DOLA help please!!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, but I have been reading these boards the last month almost every day. Thank you so much for your helpful information. I wish I had known about this a while ago when I dealt with most of my CA problems.

Right now, there are 3 collection accounts on my report (EX and TU... had to order EQ by mail since they asked me for verification)

I have a few questions that are still unclear to me after reading and searching the boards:

1) Two of my collection accounts are due to drop off my report on 7/2009 and 11/2009. They are both paid off as of 2005. These drop off dates are from the TU report. The EX report I got from their own website doesn NOT have any dates for estimated removal, and does NOT show DOFD or DOLA. Is this normal? I want to make sure the drop off dates on the TU report are accurate, as I am planning on buying a home sometime next year once my credit is clean.

2) I have a 3rd collection account that has been sold off a couple of times, I think. The OC is SBC/PacBell in California and it is not reporting on my CR. The account went delinquent when my roommate and I moved out of our apartment after 11/2003... she told me she would pay the last month's bill, but she never did, as I found out much later. The bill right now totals $727 dollars, which I can easily PIF. The drop off date for that account on my TU is 01/2011, and it says it was placed on collection on 3/2005, would 3/2005 be my DOLA? Since there is not other date? I am concerned about DOLA because based on my calculations, the last time there was any activity was late 2003, and I want to make sure I am out of SOL for suing me. Would they have had to charge off the account within 180 days? Why would they wait 18 months to send it to collections? I live in Californa, so my SOL is 4 years. The following is what appears on my EX report. How do I get DOFD, DOLA and estimated date of removal from EX ? I got the report from annualcreditreport.com

Is it really an installment account? It was a utilities acccount with SBC for phone/internet. Is this affecting my credit utilization? Can I dispute that?

I don't want to do anything that may reset SOL, but I would like to try to PFD if I can so my credit can be clean by the end of the year.

Also, I've read about Asset Acceptance and I know they are difficult to work with. They just started calling my last week, after sending me letters for almost 2 years, which I ignored because I didn't know any better. Should I send them a DV letter and ask them to stop calling me?

ASSET ACCEPTANCE LLC
Address:
 PO BOX 2036
  WARREN, MI 48090
 (800) 614-4730 Account Number:
2311....  Original Creditor:  PACIFIC BELL TEL/DBA SBC CALIF  
Address Identification Number:   XXXXXXXX
Status:  Collection account. $728 past due as of Jan 2009.    
Date Opened: 03/2005

Date of Status: 05/2005

Reported Since: 05/2005

Last Reported Date: 01/2009
Type: Installment

Terms: 1 Months 

Monthly Payment: $0

Responsibility:  Individual 
Credit Limit:  $582

High Balance: N/A 

Recent Balance: $728

Recent Payment: $0  
Account History:
Collection as of Oct 2008 to Jan 2009, Sep 2006 to Aug 2008, May 2005 to Jul 2006

Hopefully someone can give me some answers. Thanks again for taking the time to help those of us with much less knowldege.

lee_chem

[RobertEG]

hI lee-chem.  DOLA is NIOT the focus, for credit reporting dropoff dates.  PERIOD!

For drop-off of previously derogatory accounts, the FCRA is clear and concise.  It is 7 years from the DOFD for OC accounts that have never been charged off of placed into collection, or 7 1/2 years from the DOFD if any charge-off or collection was reported.  Any later payments by you (DOLA) are meaningless.

I would not rely upon what is in your CR to determine this critical statutory DOFD, for OCs and CAs often report incorrectly. 

If you have accurate account records, just go back to the first bill on any account that you first went delinquent on.  Take the due date on the first bill that became delinquent, add 30-days to that date, and that is your legal DOFD on the account.  If you went further dilinquent in subsequent months, or made any full or partial paymenbts thereafter, that does NOT reset the DOFD.  The ONLY way a DOFD can be reset in your CR is if you first bring an account back into satisfactory, paid status, and THEN have a new DOFD that starts a new chain of delinquencies.  I dont think that is your case.

Yes, DOLA can affect your SOL, which has nothing at all to do with your CR.  The SOL is the date after which legal judgement for collection of the debt can no longer achieved, should they bring legal action,  The SOL varies with each state code, and is not regulated federally.  But, again, it has nothing to do wth CR drop-off dates.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 01-22-2009 09:26 PM

[Anonymous]

Okay, so I understand the DOFD rule. I think I have some old credit reports that I can check when the OC was still reporting. Since those are paid collections already I can do nothing but wait now.

Even if the OC or CA report an incorrect DOFD, the CRA knows the correct one? Should I call the CRA for the correct DOFD if I don't have any old statements or records to verify DOFD?

For my second question, I don't have old OC statements or records, but I know I have not paid anything on that account since 12/2003. I am concerned about DOLA because that is still unpaid, and they just started calling me last week, after 2 years of only letters. I am thinking that they are calculating DOLA from March 2005 so my SOL would expire in 3/2009, so they could sue me in the next two months!!!! I was thinking about trying PFD for the full amount due, but if they can still sue me that's not a good idea. Should I wait to DV and PFD after March just to be safe?

Thanks for your help!!

[RobertEG]

lee_chem, you are now focusing on SOL and legal action.  You need to know your state SOL laws.

A CA can bring legal action against you 100-years from now.  SOL gives you a defense once it has expired.

It is an affirmative defense, and will win in court, but you must be sure before aserting it, and show up in court.  It is not a bar against them bringing legal action.

Do you know your state SOL law?

[Anonymous]

I read through that confusing legal code for California here:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=350-363

and as I understand it, SOL is 4 years, and it can only be reset by a payment or a promise to pay in writing (section 360)...

That's why I'm thinking that if they are calculating DOLA from the date collections started (March 2005) then they can still sue me and win before March 2009. However, I still need to find out how to get an accurate DOLA from the CRA. It's not even a field in the credit report I have now.

I have not made any payments, nor have I agreed to anything in writing. But Asset could've used a false payment to reset SOL, right?

[RobertEG]

NO!

Dont ever assume that a DOFD is correct simply because it is "reported" to a CRA by a creditor.

The CRAs only receive creditor reports.  They are just archives of self-interest data, and have no legal weight.

They do not independently research. 

Your files are all that a court will look at.

[RobertEG]

If Calif code says 4 years from an offer to pay, then the CRA is worthless.  If you sent an offer to pay that might have reset the SOL, the CRAs have no part in this.

CRAs wont give you legal dates on SOL.  That is not their function.

They seek compliance with the FCRA, and not legal debt collection activities.

I think you should seek a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

I didn't send an offer to pay at any point. I didn't talk on the phone, or answer any letters. It used to be another collection agency, and a couple of years ago Asset apparently bought the account. They have not sent me anything about a law suit, and from what I've read, I don't think they would sue me for $727, especially when they know I have not done anything to reset SOL.

However, before I send a DV and later a PFD and ask them to stop calling, I want to make sure I am out of SOL. Pacific Bell/SBC doesn't exist anymore, so other than trying to get a hold of them, I don't know how else to confirm DOLA that would hold up in court if I did have to go.

Also, TU reports estimated date of removal 01/2011. Wouldn't that mean that DOFD was around 01/2004, so obviosuly DOLA would be before that, since I have not had anything to do with the account since it went delinquent. That means I should be well out of SOL.

Maybe I should still talk to a lawyer, just in case. I can always just PIF if I'm wrong, and wait until 01/2011 for the TL to be removed, but I was really hoping to buy a house early next year, and that is the last collection from my crazy stupid college years that I need to get rid of.

Thanks for your help

[RobertEG]

What you said in your PFD offer appears to be the crux of your current legal concerns, under Calif SOL code.

It would appear that an offer to PFD might be construed by them as a reset of the SOL. It is time to lawyer-up.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 01-22-2009 10:09 PM

[Anonymous]

Exactly. That's why I'm hesistant to do anything. I've read here that if I send a PFD clearly stating that I am only offering to pay for the purposes of deleting the entry form my credit report and that I am not acknowledging the debt, then it should be okay. But that makes me nervous.

Thanks for the clarification on DOFD and the rest. Seems like I need to do some more research on how to find the accurate DOLA. I will try to contact AT&T, since they bought SBC and maybe they'll still have my original account on file.