Capital One Dropoff/PFD? Closed balance reporting in utilization?

[zullyquirke]

So this is easily the worst item on my history. Once this goes away my score's really going to jump, according to the estimator here. So I've really been looking hard at how to get rid of this. 

It's a little complicated. Capital One is reporting on my credit report, but they've sold the debt to another firm that ISN'T on my credit report. I can't, therefore, do a PFD because the company accepting payment doesn't have an item on my record and Capital One hasn't really been very helpful or responsive. They just keep saying I should speak to a representative at the firm they've sold the report to.

So I'm kind of afraid to touch it. It drops off soon, in about a year. So I was wondering if anyone first had information on the best way to go about closing this out with Capital One with a possible PFD, maybe someone who's been in the situation before? And the second question would be when I should expect it to drop off. I know the limit is seven years, but is that from the date the account was open? Or another number?

[tcbofade]

It may vary by state, but I believe it is seven years from first delinquency...

In other words, if you were first reported 30 days late in July of 06, it should fall off of your credit report by 01 August 2013.

[zullyquirke]

I may try to get Capital one to send me a copy of my transaction history, then.

Alternately, would paying this account down have an affect on my credit score? If I just called and made a payment?

[pizzadude]

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@zullyquirke wrote:

I may try to get Capital one to send me a copy of my transaction history, then.

Alternately, would paying this account down have an affect on my credit score? If I just called and made a payment?

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If you can look at your Equifax report it will show the DOFD for this account.   As has been stated, you aren't that far away from it dropping off due to age.

Paying the CA won't impact your score at all.   If the CA decides to report it ( either as paid or unpaid ) it will tank your scores.

[RobertEG]

Do you have any old account records that show your payment history with the OC?

As was stated, there is no ambiguity regarding the date that the charge-off must be excluded from your credit report.  The maximum under FCRA 605(c) is 7 years plus 180 days from the date of your first deliquency on the OC account that led up to the charge-off.  Period.  DOFD is based on the first delinquency in the last chain of delinquencies prior to the charge-off.  You need that date.

Since your CR apparently does not provide your full payment history, it will be a bit tough to guesstimate the DOFD based on payment history profile.

One thing is certain... the DOFD must have occured prior to the date they reported their charge-off.

Have you ordered your free annual credit report from annualcreditreport.com in the last year?  If not, their CR may be more complete, and give you information that might permit a better guesstimate of your DOFD.

If all your efforts to determine your reported DOFD fail, you can always get it directly from the CRA by sending them a request for your credit file information under FCRA 609(a)(1).  Those requests require payment to them of a processing fee, which is currently $11.00.

[Anonymous]

IMO, if you have the money for a PDF, it's accepted and you need this gone before 2013 then offer the PDF.

If you don't have to have this removed this year or next then I would let it be.

Alerternatively you could dispute it (either 623 letter to Cap One or online/phone with the CRA as obsolete or requesting further validation if you don't need a paper trail) and see if it will be removed that way.  If the CA doesn't have your info then there's a chance the OC no longer has your info as well.

[RobertEG]

There is no basis for filing a direct dispute on the grounds of "obsolete" or for requesting validation of the debt.

I would not advise disputing on those grounds.  Disputes are directed at an inaccuracy in information they have reported.

[zullyquirke]

The reason I suggested paying it down is because it IS being reflected in my current revolving credit. Since I'm just rebuilding my credit I only have $900 max in available credit, so this is putting my credit usage rate at over 100% even when I've paid off all of my cards. Not sure why it'd be showing up in my revolving credit or how else to get rid of it since it's closed?

[MarineVietVet]

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@zullyquirke wrote:

The reason I suggested paying it down is because it IS being reflected in my current revolving credit. Since I'm just rebuilding my credit I only have $900 max in available credit, so this is putting my credit usage rate at over 100% even when I've paid off all of my cards. Not sure why it'd be showing up in my revolving credit or how else to get rid of it since it's closed?

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I agree that it looks like it is being factored into your utilization because both the credit limit and balance are being reported. If either of those were missing it would not be part of your utilization. This is the one situation where paying off a CO will help your score because it lowers your utilization.

The CO itself will remain even after being paid off but you will get a bump from lower utilization.