagine they would have any leg to stand on in a dispute. Especially if you have written documentation.

Dave

Ditto, only thing I might do different is if I don't get a decent response from TWC in a timely manner, I would use the documentation that TWC agreed to as dispute to the credit agency...make sure you do it for all 3 agencies. If you fille a dispute, TWC will be required to respond and disput the info you have provided. Also, check with you legal office, you may be covered under the Soldiers and sailors act. There are some limitation on collections and what creditors can do while you are deployed. I'm no expert on the subject, but I believe it "could" be all you need to get it tossed. You legal office would no the approriate answers though.

[mulletless]

If you're not able to get it resolved working with TWC and the collection agencies, file a complaint to the NC Attorney General's "consumer protection" folks -- http://www.ncdoj.com/consumerprotection/cp_about.jsp

Then the attorney general will send TWC a letter asking them "what's up with this", and they definitely will (should) respond to that letter, and be very motivated to get the issue resolved.

[spray'n mach 1]

Ditto, only thing I might do different is if I don't get a decent response from TWC in a timely manner, I would use the documentation that TWC agreed to as dispute to the credit agency...make sure you do it for all 3 agencies. If you fille a dispute, TWC will be required to respond and disput the info you have provided. Also, check with you legal office, you may be covered under the Soldiers and sailors act. There are some limitation on collections and what creditors can do while you are deployed. I'm no expert on the subject, but I believe it "could" be all you need to get it tossed. You legal office would no the approriate answers though.

you took the words out of my mouth....I had a problem like that and the legal office sent a letter from one of the lawyers on base to the creditor....it didn't cost a thing and they took that shit off my credit report....goodluck....

[Blk Death]

Appreciate the advice guys. I have a S2 shop here on the COB im at in Baghdad, but Im not trying to bother them while there doing what they do. Im hoping I can handle the situation through Time Warner myself, but of course if they wanna play ball I have no problem using the Army's resources I have avalible to get it resolved.

I just hate that its going to more likely than not delay my plans once I get home due to thier mistake. Also, for you guys that have gotten things of this nature taken off, how long did it take from the time they recieved the letter and sent it to the credit bureaus?

[msydnor]

Appreciate the advice guys. I have a S2 shop here on the COB im at in Baghdad, but Im not trying to bother them while there doing what they do. Im hoping I can handle the situation through Time Warner myself, but of course if they wanna play ball I have no problem using the Army's resources I have avalible to get it resolved.

I just hate that its going to more likely than not delay my plans once I get home due to thier mistake. Also, for you guys that have gotten things of this nature taken off, how long did it take from the time they recieved the letter and sent it to the credit bureaus?

The have 30 days to rectifiy the situation.

[Blk Death]

Well just got a email from Experian after filing a dispute, and they chopped it off the credit report. It was actually easy to do, just had to wait forever.

So if you've been wrongfully charged with anything negative sent to the bureau's, dispute it and stick with it. Im sure glad I did

[danno]

These days it seems like businesses hold your credit rating hostage to get their way. I had a dispute with a "fly by night" long distance company, and that was their only stance..."Pay now or will put it on your credit". I ponied up the money I didn't owe, 80 bucks, just to keep it off my report and avoid the hassle.

Here what I'm curious about. If a business reports something negative and inaccurate on your credit report, it will cost you money, through higher interest rates etc. Has anyone ever file suit against the company that reported the bad info. It would set a nice precedence and hold them to some level of accountability.

[msydnor]

These days it seems like businesses hold your credit rating hostage to get their way. I had a dispute with a "fly by night" long distance company, and that was their only stance..."Pay now or will put it on your credit". I ponied up the money I didn't owe, 80 bucks, just to keep it off my report and avoid the hassle.

Here what I'm curious about. If a business reports something negative and inaccurate on your credit report, it will cost you money, through higher interest rates etc. Has anyone ever file suit against the company that reported the bad info. It would set a nice precedence and hold them to some level of accountability.

I've often wondered the same. I think the credit reporting companies should be held to some kind of standard. If someone reports shit, they just stick it on your report. IMO that shit's fucked up. I recently had a debt show up on my report which was not mine, I got it removed, but it took a while. I had some negative shit on my report a few years ago that took two years to get removed, which affected my interest rate on my new house. And even once it is removed, it take them forever to raise you score.

[Bananaman]

These days it seems like businesses hold your credit rating hostage to get their way. I had a dispute with a "fly by night" long distance company, and that was their only stance..."Pay now or will put it on your credit". I ponied up the money I didn't owe, 80 bucks, just to keep it off my report and avoid the hassle.

Here what I'm curious about. If a business reports something negative and inaccurate on your credit report, it will cost you money, through higher interest rates etc. Has anyone ever file suit against the company that reported the bad info. It would set a nice precedence and hold them to some level of accountability.

Just happened

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut sued three of the nation's leading credit rating firms on Wednesday, alleging they gave artificially low marks to cities and towns across the state.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the alleged actions are costing taxpayers millions of dollars because of unnecessary bond insurance and higher interest rates.
State and local governments issue bonds to raise money for costly projects such as building new schools and upgrading sewer plants. Lower bond ratings mean higher interest payments.
Blumenthal and state Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. filed the lawsuit in Hartford Superior Court against Moody's Corp., Fitch Inc., and the McGraw-Hill Cos., which is the parent company of Standard & Poor's.
They allege Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and several other municipalities were unfairly given lower ratings on their ability to repay bonds than corporations with comparable projects and financial backing.
"This rating charade created a Wall Street shell game constructed by the ratings agencies for the benefit of the bond insurers, which enabled the bond insurers to profit from unnecessary premiums and interest paid by taxpayers," Blumenthal said.
Anthony Mirenda, a Moody's spokesman, said Wednesday that company officials had received the lawsuit and were reviewing it.
"Based on our understanding of the allegations as it relates to Moody's, it is entirely without merit and we expect it will be dismissed expeditiously," Mirenda said.
Fitch released a statement calling the lawsuit "an unfortunate development." The company said Blumenthal knows that it has been reviewing its municipal finance ratings system for several months and expects to report its findings to the market on Thursday.
"Fitch believes the suit is without merit and intends to defend itself vigorously," the statement said.
"Fitch rates Connecticut and all states based on our forward-looking opinion as to their financial capacity to pay their debts as they come due - not based solely on historical rates of default," the company said. "Since 1999 Fitch has made public a number of comprehensive studies examining the credit risk of municipal issuers, including several referenced in the complaint." A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with a representative of Standard & Poor's. . (http://content.yellowbrix.com/images/content/cimage.nsp?ctype=full_story&story_id=119692858&id=vzbroadbandbeat&ip_id=AP&source_id=Associated+Press%2FAP+Online&category=AP+Top+Business)

[cmb570]

file report with all three credit companies. Also pick up phone and contact TW management to explain your situation. Some companies are understaning of our service men. Either way to get it removed you will need to file report with all three credit companies

Should help your case with TW the comments they placed on your account durnig your first call. I would mention that to the manager too