I sent a letter to Trans Union asking them to investigate a debt. They sent me a letter asking me for a copy of my ID and utility bill. I was a little annoyed because a few weeks prior, True Credit released all my credit reports to me with my address and identity already verified so how is it that they feel comfortable with my identity to give me a copy of my credit report, but when it comes to investigating, they can’t do that? I gave them what they asked for anyway. So now, I got a letter back from TU saying that my proof was unacceptable! I sent them my DL which was not expired and a second picture ID (school ID) and a utility bill that was not even 30 days old. They said the reason was that one of my documents was not a qualifying document – what do I do – send them the same thing again? I sent them exactly what they asked for and I am annoyed because I wanted them to be investigating my debt all this time!! What do you think?

Afni is a collection agency that holds some mysterious debt that they only referenced with a dollar amount and some abbreviated name that represents some company that I never heard of. I sent them THREE letters asking for validation of the debt they were reporting, and they ignored all but the last one which they sent a response saying they can’t investigate the debt until I send them a whole list of things like my drivers license, my utility bill, and some other information that just made me say “What?!” So I sent them a final letter saying either send me the details or stop reporting the debt – they responded back to me apologizing and saying they investigated my debt and decided to close my account and tell the agencies to delete listing from my credit report!

Here is a copy of the last letter I sent to AFNI that led to the final response of deleting everything:

Your response to my two previous requests for information on the debt you are reporting to my credit reports came much later than the 30 days that is allotted by federal law. In addition, your response did not contain any information in regards to the information you are reporting, but rather was an expedition for personal information from me. In addition, you reported the debt as being valid to the credit bureaus once again, AFTER I requested validation of the debt. How did you validate the debt with the credit bureaus while disregarding my requests?

I do not even know who you are, or what the debt is in relation to. I provided you with the account number you are reporting on my credit report. I will not send you a copy of my social security card or my identification or my utility bills – you must provide me with some information to validate the debt you are reporting with the account number, otherwise you are in violation of my rights under the FDRPA and FCRA.

If the information is not available or the debt can not be validated, please remove the listing from my credit report. As of now, I do not even know who the debt was originally with. I am requesting you for information – I am not making any statements, elections or offering a waiver of any of my rights. Your failure to respond within 30 days will result in legal action under my federally protected rights.

I also got a letter from a law firm in Chicago that filed a class action lawsuit against them – I mailed them a letter back, five days after their deadline, saying I was not sure about participating in the class action, but here are copies of my correspondence with Afni for your reference. I guess they say you can get like a $20 gift card as a reward from the class action – we’ll see!