CA's and their reporting trickery.............

[Anonymous]

I currently have two CA's reporting as 'open' accounts, as well as reporting DOFD and in one case, my payment status as 120 days late.  First of all, how can I be late or delinquent on something where there were never terms agreed upon?    Basically what's going on is because of their false reporting, I'm viewed as having current delinquent accounts and debt balance when in fact my balance with the OC's are at $0, which if I'm not mistaken, is where they should be after they're charged off.  But that doesn't give a CA the right to assume the terms of the CO and report delinquent payments does it? 

I noticed the CA in both cases changed the account number by simply placing a few letters in front of the OC account number.  Is this done so that it won't be detected as a duplicate?  The estimated drop-off of the CO is Oh, and get a load of this........the one CA is actually reporting to EQ & TU 'open', while reporting the same account to EX as 'installment'.  Any advise on how to go about disputing these?  I can't imagine it's legal for a CA to knowingly report false information, but then again seems there is a loop-hole for any situation when it come to CRAs.

The hundreds of hours I've spent researching and trying to understand credit reporting makes it easy to understand why so many people end up on the street!  There NEEDS to be ONE standard practice for someting like this that controls every part of your life!

[guiness56]

When an account is charged off it does not mean it will report a 0 balance. The debt remains until paid.

If the OC sold the debt, then it will report a zero balance.

When a CA reports a debt they are reporting what the OC gave them.  In other words, the 120 day late is not from the CA but, from the OC.

The open remark means it is an open account with the CA.

[203bravo]

The fact that the OC is now reporting a 0$ balance indicates that they have sold this debt - so the CA now owns it.  And it is legal for them to report the original balance and any additional fees & interest.

The DoFD with the OC will remain as such even with the CA and can not be reported on your credit report past the 7.5 years.

You should DV the CA to make sure that they were transferred enough of your file to be legally entitled to collect and that they meet the laws of CA if there are any in your state.  But this could be trick if you are within SoL since it could cause them to go straight to litigation if they feel it's in their best interest.  You could do a search on the boards of the CA name and see if they are prone to sue.

Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

I'm well beyond the SOL on all accounts.  As far as the 'open' accounts.  It's not the status that I'm talking about, it's the type of account.  Basically, they are reporting as if they were the OC and we are on some kind of agreement of terms.  I find it hard to believe that this kind of false reporting doesn't fall somewhere within the lines of libel.

[guiness56]

Without seeing the TL and how it is reporting it is hard to say.

Is any of the information inaccurate, does it state they are a CA?

[RobertEG]

I agree with guiness.

Debt collectors do not, and cannot, report as an OC.  OC and debt collector reporting is stored in two entirely different segments of your credit file.  OC reporting is stored in what is called the base segment of your credit file, and debt collector reporting is stored in what is called the K-segment.  OCs do NOT report collections, they only report a status refecting referral for collection, which is not a CA in your CR.   So any account showing as a collection is in the K-segment of your credit file, by definition.

All collections bear an account type of "open."  That is their required CR reporting designation, so all is proper there.

There are absolutely no reporting fields or codes that permit a debt collector to report monthly delinquencies, for as you have stated, you dont have an account with them.  Any designation of monthly delinquecies in your CR was extracted from reporting done by the OC.  Commercial CRs are formats and summaries of your credit file, and many CRs notoriously format and report in ways that include OC reportings under sections relating to collections.  You most likely have a poorly formatted CR.

Debt collectors can, and in fact are required, to report DOFDs.  Under FCRA 623(a)(5), any party who reports to a CRA regarding an account referred for collection must, within 90-days of that reporting, also report the DOFD on the OC account to the CRA.  Section 623(a)(5) includes various checks and balances to ensure that the DOFD reported by a debt collector is the accurate DOFD, such as by requiring that if the OC has previosuly reported a DOFD, then the DOFD reported by the debt collector must match that date, and additionally, that if the OC has not previously reported a DOFD to the CRA, the debt collector must contact the OC using reasonable procedures to get the accurate DOFD from the OC, and then report it to the CRAs.  Debt collectors have paid heavy fines under litigation brought by the FTC for NOT reporting DOFDs.

I would be careful about assuming illegal reporting by a debt collector based on a cursory review of a commercial credit report. It might not be what it appears to say.