I tried to call the creditor and they won't give me any information because I can't verify who I am.

I am so confused!

I would call the creditor and their ombudsman department and complain about the collection agency. There is no need for someone to be rude. It would be good to have the guy’s names on hand when complaining. If you call the creditor they will send you the proof you need.

Just to follow up with my last post I have a few questions;

How long does the collection agency have to send me proof? I am still waiting for it.

They posted the negitive statment on my credit report on Dec 2008 but didn't send me notification of it until Jan 8th (which i never recieved, the guy from CBV said that was the date) Don't they have to notify me before hand and if they don't is there anything I can do.

Lastly, I called the guy from CBV to ask if he sent the information and he was a jerk about it. When I asked him what date he sent notification he said "Just pay the damn bill" I reiterated politly that it wasn't mine and he told me "Screw Off then, your wasting my time" and hung up.

What do I do now??

The sol has expired and legally there is nothing they can do. The request your asking is verbal and not in writing. If you went six years without paying this debt believe me they are not going to throw good money after bad on your debt to sue, especially the way things are going in the economy. These creditors tend to sue in the first few years into your debt.

"tell them the collection agency is refusing to give you the proof. If the creditor asks you why you want the proof, tell them you are planning to get a loan to pay this debt and the loans officer stated that they wanted a print off of the current balance"

Would this not be admittance that I owe the loan and possibly restart the SOL?

I wouldn't bother with the collection agency. I would Amex first and see if they will give you a print off of the last time you made a payment on this account. If they tell you to call the collection agency, tell them the collection agency is refusing to give you the proof. If the creditor asks you why you want the proof, tell them you are planning to get a loan to pay this debt and the loans officer stated that they wanted a print off of the current balance and when the last time you made a payment on this account. I would not mention anything to Amex about the error in your credit file. Let’s try this first and see if you get the result you want.

The rep at Equifax said that American Express or the Collection Agency would have to get the item removed on my report, so I'm not sure how good a fax of my last payment from American Express would do me here.

I also doubt American Express would be nice or easy going enough to simply just remove it as they illegally placed back on my credit report 8 months after the SOL expired.

Like you said average_joe, they do this to everyone and hope no one catches it. If I didn't recently educate myself about statute of limitations and the expiry periods on them, I wouldn't know either.

Should I take legal action here then and seek a lawyer?

I can see Equifax point not removing this item unless you have proof from the creditor. It would be too easy for people to call up and say certain items on their file are incorrect. I would call Amex up and have someone fax you the proof, and if they don't co-operate call the ombudsman department. I would try and get the persons name and id number from Amex customer service, just in case you need it for the ombudsman department

Thanks for the number.

I called it, and got through to a live rep and explained the differences in the Reporting Dates of Last Activity versus Date of Last Payment on my original American Express report and the Collection Debt report.

The rep stated that she could not remove it from my file and told me to contact American Express. I asked for a supervisor and was then told the supervisor was in a meeting.

I was surprised to hear that they could not remove it. This wasn't just an inaccurate report on my file, but it's clearly illegal for American Express and the collection agency representing them to do this and even more so for Equifax to allow them to do this since Equifax has records of my reported items on their system.

Did you try this toll free number at Equifax 1-877-323-2598? This number will get you a live customer service rep.