Does disputing hurt your score?

[Anonymous]

I had a couple collections that I had to pay off and when I called to make arrangements they told me without me askng that once they were paid they would remove them from my report. This was about 4 months ago. They are paid and it states that and shows as closed but they are still on my report. I didn't think to get that in writing but trusted what they said. So now I want to dispute saying they would take them off. I will call them tomorrow but if that goes nowhere I figure it wouldn't hurt to dispute and just see what happens. But could that hurt me. If this matters at all I plan on buying a home next spring so I don't wanna do anything to hurt that,

[909]

I've opened at least two mortgages with collections on my record. The collections were for about $100 in medical bills. The lender didn't seem to care about the fact that there were collections on my report but they did care that they were paid (so I paid them and got the refi).  My mortgage scores were ranged from about 690 to 720. The middle score (the one my lender cared about) was right at 700 both times. These were both refis, about two years apart, and the LTV was between 60% and 70%.

With one of these debts, the collection agency dude, who was happy to chat as long as I told him the check was in the mail, said that if he received a dispute after it was paid he'd gladly ignore it so the disputer would win. The debt was about six years old at the time so I paid him, got the refi and waited for it to disappear.

Apologies if this is not super-helpful. 

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had a couple collections that I had to pay off and when I called to make arrangements they told me without me askng that once they were paid they would remove them from my report. This was about 4 months ago. They are paid and it states that and shows as closed but they are still on my report. I didn't think to get that in writing but trusted what they said. So now I want to dispute saying they would take them off. I will call them tomorrow but if that goes nowhere I figure it wouldn't hurt to dispute and just see what happens. But could that hurt me. If this matters at all I plan on buying a home next spring so I don't wanna do anything to hurt that,

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It should not hurt your score.

Side note: An item under "dispute review" should be exempted from being factored into your score while being under review. As a result you may see a temporary score increase - that could be permanent if the dispute is deemed valid and reflected accordingly by the CRA(a) ... or score could drop back down if the dispute is not substantiated.

[RobertEG]

Exclusion of information from scoring while a dispute is being resolved does not apply to collections.

Regardless, I would not file a dispute with the CRA based on lack of deletion of the reported collection.

CRA policy instructs debt collectors NOT to delete based on payment of the debt.

The reported collection is not inaccurate, and the basis for a dispute would be directly contrary to clearly established CRA policy.

Stated differently, you are asking the CRA to investigate the accuracy and correct or delete based on their finding of an inaccuracy for a reason that is directly contrary to their own policy.

An agreement prior to paying that upon payment, the debt collector will report deletion to the CRA, is a contract agreement that is enforeable via a breach of contract action on the part of the consumer.  I would send an intent to sue letter based on breach of contract, giving them a reasonable period to report the agreed deletion, or you will bring a breach of contract action.

As an additon or alternative to civil action, you can file a formal complaint with the BBB, asserting an improper business practice of making a promise that is not honored.