Creditor closed account and sold to 3rd party, but still reporting late payments to this day?

[Anonymous]

I have 3 or 4 negative accounts that were closed back in 2010 and sold off to a 3rd party debt collector. Those accounts still show the account being late every month, some even up to Dec of last year. Can the original creditor legally report an account as late if the account has been closed and sold off?

[Anonymous]

You need to send the creditor a letter certified US mail about the error. If they refuse to remove the incorrect reporting you should consult a consumer lawyer for a possible FCRA lawsuit.

[RobertEG]

In order to report a late, there must be a billing due date, and a lack of payment of at least the amount due within 30 days past the billing due date.

Thus, a creditor who no longer owns the debt cannot continue to report lates to the CRA after they sell the debt.

They should also have updated the debt balance to $0.  No debt due to them = no late payment reportable by them.

Are you SURE that they sold the debt to the debt collector, and that it was not simply assigned to them for collection assistance?