Collection Agencies and Credit Reports

[arcain]

Background: I get a notice from the Parking Violations Bureau saying I have a delinquent ticket, and it's been sent to a collection agency. I call them up, "What are you talking about, it couldn't have been me. At 5:25pm on a Tuesday, I'm stuck at work!". So they put it on hold pending an investigation (I guess it's a pretty typical thing). I get home, I look over some stuff and realize my car was suppose to be at the dealership getting service performed that day. So I call up PVB again the next day and I tell them it wasn't me, I was never informed, the car was suppose to be at the dealer, etc... I ask them how can I get it taken off my credit report. The lady says something about paying it off or successfully contesting it will remove it from collections.

Fine. However I don't think she really understood me. As far as I know I have no blemishes on my credit report, and I don't want anything I didn't do on there. I don't want a "collection - settled" sitting on my credit report for 7 years because of something my dealer may have done (if the investigation proves the ticket to be valid).

The ticket itself is pretty cheap (even with the late fee and the collection fee), but I can see myself buying a house in the next 7 years and this could potentially be much costlier. The ticket was for not having a front plate so it's not an illegally parked ticket (which would be strictly the fault of the driver), but the delinquency part is due to my dealer not informing I had (possibly) gotten a ticket.

How can I insure there will be no mention of collections on my credit report due to this?


*grumble*grumble* I'm going to chew out my service manager when he calls me back. I'm fairly confident the investigation will show the ticket is valid right now.

 

[Mill]

All you can really do is dispute it with the 3 bureaus.

 

[EagleKeeper]

0) Pay the ticket and fines immediately. OPnce it hits the credit report, it can be a pain to get removed. It normally does not, just a note gets attached clearing you.
Ounce of prevention

1) You now have to prove that it was the dealer that created the ticket. If the vehicle was in for service, it should not have been used where a ticket could be issued.

Best way is to get the time/date of the invoice showing when the vehicle was turned in for service and when picked up.

If the dealership had control of the vehicle during the time of the violation, then it is a slam dunk.

The dealer should accept responsibility for the ticket and fees.

Get it in writing that it was the fault/responsibility of the dealer for the ticket and that they failed to notify you of the ticket. (suspect the the perp tore it up, figuring that he would get in trouble if it were discovered that the vehicle was being mis-used. The dealership may not even be aware of the issue).

2) Once you proof/statement that you were not responsible for the incident, then provide that proof to the original municipal governement and ask for a statement clearing you of the situation.