** Who should I sue?

First this forum has helped a lot I appreciate the help more than you know!!!

Getting on with it… I have sent letters to all three CRA’s and Providian keeps reporting I had a credit card with them and I never did. I did call and ask for information, during the phone call I was going to sign up I even gave them my checking account number. After she transferred me to a recording and I heard about extra charges I disagreed with it and hung up and never completed the phone call. I never received anything from them. They bounced a check on my account and put my account in bad shape. They say I bounced the check so "to bad it stays on your credit". They say it’s my fault when I never agreed to the final recording.

On my report it says:
Providian Financial; 4xxxxxxx; Individual Acct; Date Opened 06/00; 23 months reporting; High credit $89; balance $0; Status R1; Date reported 12/02; Paid Account / Zero Balance; Account Closed by Grantor

I have sent the following letters all with the simple response “verified”.


First Letter:

After reviewing my credit report I noticed that an account that I don’t believe is mine. So the purpose of this letter is to dispute this account: Providian Financial PO Box 99607 Arlington TX 79096 account number 4xxxxxxxxxxx Please verify it with the creditor, and if they do not have written proof that this is my account, please remove it. Also, please update the report and send me an updated report to the address below.


Second Letter:

RE: Dispute Letter - Providian Financial Account Number 4xxxxxxxxxxx

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is formal notice that you have failed to respond in a timely manner to my dispute letter sent more than 30 days ago, deposited by certified mail with the US Post Office.

The following information therefore needs to be verified and deleted from the report as soon as possible:

Providian Financial PO Box 99607 Arlington TX 79096 account number 4xxxxxxxxxxx

The listed item is completely inaccurate and incomplete, and is a very serious error in reporting. Please delete this misleading information, and supply a corrected credit profile to all creditors who have received a copy within the last 6 months.

As you are well aware, federal law requires you to respond within 30 days, yet you have failed to respond. Failure to comply with these federal regulations by credit reporting agencies are investigated by the Federal Trade Commission (see 15 USC 41, et seq.). I am maintaining a careful record of my Certified US Postal communications with you on this matter; for the purpose of filing a complaint with the FTC should you continue in your non-compliance. I further remind you that, as in Wenger v. Trans Union Corp., No. 95-6445 (C.D.Cal. Nov. 14, 1995), you may be liable for your willful non-compliance. Do not delay further.

I am aware that you may have misplaced my letters or have failed to respond to my letter because of an oversight due to the high volume of the requests you receive daily. If this is the case, I'm sure you'll want to handle this matter as soon as possible. For this purpose, I have included a copy of my original request letter stating the incorrectness of the credit item you have mistakenly placed on my records.

Additionally, please provide the name, address, and telephone number of each credit grantor or other subscriber.

Be advised that the description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information is hereby requested as well, to be provided within 15 days of the completion of your re-investigation.

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Who do I sue or what’s next? Thanks again for your help!!!

I understand what you're saying about the account, and technically, Providian should remove it.

What is the $89 "high limit" charge from?

They are reporting the account as an "R1" which is an account in good standing with no lates.

If Providian won't remove it, I would challenge the the "account closed by credit grantor" notation to read as "account closed by consumer" or "Paid as agreed".

Just a few thoughts.

This goes back to the signed agreement argument. Apparently the consumer called, asked for information, started to sign up, and then never completed the sign-up process.

Accordingly, they won't have the consumer's signature on an application, nor the consumer's signature on any charge slip. How can they say that they bound the consumer to a certain agreement?

Of course, Providian is a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are always staffed with average, mediocre people. They are not interested in rocking the boat. They simply say, "Well, it's in the computer..." and that's the end of it. This sort of thing happens all the time.

I say sue Providian.

I never got a card let alone signed anything... The only contact or use of their services was that phone call and another asking about why they did that to my report!

I'd also sue Providian, after a faxed demand for deletion and payment of the overdraft fee plus a few bucks for your trouble.

Don't waste your time with phone calls, how do you think you'll document the call for court?

Even if you record, it's a TON of work to get a certified transcript suitable for court.

What if Equifax deleted it but Experian verified it?

Experian's verification helps your case.