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American Agencies Ripoff They have become a detrimental blemish on my credit report! San Diego California
I have been denied credit twice now. No, it's not as bad as what the others have been through, but I have a sinking feeling that it will affect me more and more in later years.
I first became aware of the problem with American Agencies in 2002 when I applied for a credit card and was (to my horror) denied. The deciding factor was a bad debt by American Agencies. They are apparently the collection agency for "PB PacBell" ... a company I have never done business with and there is an account with my name on it from May of 2000.
Let me just give you a little history: in January of 2000, I was still living at home. Everything was in my mother's name (even the phone bill). In June of that year, I moved out with my fiance (now my husband) and everything was put in his name. A year later, we got married and a long time after that, I finally got around to changing my name. It wasn't until 2004 that I actually put a utility in my name! Could this PacBell account really be mine?!
Well, my husband did some research on the company, didn't find any "official" information, but he was overwhelmed with all the complaints against it. Naturally, his next step was to dispute it with the only company that was reporting it: Trans Union. We were able to have it removed, however, 2 years later I was denied credit (AGAIN) and found out it is now being reported with Expirian. Again, we disputed, but this time we weren't so lucky. American Agencies "verified" the account.
As I've said before, I didn't have it as bad as the others, but from what I've read, it has the power to get worse. I'm trying to get this taken care of before my husband and I decide to buy a house or start a family. So far, I have disputed the claim a total of 3 times, I have filed a complaint with the BBB and the FTC against American Agencies, and I have called American Agencies requesting documentation (with no reply).
The more I hear about this and the more it affects me, my life and the life of my family, the bigger stink I'll make!
Val R.
Lake Forest, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Val
Lake Forest,California,
U.S.A.
There can be resolution...
#2Author of original report
Mon, October 31, 2005
After being spun around in circles by SBC, American Agencies, and Experian, I'm closer to having this removed from my history once and for all.
After doing some research, it is slightly possible that it may not be American Agencies. I just noticed today (10/31/2005) that Experian thinks I lived at 4009 Live Oak St, Cudahy, CA at one time (which is not true...and I don't even know where it is!). When I called American Agencies to find out the details of the claim, (surprise, surprise) they have that phone bill going to none other than 4009 Live Oak St. They also gave me details of the dates (8/1/1998 - 3/30/2000) which is absolutely impossible.
It is possible that someone stole my identification HOWEVER it is also possible that American Agencies was careless in attaching this account to MY name. I may never know. It does seem strange, though, that SBC (who boughtout Pacbell) has no past accounts with my SSN and American Agencies does. How is it that American Agencies knows more about me than the original account provider?
Back to resolution ... when I called American Agencies, I refused to give them my home number or my current address, however I gave them an address where they can send a Fraud Package which contains an affidavit. They also requested a police report. I called Experian to remove the address and they also require a police report.
So ... I called the police department (local! not 911!) and they sent a nice deputy to my door who helped me file the police report. (I get funny reactions when I say this happened in 1998 ... "and you're filing it now?")
My next step is to send the affidavit to American Agencies and Experian along with the police report. After that, I'm told it will be removed.
If its not, I'll have another update.