DOFD clarification

[rckstrscott]

Hey friends;

So I am trying to help someone fight a collection account; my friend was evicted in May of 2009. There was a subsequent judgement from the evicition, but the rent stopped being paid in January.

So; the collection company lists the DOFD as May 2009 -- Is this accurate because the Judgement was from May 2009 or should the DOFD be based on when the account went delinquent, in January 2009?

i am a little unclear.

-scott

[DaBears]

Hi scott, it will be from Janurary that's when it first went default!! 

[rckstrscott]

That was my instinct too -- but the judgment threw me off a little...

-scott

[DaBears]

Yea. CA's are known to change the DoFD a big no no. In this case the CA used the wrong date. I would bring that up as it is a violation of the FCRA and FDCPA. 

[rckstrscott]

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@DaBears wrote:

Yea. CA's are known to change the DoFD a big no no. In this case the CA used the wrong date. I would bring that up as it is a violation of the FCRA and FDCPA. 

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Yeah; as long as we are both accurate in our belief, they already hung themselves because we have been working on them for 18 months, and they have repeatedly asserted the wrong date. 

Now. if they assert the wrong date, can they claim the OC provided them with the wrong date? Does that absolve them of any wrong doing?

-scott

[DaBears]

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@rckstrscott wrote:

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@DaBears wrote:

Yea. CA's are known to change the DoFD a big no no. In this case the CA used the wrong date. I would bring that up as it is a violation of the FCRA and FDCPA. 

---

Yeah; as long as we are both accurate in our belief, they already hung themselves because we have been working on them for 18 months, and they have repeatedly asserted the wrong date. 

Now. if they assert the wrong date, can they claim the OC provided them with the wrong date? Does that absolve them of any wrong doing?

-scott

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The OC which Im assuming is the landlord lease office should know the DoFD was Janurary. If they themselves used the Judgement date then they can be held liable as well. The DoFD always starts with the first missed payment. 

[rckstrscott]

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@DaBears wrote:

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@rckstrscott wrote:

---

@DaBears wrote:

Yea. CA's are known to change the DoFD a big no no. In this case the CA used the wrong date. I would bring that up as it is a violation of the FCRA and FDCPA. 

---

Yeah; as long as we are both accurate in our belief, they already hung themselves because we have been working on them for 18 months, and they have repeatedly asserted the wrong date. 

Now. if they assert the wrong date, can they claim the OC provided them with the wrong date? Does that absolve them of any wrong doing?

-scott

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The OC which Im assuming is the landlord lease office should know the DoFD was Janurary. If they themselves used the Judgement date then they can be held liable as well. The DoFD always starts with the first missed payment. 

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so.. FCRA 623(a)(5) would probably be my go to statute eh?

-scott

[rckstrscott]

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@rckstrscott wrote:

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@DaBears wrote:

---

@rckstrscott wrote:

---

@DaBears wrote:

Yea. CA's are known to change the DoFD a big no no. In this case the CA used the wrong date. I would bring that up as it is a violation of the FCRA and FDCPA. 

---

Yeah; as long as we are both accurate in our belief, they already hung themselves because we have been working on them for 18 months, and they have repeatedly asserted the wrong date. 

Now. if they assert the wrong date, can they claim the OC provided them with the wrong date? Does that absolve them of any wrong doing?

-scott

---

The OC which Im assuming is the landlord lease office should know the DoFD was Janurary. If they themselves used the Judgement date then they can be held liable as well. The DoFD always starts with the first missed payment. 

---

so.. FCRA 623(a)(5) would probably be my go to statute eh?

-scott

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Also -- opinions:

Should we try another letter essentially telling them they will be suing them if they don't remove?

Shoud I hold back the documentation that proves our point? Part of me thinks showing them the information will force their hand, but can they use my documentation to correct the DOFD at this point? We disputed through the CFPB and their response was:

"On 1-17-2013 FCO received the attached letter from the consumer dated 12-29-2012 indicating FCO was not reporting the delinquency date correctly to the bureaus. As a result I mailed the attached letter dated 1-17-2013 advising that our office had provided the proper delinquency date of 05-1-09 to the bureaus. Please see the statement of deposit from the creditor which states the vacate date or date of debt as 05-1-2009. Therefore, FCO has reported information with regards to this matter accurately to all credit bureaus."

Since that date is wrong, and they said they got it from the creditor, do we have a slam dunk or no? We already have the judgement printout that states the forcible detainer was from Jan-when the judgment occured.

-scott

[RobertEG]

The appropriate statute is FCRA 623(a)(5), which defines in detail the proper reporting of DOFD to the CRAs.

The first requiremet is that if the OC ever reported a DOFD to the CRA, the debt collector must report that same date.  FCRA 623(a)(5)(B)(i).

Since the post does not refer to any reporting by the OC, then that provision does not apply.

If the OC has never reported the DOFD, the debt collector is then required, under FCRA 623(a)(5)(B)(ii), to follow "reasonable procedures to obtain the date of delinquency from the creditor or other reliable source" and report that date to the CRA,  They state that they did so, and are thus in compliance with their responsibility under section 623(a)(5).   Even if the reporting is later shown to be inaccurate, violation of the FCRA on their part would only occur if their resporting was knowingly or negligently inaccurate.

Based on their apparent compliance with section 623(a)(5), I see no issue of vioation by the debt collector.

Whether the OC provided the correct DOFD to the debt collector is an issue with acts of the creditor, not the debt collector.

Since they are neither a debt collecor nor have reported to a CRA, they are not subject to any provisions of either the FCRA or FDCPA.

Thus, recourse would not be to assert their violation of either of those statutes.

If they knowlingly provided false information, recourse would be civil action against them.

I would contact the OC and inform them again of your issue with their statement of the DOFD provided to the debt collector.

However, the accuracy of the DOFD really does not have any currrent affect in that the only applicability of DOFD to credit reporting is its ultimate role in defining when the CRA must ultimately exclude the reported collection.  With years before that becomes a practical issue, I dont see actual current damage.  Plenty of time to resolve that factual issue.