Which agency pays for my medical care?

Can the collection agency be sued for Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations for this?

• I'm advising someone about a difficult situation. They have $16K in credit card debt, which they've been able to handle until recently. They are current and have never had any defaults/late pays. 4 months ago a collection agency in Buffalo, NY posted negative information on the husband's credit file for a defaulted credit card account that was not his. After 2 months of fighting and threatening they relented and all the 3 credit bureaus removed the erroneous notation. The big problem is that this bogus notation triggered a univeral default clause in all 3 of this person's credit cards. Their 8.99% interest rate has now exploded to over 30% each card....one is now 34.99%....This is creating an intolerable situation for them. The credit card companies have been callous and don't care that the negative notation was bogus and is now removed from the credit report. They refuse to lower the interest rates. Can this collection agency be sued for triggering this event?

• Answer:

  I think so, but not under FDCPA but FCRA. And, to cover themselves, they should sue the banks that are unjustly increasing their interest rate, not just the agency that inaccurately reported the deficiency. Also, if I were them, I would look to transfer this balance to a lower rate card to stop all of the madness. I like an offer from Bank of America, affiliated with the Humane Society of America, that offers 0% for 12 months on balance transfers with just a 3% transaction fee. I also like an offer from Barclay's Bank (you can find it on Air Tran's website) for 0% for 6 months with a transaction fee capped at $50. I also like an offer at Pentagon Federal Credit Union for 4.99% for up to 24 months, with the transfer fee capped at $75. Have your friends transfer to one of these much better deals, and that will be a much better situation for them and a lesson to these unfair banks.