What If The Original Creditor Still Has The Debt or Shows On The Credit Report
If the debt has been "discharged" or shows something similar on one's credit report, the debt note has been sold to a third-party debt collector already. While the debt collector may not have reached out to collect the debt yet, one may still send a Certified Letter to the original creditor requesting information on who purchased the debt. If a reply is not given within (30) days (has never happened), an FDCPA violation has occurred and the original creditor may be sued. In the end, every original creditor will supply the name of the third-party debt collector and that is the end of their legal requirements. With a little research, one can find the debt collector's address - which can then be used to initiate the "validation & verification" process to remove the debt.
If the debt is still held by the original credit, one may send in verification letters to the 3 credit bureaus (may take multiple tries) and have the mark removed. However, this does not allow one to open another credit card with the original creditor. For that to occur, a lawsuit must be brought against the third-party debt collector and they must send a notice to the banking bureaus, credit bureaus and original creditor that the debt no longer shall exist in their systems. After this, it is as if the credit line never existed - and one may re-apply for the same credit card the next day.