What You Talkin' 'Bout Resurgent?

Let's do a bit of backtracking to an earlier post...

Remember the letter from Resurgent? Let me highlight a few important phrases:

"In most cases, creditors charge off accounts once they are 120 days or more past due/delinquent. The statement "120 days past due" is generally how a charged off account is defined by the credit bureaus. Due to the account being charged off, the bureaus still report it as 120 days past due even if it is paid. LVNV Funding, LLC does not report accounts as 120 days past due. This comment is added by the bureaus to further define the account; therefore, LVNV Funding, LLC cannot alter this statement on your credit report."

If you've read anything involving how credit reports are created and maintained, you should be aware that the credit bureau is not responsible for creating the data on a consumer report - it is the responsibility of the data furnisher (debt collector in this case) to report accurate information. It is then up to the credit bureau to pass along the information reported by the debt collector.

The four phrases that were written above are falsehoods, plain and simple, and are designed to cast blame on the credit bureau (in my case, Equifax). Remember how I said that there are laws to protect consumers from the misrepresentations of debt collectors? Well, Resurgent has told not one, but four falsehoods in the same letter, and has committed the first act to earn its place on my lawsuit.

But we can't stop there. The next thing that I received was an "affidavit of debt" from Resurgent, which I have attached below. The letter was dated 10/19/05, but was placed in the mail 5 days later. With the "affidavit" was a cover letter telling me that the account had been placed with Resurgent Capital Services, along with a Privacy Notice on behalf of the "Sherman Companies" (in which they go on to list ALL of the companies affiliated with Sherman).

Notice on the "affidavit", that Ms. Allison B. Moon testifies that the account was originated with OSI/Gulf State? Then she goes on to state that she is competent to testify and that the amount is just and true.

Well, Ms. Allison B. Moon is SO uninformed about this account that she can't even get the originating creditor correct (it was Providian) - then goes on to state that she's competent. What a joke. Anyway, the reason I'm point this out to you is because this is a copy of what's been referred to as a "false affidavit". Regardless of the fact that she lied under oath about the original creditor, Ms. Allison B. Moon has NO FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE about this account, so she can't testify to ANYTHING.

This has become a bit unbelievable to me - that a company could get away with outright falsehoods like this. But I remained patient, waiting for Equifax to correct my credit report.

I'm really glad I wasn't holding my breath...

The Subterfuge Starts

After being bombarded by all of the horror stories of fellow consumers' dealings with the debt collection industry, it really didn't surprise me when I received my first letter in response to my complaints - not from Sherman, LVNV or Equifax, but from another company entirely.

The letter was from a Desimber Wattleton with Resurgent Capital Services and read as follows:

"This is a response to your correspondence dated October 14, 2005 regarding the above referenced account. Resurgent Capital Services is now servicing this account for its current owner, LVNV Funding, LLC. By signing a contract with Providian, you agreed to the terms and conditions allowing Providian to report your account history. At some point this account became delinquent and was subsequently charged off and sold to LVNV Funding, LLC (formerly Sherman Acquisition, LP). As current owner of the account, LVNV Funding, LLC has a right to report. This is not a duplicate tradeline or reporting error; this is how credit history is established, maintained, and scored."

"In most cases, creditors charge off accounts once they are 120 days or more past due/delinquent. The statement "120 days past due" is generally how a charged off account is defined by the credit bureaus. Due to the account being charged off, the bureaus still report it as 120 days past due even if it is paid. LVNV Funding, LLC does not report accounts as 120 days past due. This comment is added by the bureaus to further define the account; therefore, LVNV Funding, LLC cannot alter this statement on your credit report."

This is a perfect example of the classic finger-pointing scheme: LVNV points the finger at Equifax and tells me that the credit bureaus are responsible for the reporting. Now to really perfect the scheme, we need the other half - you guessed it - a letter from Equifax blaming LVNV, which we'll get to shortly. But first, let's get a little more in depth on exactly HOW and WHY an account appears on your report...

To be continued...

It's a Start

INTRODUCTION:

I'm new to the blogging world but have come across a circumstance in my life that truly merits the dedication of my time and effort to form this blog. Hopefully, this will be a therapeutic exercise that will help me deal with my frustrations (and hopefully my experiences will help other consumers in the future).

For those of you reading that would like to get right to the subject, I'll throw you a bone: This entire blog is about my fight against a conglomerate of debt collectors owned by Sherman Financial - specifically Sherman Acquisitions, LVNV Funding, and Resurgent Capital Services.

But for right now, let me get the thank you's and legal mumbo-jumbo out of the way...

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

First off, I have to give major credit to Christine over at http://www.creditsuit.org/ for publishing such a monumental piece of consumer rights blog. Her dedication to stripping away the sugar-coating on the debt-collection industry lit a similar fire deep within me. Thank you Christine!

Next, I'd like to thank all of the members of my favorite debt collection discussion forums for the knowledge that they have given me to fight these thugs: http://www.infinitecredit.com/, http://www.debtorboards.com/, and http://www.artofcredit.com/ (now defunct). Both have been instrumental in showing me just how WRONG my credit report was.

I'd also like to thank consumer advocate Bud Hibbs at http://www.budhibbs.com/ for standing up for us little guys and giving us the courage to shout "YOU CAN NOT DO THAT!" straight into the faces of our tormentors. And big thank you to the attorneys that run http://www.myfaircredit.com/ and http://www.myfairdebt.com/ for arming all of us consumers with the legal cites to help defeat these guys in a courtroom.

And finally, I’d like to thank pandmel from the old ArtofCredit days, who took the time to walk me through the set up of my own blog – without him this content wouldn’t be here.

Well...enough of the mushy stuff...now onto the legal stuff, which like the removal of a band-aid is best dealt with directly and quickly.

LEGAL DISCLAIMERS:

1. I am in NO WAY affiliated with or endorsed by the Sherman Family of companies, which includes, but is not limited to Sherman Financial, Sherman Acquisitions, LVNV Funding, and Resurgent Capital Services.
2. I am NOT an attorney, and do not claim to give legal advice. Please seek the help of an attorney licensed in your state prior to attempting anything you might read about on my blog.
3. I do not advocate anyone avoiding your debts, as there is both a moral and legal obligation to make good on your promise(s).
4. I am not a Credit Repair service. I do not guarantee that the results that I have attained will match the results of others. I am only laying my experiences out there for others to see and do with as they see fit.

FOR ANY ANTAGONISTS:

You might not like what you read about in my blog, but every single word that I say here is backed up by cold, hard documentation. If there is an error in my posting, please be so kind as to forward written proof of my mistake and I will make no hesitation to change my blog. Be forewarned that baseless threats will not be tolerated and will be vigorously defended.

Also, the use of your copyrighted tradename(s) is a legal right afforded to me under 17 USC 107, so go suck cold turkey!