Consumer complaint received 2020-02-26
Company: Waypoint Resource Group, LLC
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
This is a complaint against Waypoint Resource Group and XXXX. This will be a second complaint against these two particular companies. I have filed a previous complaint through your portal against these companies but after what just transpired I feel like there is no other choice but to file a second one.

After I reviewed Waypoint 's response through the portal and saw the provided itemization, I was placated enough to at least know this wasn't a fraudulent bill. Because I cancelled this account and turned in my equipment as soon as XXXX was being taken over by XXXX, and because I never received a notice of any kind from XXXX   afterwards, I was not aware if this was a billing error or a new company trying to take advantage of me. I at least know now that it wasn't fraudulent. 

The other problem I had ; truly the more serious problem I had, was I never received any notice of any kind from anybody about this debt. I even turned in all my equipment when cancelling this account. In fact, this itemization shows I even received credit for services never rendered once I turned my equipment in. No one ever told me I still had a pending debt owed. Today my husband XXXX called Waypoint asking if he could pay this bill in full and asked for a courtesy removal from the credit report because of improper billing and collection procedures. He was denied. He was denied because he was told it was company policy not to remove valid debts. He was denied because Waypoint claims they have no power over credit reporting but rather XXXX  does. He was also denied because Waypoint says they followed every procedure they were supposed to and therefore they can't simply delete it. I tell you now I am not having this and I am filing another complaint because Waypoint has in fact NOT followed collection procedures and by their own admission they don't even keep accurate records. 

In the conversation with Waypoint today, once XXXX was denied having this account deleted even if paid, XXXX was attempting to figure out how and why Waypoint was claiming they followed collection procedures properly. Throughout the conversation with the representative XXXX XXXX, XXXX was able to gather a lot of information which confirmed Waypoint doesn't maintain accurate records or follow proper procedures. The points I will make are not necessarily in chronological order of how it was discovered in the phone call, but it is the chronological order of events in regards to this account. 

XXXX stated Waypoint received this account in their office on XX/XX/XXXX. She claimed they sent a notice to our address on XX/XX/XXXX as well. That was never received by us. We informed XXXX it was never received but she simply replied " we can't control that. '' XXXX did admit no phone communication was done with me until XX/XX/XXXX. That was 5 months AFTER they had received this account for collections and had been credit reporting it. I do remember that conversation. I told them I was at work, couldn't really speak about this at work, and I would have to look into this matter. I actually did. I called XXXX  and asked them why I owed money to them. I also asked them to provide me with paperwork showing why I owed money. XXXX  simply referred me back to Waypoint and told me Waypoint was handling this account now and nothing could be done. They never sent me any notification I requested. 
After I realized XXXX  was not going to assist me in any way on this matter I sent a notice to Waypoint asking them to provide me with an itemization of this debt. I never received a response back. The truth of the matter is that because I never received any response from Waypoint I simply forgot about the matter for almost six months. It wasn't until XX/XX/XXXX that I started looking to use my credit and discovered the Waypoint collection for XXXX  was still on my credit report. Since I had already submitted an itemization request six months prior to discovering the account on my credit report with no response, I was truly agitated to see this was still affecting me. I asked for itemization again with Waypoint in writing and I disputed this account with all three credit bureaus as well on XX/XX/XXXX. To make matters even more confusing, I get a response from the three credit bureaus. two of the bureaus actually said it was either deleted from my report or it didn't exist anymore. Those were XXXX  and XXXX XXXX respectively. Only XXXX  didn't respond. I guess I assumed it had been deleted from their credit bureau as well and once again forgot about this account. For the record, I never did receive an itemization or response from Waypoint after my second request for itemization either. 

In the conversation XXXX had with XXXX today, XXXX advised her of the fact we did request itemization in writing and no responses were ever given. XXXX told us Waypoint never received those letters to which XXXX quickly retorted " we can't control that. '' Regardless, this account ended up back on my credit report sometime in XX/XX/XXXX because in XX/XX/XXXX I saw it was back on XXXX XXXX. Now that this account had been on the report for nearly 2 years, I finally filed a complaint with your bureau because I was tired of doing what I'm supposed to as a consumer and none of the companies involved with this collection are doing what they were supposed to. It was not until I filed this complaint that I FINALLY receive an itemization. By the way, it took more than 30 days even after I filed this complaint to obtain itemization through this complaint. I filed my complaint in XX/XX/XXXX and it wasn't until mid XX/XX/XXXX that I received this response. 

Now that I received the response, my husband XXXX attempted to reason with Waypoint. He said he would pay this bill in full but expected a courtesy deletion because of the improper collection methods and faulty records. Again he was denied because the debt was valid and Waypoint claimed they followed collection practices properly. Now I will expose Waypoint 's hypocrisy and all their violations and will sue them if I have to. My credit report is perfect short of this blemish. I say this because I want you to know that I am a very credible person and to establish that I pay my bills on time. I will show you a copy of my credit report to prove this since I understand without any proof of any kind you simply have my word to go on. Well I want you to know that my word is good since I am responsible and fulfill ALL my obligations to my creditors. It is Waypoint 's word that is no good and this was established in the phone call. I will list below why.

No notice of this debt was ever provided to me by Waypoint. XXXX confirmed they had my proper address in the phone call. Because they never provided me with notice, they can not collect the debt nor credit report it. Waypoint did. 

No notice giving me a right to dispute this debt was given. Because I was never given a chance to dispute this debt on XX/XX/XXXX, my rights were violated.

No communication of any kind was given to me u

ntil XX/XX/XXXX which was 5 months after Waypoint received this account in their office. That did not stop them from credit reporting this on my report however. That is NOT following regulations or proper procedures.

No response of any kind was provided by Waypoint after I requested an itemization in writing on XX/XX/XXXX as required under 809. Validation of debts. They continued to credit report this debt however.

No response of any kind was provided by Waypoint once I found out this account remained on my credit report on XX/XX/XXXX and I once again asked for an itemization in writing and disputed this account with all three credit bureaus. Further violation of 809. Validation of debts.

Because I did receive a response in regards to my disputes with the credit bureaus for the Waypoint collection by the credit bureaus themselves, and because those responses showed this account was either deleted because it could not be verified or no longer on my report, why did Waypoint reinsert them on my credit report without notifying me or responding to my validation of debt requests? That is a violation of 611-15 U.S.C. 1681i ( 5 ) ( B ) ( i ) Certification of accuracy of information. If any information is deleted from a consumer 's file pursuant to subparagraph ( A ), the information may not be reinserted in the file by the consumer reporting agency unless the person who furnishes the information certifies that the information is complete and accurate.

Why did it take more than 30 days from after I filed my first C.F.P.B. complaint against Waypoint and XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXXto provide itemization regarding this account when they had 14 months prior to this complaint to dig up these records? If this debt was supposedly accurate, why didn't they have it already after my numerous requests? It is because they never attempted to validate this debt the prior 14 months which proved my point about both companies ' willful negligence of the law. They were collecting and credit reporting an account they never bothered to bill me for or prove it was legitimate. 

If this debt was supposedly valid, and the records of Waypoint and XXXX are accurate, why did XXXX " confirm '' to my husband XXXX that Waypoint had never received any disputes or responses of any kind by me or anybody prior to XX/XX/XXXX? XXXX even reiterated the question to her and notified her to be very careful in her response for this confirmation. He said, " I'm going to repeat this one more time, I want this to be very clear. The very first dispute you received from my wife was on XX/XX/XXXX? You have not received anything prior to that? Is that correct? '' XXXX responded " no sir, that is correct. '' That is a bold-faced lie because I happen to have in my possession investigation results from XXXX  and XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX. Those investigation results are specifically for disputes against Waypoint Resource Group. The credit bureaus did in fact contact Waypoint Resource Group on my behalf and Waypoint Resource Group did respond to those disputes. To tell my husband no dispute of any kind from anybody was ever received prior to XX/XX/XXXX can be construed in several ways. Either XXXX is lying and in violation of 15 USC 1692e 807. False or misleading representations, Waypoint 's records and by Extension XXXX 's records are not accurate even to their own dealings with anybody regarding this account and therefore this debt can not be verified and kept on my credit report, or Waypoint is being willfully negligent and malicious in trying to collect a debt they know is highly disputed and couldn't be verified for over a year. That is a violation of 808. Unfair practices. 

The bottom line is that this debt was handled grossly since the very beginning and now every company involved in this matter is attempting to collect this account or credit report it with unclean hands. I have already spent an outrageous amount of time fighting this account to no avail and I will now be forced to sue the collector and XXXX should they continue to maintain this account on my credit report knowing full well they DID NOT follow the law or proper billing and collection procedures.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation