Ask HN: Litigating to remove false information on your credit report?

[hash872]

Recently I've had a collections agency put materially false information on my credit report. They sent me information regarding a debt that I dispute, and legally in the US I have a 30 day window to dispute the debt in writing via certified mail, which I did. However, they cleverly put a fake date on their initial letter to me, to narrow the date in which I could dispute it. I.e. they wrote me a letter about the debt on February 25th, but put a fake date of February 1st on the letter- thus only giving me until March 1st to respond within the 30 day window. They now state that my certified letter to them was outside of that 30 days. I cannot think of any way of proving when I actually physically received the letter, so their fraudulent 'date' on the notice made it impossible for me to respond in time.

Yes I am familiar with credit repair agencies and some of my federal rights, but- I was planning on purchasing a property this year, and their fraud likely makes that impossible. Even if I eventually have it removed, it will be months or years too late. And no simply paying the debt isn't worth it now, as my credit report would still show an account that had been in collections very recently.

I know this is not the right place for legal advice, but I am considering aggressive & punitive litigation. It's rational for me to spend significant money on a litigator, as it's still likely less than what I'd pay in a higher interest rate over 30 years due to worse credit. I am also feeling pretty retributive. Does anyone else have any experience with aggressively attacking false information on a credit report with litigation or threats of litigation, and not just 'dispute item and wait 30-60 days for them to respond', etc.?

[cat9]

The appropriate escalation step here is probably paying a lawyer to send a properly-worded letter on legal letterhead.

As far as dates go, did they use Certified Mail or a similar service? Does the postmark agree with their date or yours? Writing a date on the letter doesn't prove anything about when they sent it.

If it's a scam an not incompetence, a letter from a lawyer will probably shut them up quickly. Litigation usually isn't acquired, you're switching their opponent from a consumer they think they can scam to a professional they know they can't.

[torstenvl]

What day did you respond? This is a key piece of information you've left out.

What was the postmark date on the letter's envelope?

Do you use USPS Informed Delivery?

Had you spoken with them before receipt of the letter? Your thirty days under the FDCPA runs from first contact.

The first avenue I would try is the credit bureaus. Request that they validate the debt and inform them that you have disputed it. Be advised that the first request for debt validation is almost always treated in a cursory manner. You will probably need to request that they re-validate in order to gain any traction.

[hash872 → torstenvl]

I responded within a week of receiving the letter. I didn't notice the fake date on the letter initially, and threw out the envelope after opening- so it's lost forever. Yes, I of course used certified mail to respond to them. I had not spoken with them before the letter.

I will of course try the credit bureaus, but in my experience everything takes 30-60 days to get an initial response etc. At the speed they move at, likely sinks my ability to buy a home this year. Hence my interest in a more aggressive tack

[Spooky23]

IANAL. You’re better off paying them off, getting the credit entry removed and then suing them.

[tudelo → Spooky23]

Uh, if you pay them, it's not removed? AFAIK it is still there on your credit report. I recently had an issue where I paid the original debtor and disputed the secondary collector and it went away, my credit impact was nullified, but it's still on my report.

[jaden → Spooky23]

Paying them will make it that much harder to prove the information was false.

[tomohawk → Spooky23]

no