*Debt agency searching my credit file? *

[kathleenbilly]

Hello and thanks for looking in,

 

I will try to keep this short and to the point...''

 

Debt Collection agency is Mackenzie Hall.

 

I had debts which were Statute Barred. I have dealt with that correctly by letter good they closed the accounts and will not contact me again.

 

My question now they done two hard credit searches on my file with Equifax these look bad and will stay on my file for two years not good.

 

I want them removed. I have spoken to one of there Compliance Managers directly on the phone and to be fair the guy is fine no problems on that front we actually get on!

 

That said not enough for him to remove them....

 

Now i have got this far to date,

 

I am to undertand if a debt collection agency buys a debt etc,

 

That also gives them equal rights under the original credit agreement and in this case one of those rights being to search my credit file for example. Is this 100% right??

 

 

If so could i request the original documentation agreement which shows my credit agreement and signature for example.

 

If they can not provide this can i then get them on the fact they can't prove the debt exists? And as a result i can make them remove the search???

 

Any advice apprecated, KB

[vjohn82]

It will be a "search" but not for the purposes of gaining credit. Therefore it will not appear as a "search" to other lenders.

[kathleenbilly]

Firstly thanks for the reply,

 

There are two types of search,

 

A soft search

 

A hard search

 

I have spoken to Equifax about it you can see on my file it is a hard search this will be visable to other potential lenders who may request to view my file.

[vjohn82]

If they have conducted a "hard search" then you would need to write to the DCA concerned with a section 10 Data Protection Act 1998 Notice asking them to confirm the reasons for processing your data.

 

If you receive no response after 21 days I would recommend making a Part 7 claim in the court to order the removal of the searches.

[kathleenbilly]

Great sounds like you know your stuff give us a minute i want to scan and show you the letter i got back from them so you can see the stage i'm at.

 

I will also follow your instruction.

[vjohn82]

Ok no probs

[kathleenbilly]

The letter they send back to me below this post is in reply to mine after i send this letter to them,

 

Attention: Mackenzie Hall

Credit Department

Unit 1A 58 Portland Street, KilmarnockKA1 1JG

Dear Mackenzie Hall,

This letter is your formal notice to cease your unauthorized hard inquiries into my credit report and, a formal demand that you immediately contact the credit reporting agencies and credit bureaus, where your organization has made inquiries into my credit history, to have your illegal inquiries removed. Be advised that I will be checking my reports to ensure you have had the following unauthorized inquiries removed:

Made by: Mackenzie Hall Kilmarnock

Made on: 17/2/2010 and also 06/03/2009

Made with: Equifax Credit Bureau

To my knowledge, I have not signed any documents authorizing your organization to view my credit history therefore, your inquiry into my credit report violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Section 1681b©: Transactions Not Initiated by Consumer.

If you are in possession of any document that you believe authorizes you or your organization to make inquires into my credit report, I respectfully request a copy of this document be sent to my address listed above so that I may verify its validity. Given the amount of identity theft, I'm sure you'll agree that verifying your information is in your best interest.

Finally, assuming you do not posses inquiry authorization, I request that, after removing your unauthorized inquires from my credit profiles, you also remove all of my personal information from your records and send me confirmation that you have complied with my requests.

 

Sincerely,

Edited March 17, 2010 by kathleenbilly

[kathleenbilly]

OK here's MackenzieHall reply to me i typed it out myself so you can read it,

 

 

Final Response

Further to your letter dated 8th March 2010, the contents of which we have noted.

I can confirm that Mackenzie Hall has fully completed our internal investigation and I am in a position to further clarify the following:

We do not believe our enquires of your credit file to be illegal. We act on our clients behalf, Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited, who upon purchasing this account from Morgan Stanley are assigned the rights reserved to the creditor. In turn Cabot assigns Mackenzie Hall the necessary rights to collect the outstanding balance which will include making necessary enquiries to ascertain your current whereabouts.

We would not, at this stage, facilitate the removal of the credit footprints without having clear reason to do so. That being the footprint was placed erroneously or that you were not liable for the balance outstanding. Even in the case of Statute Barred debt we would not facilitate the removal of the footprint as the validity of the debt is not in question, merely the methods used to collect it.

Lastly I would like to point out the statute referred to in your letter, The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a United States federal law originally passed in 1970. As such I do not believe that this act is of any relevance to this case and I am unaware of a comparable law within UK statute.

I would like to think the action I have taken and the decision I have made will be to your satisfaction. However, if you remain unhappy with my reply I am enclosing a leaflet about the financial Ombudsman Service. Should you choose to contact them, you will need to do so within six months from the date of this letter, enclosing a copy of my response, which they will need for their investigation.

Thank you for the patience you have shown in this time

Your sincerely

[vjohn82]

I was always under the impression that a search for your current whereabouts was not considered a "hard search" on your credit file.

 

Have you received clarification from the third party CRA's about this?

[kathleenbilly]

Yes i hear what your saying,

 

hang on i will show you it from my credit file from Equifax give us a minute.

[kathleenbilly]

The following table shows searches undertaken in connection with credit applications:

 

Table 1: Credit Searches

The following table shows searches undertaken in connection with credit applications:

17/02/2010Outstanding DebtMackenzie Hall - Kilmarnock

26/11/2008Outstanding Debt*oval Debt Collection Ltd

16/06/2008Outstanding DebtCnm Ltd

16/06/2008Outstanding DebtCnm Ltd

s06/03/2009Outstanding DebtMackenzie Hall - Kilmarnock (Bat

06/03/2009 Outstanding Debt Mackenzie Hall - Kilmarnock (Bat

 

 

Table 2: Other Searches

The following table shows searches undertaken for purposes other than credit applications. These searches have no impact on a credit decision:

Edited March 17, 2010 by kathleenbilly

[kathleenbilly]

The other debt company ones drop off this year in a few months time so i not worried but Mackenzies are fresh and will show for two years. Given i want to apply for a morgage next year etc i want this sorted out.

[vjohn82]

You need to write to the credit agency to inform them that you believe the searches have been lodged incorrectly on your files.

 

You also need to write a letter to the firm concerned and state that the search record they have lodged is incorrect in the sense that you have not applied for credit. Read up on section 10 of the Data Protection Act and create a letter from that. It should be fairly self explanatory when you read it.

 

I can tell you now that the searches they have undertaken are not correctly lodged.

[kathleenbilly]

Thanks i will call Equifax on the phone tomorrow,

 

and also MackenzieHall,

 

i think may well get this fixed quickly as to be fair to MackenzieHall he is under the impression the search is for address details only (A soft search etc)

 

I don't think he knows it's a hard search that i'm moaning about...''

 

I will get on it,

 

Look in on the thread i'll report back with the update of what happens. In the meantime thanks vjohn82 helping me with this, i really appreciate it very much.

[vjohn82]

I'll be automatically updated when you respond back to the thread... good luck and anything else I can help with let me know.

[diddydicky]

you need to be more proactive IMO and suggest that the searches have been undertaken maliciously with the intent of spoiling your credit rating

[kathleenbilly]

I hear your angle but what's the approach to make this point ?

 

What letters view or direction do i use?

[diddydicky]

well you need to put this to them directly copy to the CRA;s concerned and tell them that if you do not get satisfactory answers as to why these hard checks have been made you will be holding them jointly and severally liable for damage to your credit reputation

[kathleenbilly]

Right i have spoken to Mackenziehall,

 

He has agreed that the searches should not be hard searches on table one of my credit report and should be on table two, which would be correct.

 

Now he has contacted Equifax today to fix this,

 

However how about this, they say the searches on not on table one but in fact are in table two. ??????

 

So the report i'm buying from Equifax is actually not worth the paper it's written it's not even correct information!!

 

It's too late today but i have the direct line of Equifax this is the mail Mackenziehall received from Equifax below, Not happy about this !! i will be ringing the direct line tomorrow of Equifax to get to the bottom of this!!

 

Hi ***,

 

As discussed I can confirm that the 2 searches completed by Mackenzie Hall

on Mr ****** are listed in Table 2 on his credit file, these searches are

not seen by other lenders.

 

If you have any further queries please contact me.

 

Thanks

********

_____________________________

****** ********

Service Coordinator

Equifax Ltd

**********@equifax.com

[email protected]

***** ******** (Option 3)

Direct Dial **** 759***

Mobile **** 848***

 

Equifax Ltd is registered in England with Registered No: 2425920.

Registered Office: Capital House, 25 Chapel Street, London NW1 5DS.

 

Equifax Commercial Services Limited is registered in the Republic of

Ireland with Registered No. 215393. Registered Office: IDA Business &

Technology Park, Rosslare Road, Drinagh, Wexford.

 

The information contained in this communication is confidential, is

intended only for the use of the recipient named above, and may be legally

privileged. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient,

you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of

this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this

communication in error, please resend this communication to the sender and

delete the original message or any copy of it from your computer system.

[vjohn82]

Sounds like you are being messed arounf to me. Keep on at it!

[kathleenbilly]

Yes i will update this tomorrow, something doesn't quite sound right someone is playing the fool here and it's looking like Equifax have some explaining to do in the morning!!!

[diddydicky]

well they may be right

 

they may well show up on YOUR report (as you are the subject of the file- and therefore entitled to ALL the information they hold on your file ) but NOT show up on an external search by someone else

[kathleenbilly]

The search is shown in table one on my report, that is incorrect to the type of search it is.

 

There is clearly a section underneath table 2 where this should be placed.

 

When buying a report i expect the information to be correct and consistant otherwise what's the point ?

 

I have wasted time and effort based on information i purchased from Equifax. Well lets see in the morning when i speak directly to them. Both reports can't be correct :?

[syko2005]

Ive had the same happen to me tonight. I checked my report with experian 6 months ago and found out mackenzie hall had been searching my report but they showed up as unrecorded enquirey soft searches so didnt worry about it.

However i have payed for my report tonight with equifax to find searches by mackenzie hall are showing up as outstanding debt hard searches (which they arnt) and can be seen by lenders.

Ive emailed equifax tonight to see what they have to say.

[kathleenbilly]

Ive had the same happen to me tonight. I checked my report with experian 6 months ago and found out mackenzie hall had been searching my report but they showed up as unrecorded enquirey soft searches so didnt worry about it.

However i have payed for my report tonight with equifax to find searches by mackenzie hall are showing up as outstanding debt hard searches (which they arnt) and can be seen by lenders.

Ive emailed equifax tonight to see what they have to say.

 

 

That's interesting because on my Experian report no problems like yourself, i will get to the bottom of this 100%