Charter Bright House/Spectrum/Waypoint Collecting From Wrong Person

[Doctorold]

I went to get financing on a new home and received a copy of credit reports and found a 130 point drop. It seems that someone with the same last name as me (but not the first name) had service with Charter Bright House in Florida in 2014 and ran up over $800 bill and ran off with the equipment. Charter (now Spectrum) gave the account to Waypoint Resource for collection. Instead of trying to collect from me (don't know how they would anyway, I was never a customer of Charter)they somehow randomly put this against my credit report. I was in the 800s. Now my score is in the 600s. I have spent countless hours talking with people at Spectrum and they all just pass the buck, say "fill out the ID theft forms" and wait. I have also filed phone and paper disputes with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and they say I should just wait and see. In the meantime I may miss out on getting a new home. I would love to know how to get past Spectrum's customer service and fraud department and actually get someone who can help.

 

[Neil Maley]

I’m so sorry- this is terrible especially when you are buying a home!

Here you go:

https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/charter-communications-charter-spectrum/

 

[Doctorold]

Thanks, Neil. Unfortunately, can't get through to anyone. The phone number gets you to where you can try a company directory but none of the names on the list are in the directory. I had already sent an email to the Mayo person and have not gotten a response. If you try to get an operator for that number it says no one is available.

 

[Christina H]

Ugh what a mess. Do you think that was ID theft (ie someone using your last name and SS #) or do you think this is incompetence by Waypoint? It sounds like straight up incomplete by Waypoint and the credit agencies if the first name and SS # do not match.

You need to deal with waypoint they put the notice there and not Spectrum/charter

 

[Doctorold]

First name and Social for account do not match. If you look up Waypoint on BBB, they are crooked. They get a B rating but the claims are nuts. They won't do squat until Charter tells them. Spectrum people are just sitting on their hands. They are polite but no one cares. My only other recourse is to hire an attorney ($$$ per hour). Considering this is screwing up my life, you would think you could get a hold of someone in that company who would say "hey, this is screwed up. let's fix this now" but that doesn't look like that's going to happen.

 

[Doctorold]

Stay tuned. I finally fumbled my way into someone's office ate the corporate office and talked to a person who took a bunch of info from me. Says I will get a call back. We'll wait and see.

 

[Razilo]

You do not provide a timeline, but even with the response from Spectrum, you should follow the instructions on the following website to formally challenge the item on your credit report. You will need to do it with all the reporting agencies. It will also help if by any chance it shows back up again if Spectrum removes it. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0151-disputing-errors-credit-reports

 

[Doctorold]

I not only called and filed a dispute over the phone with all three, I also sent them a formal written dispute with proof of residence for the time period in question (and the police report...yada yada). They are useless to deal with. What we are seeing with Waypoint is, they may remove a collection from a credit report, but they are known to recycle it and put it on again. It's really rather scary to think I could end up dealing with this for years.

 

[Razilo]

Still follow the gov website instructions. It will put an official record for the issue. That way if it shows up again, they will have a record of it being a false claim against you. I am not sure why the had you file a identity theft. Is the social security number and the first name do not match, it seems to be a reporting error, not an identity theft error. Does the DOB match?

 

[Doctorold]

Nothing matches except the last name. I've actually gotten some action from Charter today (they have called me several times) and they are starting to get it and think that this is a "Common name" error. I may have finally barked into the right office and am crossing my fingers to have something done about this. The longer I have worked with this I really felt this was not ID theft but just wasn't sure how they linked me to it. The fact that I was with TWC may have given them an avenue but it still wasn't an exact match. At this point I really don't care except I want this off my CR.

 

[Neil Maley]

I cannot believe that the three credit reporting agencies have done nothing for you when you can prove it isn't your social. When you write to them disputing something on your report they are supposed to add that to your files. Have they don't that?

It seems to me that the credit reporting agencies are just as responsible for not verifying this before allowing it to go on your reports.

 

[Doctorold]

The credit agencies DON’T CARE. When I call, I end up speaking to someone in another country and occasionally we have things get lost in translation. But even when there’s no problem, all they say is “we have filed your dispute. We will investigate. Wait a month or two and we’ll see what happens.” They don’t investigate. Although, according to the last person I spoke to at TransUnion, they are required to automatically remove it from my record if the collection agency doesn’t prove the debt is mine. We’ll see. And my wife and I wholeheartedly agree, you would think they would verify this before wrecking someone’s credit. Again, they don’t care. They are more concerned with selling their protection services.

 

[jsn55]

I thought that with all the technology available today, the credit agencies would be dealing with these issues more expeditiously. For what it's worth, I had a similar (much smaller amount) that appeared on a CR report before we closed on a house. That was the only negative and we have an 800+ credit score (or whatever they call it). I was allowed to write a summary of the facts and the new lender accepted it. We always use a mortgage broker, and I think they will push these kinds of issues so as not to lose the deal. If you're actively looking for a house right now, why not ask for a pre-qual letter and see what happens?

 

[Doctorold]

You would think. But what we see is there’s tons of people in “customer service” but very few have the authority to make a common sense decision and take action. I’m starting to think we might get resolution but the cost has been hours and hours on the phone and doing research (and tons of stress). I don’t believe that this will prevent me from getting the financing. I have already explained the situation to the lenders in writing but we are not to the end so I don’t want to get ahead of myself. At this point, it’s about principle and hopefully preventing this from happening to others.

 

[Neil Maley]

Have you written to the three credit reporting agencies? Verbal isn’t good enough- it needs to be in writing.

We also advise you to write - here are the company contacts for all three credit reporting agencies- you need to start writing to them:

https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/#bank-financial-institution

 

[Doctorold]

Already done. Sent all three written disputes with accompanying documentation. Sent certified mail. Delivered. Trust me. I’ve covered the bases. My reason for getting on here was to find a bit of info with regard to getting past the basic customer service levels with Spectrum. They are the source of this so therefore they are also the solution. I think we’re going in the right direction with them now. I have had five calls from them today. That’s five more than I had the past two weeks. I appreciate the help. I had some of the info provided earlier but it wasn’t complete. Took some work to get through the corporate phone puzzle, but I go through to one person who opened the door to where we are now. Fingers crossed.

 

[Christina H]

This is just a ridiculous and frustrating situation— different first name, different SS#, different city... and despite all the contact no resolution.

Please keep us updated.

This collection agency is negligent and should not be in business.

 

[Neil Maley]

I hope that the contacts help but don’t rely on calls- write.

 

[Doctorold]

I’ve written all I can at this point. Only people left to write are the FTC and the BBB. The calls now are coming to me from Charter so we’ll see what happens today.

 

[Neil Maley]

The BBB can't do much except relay your issue to the Spectrum and send you their response. They cannot force Spectrum to correct anything.
The FTC is a better option. You can also complain to the CFPB about the credit reporting agencies - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/abo...au-now-taking-complaints-on-credit-reporting/