Freaking Fingerhut
Anyone else having trouble with the folks to put it nicely. i settled with them and even shows that i did on my report. i owed them 363 settled for 181. today got my new report got new fingerhut accounts with new account numbers asking for 181$. just disputed them and said in my dispute the accounts were fraud so guess ill wait to see if the go the hell away for good this time :-x :evil:
I see a lot of Fingerhut collections through various different agencies. It seems that when Fingerhut shut down a bunch of sites, they stopped sending bills and instead started sending collections. I have had success by simply sending the agency that you are seeing a certified letter requesting: 1. a signed contract with your signature on it, 2. a detail of exactly what you bought and when, 3. a detail of your payment history.
Tell them that you do not owe them the money and you want proof of this fraudulent debt or delete this from your credit report immediately! Tell them that you are familiar with your rights under the FCRA and the FDCPA (look them up online). They have 30 days to respond. If you don't get back response in about 45 days, send the letter again, this time threatening to speak with your attorney.
But, if they send you proof, you'll have to pay 'em.
You also may want to contact the finger directly and dispute with them directly. The bureaus will remove bad reports and do their best to keep bad reports from reappearing but if the finger keeps reporting one or two may slip by the bureaus every now and then.
Ask the finger for a copy of the "new account" application. If they can not produce it then legally it does not excist. If they do check it very carefully.
Do not be afraid to threaten with legal action. Make the threat on your second or third letter. Try to be as nice and and polite as you can in the beginning. People tend to be more receptive to it and willing to help. You will also be able to see if they are going to try and jerk you around until you simply go away.
Best of luck.
[addsig]
Also, it will still show on your report as "settled for less than full balance". That is not beneficial. It is still a derogatory account. In the future, when making settlements, always get it in writing up front that the account will be marked "paid as agreed" upon payment. Best of luck with your dispute.
Sincerely,
Mario Costanz
President
SmartServ Solutions
well here is and update got experian report back already the deleted the fingerhut account. so i ordered my new report from them and was so nicely surprised that they also deleted my repo of a car from 7 years ago. so got a fico score and it was 646 not bad since 2 years ago it was 380 im a happy camper today . now for exquifax and transuion to follow suit ill have a great year lol to all that have helped me over the last year i dearly thank you[ Edited by mike3367 on Date 09/27/2004 ]