Tara, every time a debt gets re-sold to another collection company, it can hit a consumer's credit report as a new item.

Tara,  this stuff is real.  Classic case of "we can run but we can't hide."  Thanks for sharing this info. That's why it's a good thing to have an attorney to keep us abreast of our rights.

This is like a cancer.  I know that they are not supposed to re-age and double report but unless you know how to fight them it can be a nightmare.

Tara, I never heard that term before "Zombie Debt" but it is not unusual for me to run someones Credit Report, and all the sudden there are debt on it that they forgot all about.

Tara: I've seen it happen so many times when I have buyers going through the mortgage process.....it's scary.  I had no idea that an institution sells it's debts to the collection agencies.  Look at that....it's not even 7:00 yet and I've learned something!  Thanks for posting this!

Sad part is, the Fair Debtors Collection Act isn't much help to many consumers.  For instance, it states that debt collectors must call during reasonable hours - what are reasonable hours?  That's what an attorney once asked me. Whose to say 9:30 at night isn't reasonable.

Are you able to remove a mtg late fee from 4 years ago on a clients credit report?

Brian: Correct and unlawful. Nice to meet you Brian, love your blogs.

Cedric: You are also correct!

Gayle: Correct again!! And all consumers should use The Fair Credit Reporting Act when they write to the bureaus. Saying, 'That's not right!" is usually not enough. I even sent proof from a mortgage company saying they made a mistake by reporting a friend's payment late and it still didn't come off! I didn't think I needed to state the law when I had documentation from the mortgage company. Wrong!

George: I love that term and when I heard it on GMA I made sure I listened to that segment.

Barbara: We learn so much on AR that I feel like that Army commercial: We do more before 9am than most people in a day.

Sandra:Hello Madame President! I don't find much about the laws that are reasonable.

Brian: I responded to Brian personally days ago, but I wanted to post the response on the blog also. Mr response to Brian is below:

Brian, I will put the reply on the post, but I want to respond to all 6 comments prior so to answer your question 'now', the type of item does not matter. It is whether it has been reported incorrectly. That is where the Fair Credit Reporting Act comes in. Read my blog

What is Credit Restoration?

Tara,

How is your business going?  Saw your profile and thought about our conversation about a month ago.  I wish you continued success.  I would hope that this is a great market for your services. 

Ntsike 

Tara, I think something has to be done.  There needs to be higher punishments - longer jail time the electric chair  ( just kidding ) for people who steal identities and there also needs to be some place, organization where the innocent consumer can go to restore their good name.  We need to urge our legislators to protect the innocent consumer.  One inadvertent mistake or a stolen identity will wreak havoc on someone one for the rest of their lives.  Not right.

Ntsike: Business is picking up. I was as popular as an ant at a picnic during the holidays. 8-) Then life interrupted for a moment. Now I feel I am back on track. Thanks for asking.

Audrey: It is very difficult once this occurs to restore your name. My cousin's purse was stolen 7 years ago and she is still going through the agonies of falsified credit issues. She wants a new social security number, but was denied. I don't know why. Must investigate.

My best advice is for people to research what product will protect them (not just their credit cards) from identity theft. It's like insurance: You hope you never have to use it, but just in case....

I see they even removed a fee of your Blogs. I see what you mean I will remove the Blog they took points away from me when I ge tthru sending you theis comment. Thanks again.

Hey Ronell. Thanks for reading through my blogs.

Actually the blog in question I flagged ahead of time and I knew I wouldn't get points for posting. A pop up appears before you can finally post. It's not that you can't post, just you won't get credit. I am sure I didn't make that clear before. I apologize.

With that being said, some things you may need real permission to reprint prior to posting. Since I was just directing to a public site (Good Morning America), I think I was okay. But information from copyrighted material (Zig Ziglar) may be a whole different ball of wax. I would be careful posting. Search on guidelines for posting copyrighted material. It may not be a big deal for you, because you have plenty of original content, but then you would know definitively.