Thread: negative account history due to bank sending credit card/statements to wrong address

I applied for a credit card last fall. (I filled out an application for an airline miles credit card while on a flight on my way to a two week vacation, and promptly forgot about it.) After that, I never received a card or any other information or correspondence from the bank. When I saw a collection agency had shown up in my caller ID (I had not been home to answer the call) but had not left a message, I decided to check my credit report.

I was surprised to see a credit card that I didn't recognize listed, along with negative account history of up to 180 days of not paying. It turned out to be the credit card I applied for last fall. After some investigating and calls to the bank, it turned out the only charge was the card's annual fee (later compounded with late fees and interest), so at least the damage was pretty minimal (no one else activating the card and using it).

The bank was reasonably helpful in getting to the bottom of this; after some digging, we figured out that they had my address wrong in the system (one digit of house number was wrong). The person I spoke to agreed that it was the bank's mistake, that they would send info to the credit agencies removing the negative history, and (after I requested it) that they would send a letter to me indicating that this was their error.

So, hopefully, if all goes well, this will all be fixed soon. But my questions are

1) should I rely on the bank to get this done, or should I take any additional proactive steps?

2) should I send anything in writing to the bank, or wait until I get the letter I requested? and

3) when the collection agency calls again, as I presume they will, and assuming that I am correct that this is the relevant matter (I can't think of any other debts I have that could possibly be in collections), how do I deal with them? By the way, when I asked the bank whether they had referred my debt to a collection agency, they said no, but I'm not sure if that was accurate or not, since I really can't think of anything else it could be, and there's no other negative account history on my credit reports.

Thanks very much for any advice!

Well for one I wouldn't assume the collection agency is calling on the bank's behalf. Be careful of scammers and make them prove they know who you are instead of giving them information about who you are.

I personally think it would be wise to get something in writing from the bank ASAP, detailing everything to the letter. Details often get lost in the cracks when dealing with large organizations so better to rely on your own proof/evidence/etc than on their system of information management. It matters more to you than them, after all.

Good luck!