Collection Agency Dilemma- PLEASE READ

[Anonymous]

I'm brand new to this site and I am stumped by one collection agency.  I have an outstanding college tuition loan issued in 9/2000 for $3100.  It was supposed to be paid by financial aid which was not awarded to me as anticipated so I became liable for the loan.  Of course I had no way to pay 3 grand as a broke college student and the loan went in to collections (not an excuse but it is what it is).  In the last 8 years it has been handled by 3 different collection agencies. The amount due is now $5100 because of fees and other egregious charges.   I got a letter from the second Agency (Pioneer Credit Recovery or something like that), and made an attempt to negotiate payment in the fall of 2006 and set up a plan to pay $50 a month.  They debited three times that amount the first month so I closed my bank account.  Pioneer was reporting me to the CRA's for about two years (04-06) then ceased. 

In May 2008 I was contacted by a new agency National Credit Management who I assume Pioneer sold the debt to.  I requested verification of the debt from and never sent to me.  July 11, 2008 NCM is reporting this $5100 debt with a D.O.F.D of April 2008 to all 3 CRA's!!! I understand that setting up payment could restart the SOL ( I wish I knew that then) but how can the date be as of April 08? Even if they restarted the date from 10/06 when I set up repayment, how can they use a date as current as 4/08?

This is the last item in my speckled financial history I need to resolve.  I disputed the dofd with the CRA's several times and each time the item is verified (I have no idea how) but it remains as listed on my reports with a dofd of 4/2008.  The last letter I sent in September received a frivolous claim response.  How can I prove this item has an actual date of first delinquency in 2001, not 2008 as reported???  PLEASE HELP!!!

[guiness56]

Contact the lender and get the information from them.

Are you sure it is the DOFD?  It is illegal to change that. This date is given by the OC and can not be changed.  This is the date used to determine when it falls off your reports.  In the case of a student loan, how long it can be reported is different.

Making a payment will not change the DOFD but can restart the SOL for suing purposes.

[Anonymous]

As mentioned, the DOFD should never change.

When did the loan repayment begin with the school? When did you go delinquent?

When you disputed with the CRA, what did you state in your dispute? Did you specifically dispute the "FCRA Compliance Date"?

Here is a great thread on re-aging.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response.  I first became delinquent early in 2001, no payment has been made until 2006 when I attempted negotiation with the CA.  The debt had long been written off with the school.  It wasn't a federal student loan but a private loan from the school called an Emergency Tuition loan, which allows students who receive financial aid to enroll.  The aid usually comes in and replaces this loan, I'd done this in previous semesters due to the painfully slow process of awarding aid but this time they didn't award it to me. Does that have the same reporting time as a traditional student loan?

[Anonymous]

I am not sure how the agency is reporting it but they have it listed as a collection activity. I cut and pasted the actual report item below.  They have the date open as 4/1/08, but the original account went delinquent in 2001.  No payment was made until 11/06 to the previous CA and nothing else there after. 

NAT'L CR MGT   EXPERIAN EQUIFAX TRANSUNION         Account Name: NATIONAL CREDIT MGMT  NATIONAL CREDIT MANA  NAT'L CR MGT  Account Number: [edited]XXXX  [edited]XXXX  [edited]XXXX  Acct Type: Collection Department / Agency / Attorney  Collection Account  Collection Account   Acct Status: Closed    Open  Monthly Payment:       Date Open: 4/1/2008  4/1/2008  4/8/2008  Balance: $5,100.00  $5,100.00  $5,100.00  Terms: 1 Month      High Balance:       Limit:       Past Due: $5,100.00      Payment Status: Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department  Checked  Collection account  Comments:   Checked
  Placed for collection

Edited to remove personal information. Please do not share personal information on the forums. -sidewinder

Message Edited by sidewinder on 12-04-2008 06:26 AM

[guiness56]

The 4/1/2008 date is not the DOFD.  This is the date the collection agency opened the account with the CRA and it has no bearing on the DOFD.

[RobertEG]

You appear to be very close to the FCRA dropoff date from your credit report, which is 7 1/2 years from the DOFD back in 2001, so I dont think that is your primary concern.

I would be more concerned with the pending chance of a lawsuit by the CA to collect the remaining debt.  So you need to kinow your state SOL law, and specifically, whether your offers to pay or prior payments have reset the SOL for the account.  IN some states, such as Texas, the SOL is not reset based on subsequent payments or offfers to pay, but in others it is.  Look at the sticky post on this forum that deals with state laws, and get the state code for the SOL on the loan.

[Anonymous]

would this be classified a student loan? isn't it supposed to be treated differently?

i'm not an expert on them.

[Anonymous]

---

demed wrote:

would this be classified a student loan? isn't it supposed to be treated differently?

i'm not an expert on them.

---

Me either, I always have to look up and see what is/isn't.

But footnote 2 of FCRA 605(a)(4) states:

 2 The reporting periods have been lengthened for certain adverse information pertaining to U.S. Government

insured or guaranteed student loans, or pertaining to national direct student loans. See sections 430A(f) and

463(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1080a(f) and 20 U.S.C. 1087cc(c)(3), respectively.

To the OP: You need to pull your reports directly from the CRA themselves and look for a DOFD or estimated removal date. As mentioned, the 4/1/2008 date is just the date that the CA opened an account for you in their office, not the DOFD. You likely won't find DOFD on any report pulled through a 3rd party service like myFICO or TrueCredit.

[Anonymous]

Thanks sidewinder, I didn't realize that was there. 

In response to some posters question, the loan was signed in TX so if the TX SOL comes in to play it is expired.  I now live in CT and spoke with the CA I made arrangements with in CT.  I tried to read up on SOL limitations but couldnt' get clarification on my situation. 

Also the million dollar question for me is - if this item's DOFD has passed, can I demand that this CA listing be taken off?  It's been reported throughout the years by other agencies but the true DOFD is in 2001 (not sure exactly when).  I was thinking of writing the CA and demanding written validation of the loan (I requested it verbally via phone and the rep was supposed to email me. They will likely send me a copy of the original contract (which I don't have) and I could send that to the CRA's showing the origination of the contract.  Its just frustrating because I've argued this point with the CRA's 3 times for them to verify it on every occasion.  They never explained how.  Do I have to live with this CA for another 7 years??? I want to file a complaint with the FCC on the CA because they did not comply with my validation request.  I need this off - I've paid the time for 7 years already I really hope this won't be on there for 7 more!