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I’m looking for advice from the forum on a sticky credit issue (aren’t they all?). I don’t have full command of all the acronyms, but do have the link to the guide handy. Thanks in advance for any help you provide!
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I co-signed a lease for an apartment for my stepson in August of 2006. During the first night of occupancy, he violated the lease and was “evicted” the next day. The apartment complex owners wanted full payment for the entire year ($8300) and we refused to pay.
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For many years, nothing really happened with the exception of my stepson receiving occasional credit collection letters which we disputed by asking for validation on the basis of proof that they had not re-rented the apartment during the year and thereby possibly were collecting double-rent which is illegal in the state of CO.
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The CA never provided proof that the apartment was not rented again. They simply provided a statement showing that he owed the money as well as a copy of the lease.
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In November of 2009, I found the TL on my CR marked as in dispute even though I was never notified that they were going to put something on my CR. (I did receive a letter 20 months ago, but asked for DV which I never received.)
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In January 2010, I did lots of research and found the following problems with the CA tactics. (The CA is National Credit Systems in Atlanta, GA.):
1. They never notified me before putting the TL on my CR.
2. They re-aged the debt by 15 months – the DOLA should be 09/2006 but is not set as 12/2007.
3. They have not provided the proper DV – in short, they haven’t shown that the room wasn’t rented out again during the period of the lease.
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I hired a lawyer to research and send a letter to National Credit stating that they had not proven the debt and had violated the FCRA. National Credit responded with the same bogus paperwork in February 2010. They also offered to settle at 25% off the original amount.
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I called the CA in March and tried to negotiate something better but was thoroughly ineffective. In addition, I caught the CA “specialist” pretending to be 2 separate people with 2 different names. In fact, he sent me 2 letters with 2 names but the same signature.
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I don’t know where to go at this point. My credit score has gone from 800+ to 690. I don’t want to pay $300/hr to a lawyer to file a lawsuit, but also don’t want to pay the CA anything considering what crooks they are.  Anything thoughts about what I should do next?
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Another question, if I pay this bogus debt, will it actually improve my credit score again or am I screwed for a while no matter what?
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