Having been recently included for free credit checking, after the Target identity theft issue, I checked my credit with Experian and found a $9,924 "collection" on my credit report, resulting in a 610 FICO score! I had never heard of Portfolio Recovery, a company located in Virginia. I immediately wrote to the Office of Consumer Affairs in Virginia, detailing what this erroneous addition to my credit report had done to my overall score and my ability to maintain good credit. ALL of my credit cards lowered my limits, but I thought that had been in response to the ongoing bank investigations and the banks way of getting back at consumers. It all made sense when I saw this entry. What shocked, alarmed and enraged me most is that Experian excepted this "collection" entry without documentation. I can assure you that none exists. However, I have been a victim of lost wallets and identity theft within the last 20 years and may have seemed a legitimate target to Bottom-feeder agencies like Portfolio Recovery (the Internet is rife with consumer complaints about their tactics and illegal practices attempting to collect "debts!") I intend to pursue this matter by informing our Attorney General Kamala Harris and am grateful that you are targeting an otherwise unassailable lobby. Anytime a consumer writes to a credit reporting agency, the letter winds up in Mumbai, is laughed at and never acted upon. Experian, TransUnion and Equifax should undergo a Congressional investigation, during which their anti-consumer orientation and fraudulent reporting will be noted, as well as the impossibility of restoring a former 810 FICO, once scumbags like Portfolio Recovery have been allowed clear access to ruin the credit score and compromise the professional life and earning potential of millions of consumers.
During the past 2 years I have been repeatedly contacted by a variety of collection agencies. It began innocently enough, when one of them called me, asking "when can we expect your payment," when that statement had not yet arrived and was not due until the 20th of the month and the call occurred on the 11th. It was a collection agency hired by Capital One. Coincidentally, I purchased various items at Costco a few days later and received the shock of my little life when my credit card was denied. I called Capital One from a phone at Costco and was told I had not made my payment...this was even stranger because I pay off my balance each month. What I didn't know is that Costco switched from a very nice bank (HSBC) to Capital One, never notified me and Capital One immediately played hardball, albeit unnecessarily. To answer their strong-arm tactics, I wrote a letter to Robert Crawford, the incoming CFO of Capital One, in which I had cut up both credit cards and told him to "shove it," for treating a long-time customer like something you scrape off the shoe! When the collection calls began, I was in a great mood - after all, I had initiated this mess. However, they were unfaird from the beginning. They use I.V.R. numbers. Without technical jargon, it means that the number we see on caller i.d. is never the number from which they're calling, so you can't block their call (my provider allows me to block 12 numbers and I wondered how these collection agencies were constantly squeaking by). They robodial, so you can and do get several calls per day and before 8:00 AM and after 9:00 PM, since they know there is very little you can do about the early or late calls, besides whine (thank you, Darlings who will pursue these jerks!) and sit around frustrated and without good credit. That said, what followed was even worse....the collection agency (Portfolio Recovery) which was able to place a bogus $9,924 "collection" on my Experian credit score, which I saw because Target offered me 1-year free credit monitoring, which, by the way, isn't free if you want to see your complete profile...they have no paperwork to substantiate this charge and it has completely ruined my credit, pulling down my FICO from 795 - 810 to 610! To me, having collection agency CEO's boiled in oil seems like an act of mercy!
Chris Marx
1
Having been recently included for free credit checking, after the Target identity theft issue, I checked my credit with Experian and found a $9,924 "collection" on my credit report, resulting in a 610 FICO score! I had never heard of Portfolio Recovery, a company located in Virginia. I immediately wrote to the Office of Consumer Affairs in Virginia, detailing what this erroneous addition to my credit report had done to my overall score and my ability to maintain good credit. ALL of my credit cards lowered my limits, but I thought that had been in response to the ongoing bank investigations and the banks way of getting back at consumers. It all made sense when I saw this entry. What shocked, alarmed and enraged me most is that Experian excepted this "collection" entry without documentation. I can assure you that none exists. However, I have been a victim of lost wallets and identity theft within the last 20 years and may have seemed a legitimate target to Bottom-feeder agencies like Portfolio Recovery (the Internet is rife with consumer complaints about their tactics and illegal practices attempting to collect "debts!") I intend to pursue this matter by informing our Attorney General Kamala Harris and am grateful that you are targeting an otherwise unassailable lobby. Anytime a consumer writes to a credit reporting agency, the letter winds up in Mumbai, is laughed at and never acted upon. Experian, TransUnion and Equifax should undergo a Congressional investigation, during which their anti-consumer orientation and fraudulent reporting will be noted, as well as the impossibility of restoring a former 810 FICO, once scumbags like Portfolio Recovery have been allowed clear access to ruin the credit score and compromise the professional life and earning potential of millions of consumers.
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Chris Marx
2
Surely there are enough new debts daily to make having to purchase old ones prohibitive? Oh wait....greed!
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Chris Marx
3
During the past 2 years I have been repeatedly contacted by a variety of collection agencies. It began innocently enough, when one of them called me, asking "when can we expect your payment," when that statement had not yet arrived and was not due until the 20th of the month and the call occurred on the 11th. It was a collection agency hired by Capital One. Coincidentally, I purchased various items at Costco a few days later and received the shock of my little life when my credit card was denied. I called Capital One from a phone at Costco and was told I had not made my payment...this was even stranger because I pay off my balance each month. What I didn't know is that Costco switched from a very nice bank (HSBC) to Capital One, never notified me and Capital One immediately played hardball, albeit unnecessarily. To answer their strong-arm tactics, I wrote a letter to Robert Crawford, the incoming CFO of Capital One, in which I had cut up both credit cards and told him to "shove it," for treating a long-time customer like something you scrape off the shoe! When the collection calls began, I was in a great mood - after all, I had initiated this mess. However, they were unfaird from the beginning. They use I.V.R. numbers. Without technical jargon, it means that the number we see on caller i.d. is never the number from which they're calling, so you can't block their call (my provider allows me to block 12 numbers and I wondered how these collection agencies were constantly squeaking by). They robodial, so you can and do get several calls per day and before 8:00 AM and after 9:00 PM, since they know there is very little you can do about the early or late calls, besides whine (thank you, Darlings who will pursue these jerks!) and sit around frustrated and without good credit. That said, what followed was even worse....the collection agency (Portfolio Recovery) which was able to place a bogus $9,924 "collection" on my Experian credit score, which I saw because Target offered me 1-year free credit monitoring, which, by the way, isn't free if you want to see your complete profile...they have no paperwork to substantiate this charge and it has completely ruined my credit, pulling down my FICO from 795 - 810 to 610! To me, having collection agency CEO's boiled in oil seems like an act of mercy!
View this comment in the discussion thread