FCRA Violation?

[stan_the_man]

Let me first say that I understand that no one is offering me legal advice...

My wife has paid charge off on a GAP card (GE Money Bank), and I've been trying to get an error fixed for the past seven months and the error only appears on Experian.

Basically, in December 2008 the charged off account was PIF to the OC, but it was reported on Experian that there was both a balance and the account status was charge off through February 2009. In December 2009, I contacted the OC by phone to notify them of the reporting mistake and they send a letter saying that they contacted the CRAs and that it the the correct information would report within 45 days.

Last month I checked and noticed that the error was still not corrected. I initiated a dispute through Experian, and the dispute resulted in the balance being reported as $0 from January 2009 on but that the account history reads "Charge Off as of Nov 2008 to Mar 2009." So, it appears that after both going directly to the bank and initiating a dispute through the CRA the error remains.

Is this a FCRA violation?

If it is a FCRA violation, do you think its a good idea to offer the bank a settlement of $1, deletion of the trade line from all CRAs, no admission of wrongdoing and a confidentiality agreement that states that the bank can discuss this account with no one?

[llecs]

FCRA violation? Maybe. They can report you late, CO'd every month up to the point you PIF or settled. If paid in December, then maybe there's a chance they can't report that until January. In any case, if PIF in December, then they closed you an extra late by 2-3 months. Would it be worth removing 3 90+ day lates? Score-wise, there's probably no difference since FICO reads the most recent baddie within that TL and a 3 month difference of lates in a TL from very early 2009 won't likely impact your score.

What you want to do though is send a GW letter. Ask for all the lates to be removed and mybe this TL can report as a positive account and help your score. There's no reason to send any money if PIF.

[RobertEG]

No.

Paying any delinquent debt never removes it from one's CR based on any payment alone.  That issue does not evem arise until at ; least 7 affter date of derog reportomg by a CRA

I see no FCRA vioLation.  What do youi assert as a vioation of the FRCA?

[stan_the_man]

Let me lay out the key facts one more time for clarification:

• The issue here is that the charge off was PIF in December 2008.
• OC was notified that there was incorrect information on the Experian report in December 2009 and responded that it would be corrected. The incorrect information was that the account was not PIF until March 2009 and that it was in charge off status through March 2009.
• In June 2010, a dispute was initiated and OC corrected the paid in full date, but listed the account as "Charge Off as of Nov 2008 to Mar 2009" despite the fact that the account was PIF and closed in December 2008.
• The OC was notified that there was an error twice (once through direct contact and once though dispute). The first time they did not correct the error, and the second time they did not fully correct the error.

So far, I've sent out one GW letter with no response, but -- since this is both the most harmful and recent derogatory -- I'd rather see it disappear.

BTW -- The settlement offer would be for them to pay my wife $1 (if that was not clear), in exchange for agreeing not to sue them for violating the FCRA.

[llecs]

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@stan_the_man wrote:

Let me lay out the key facts one more time for clarification:

• The issue here is that the charge off was PIF in December 2008.
• OC was notified that there was incorrect information on the Experian report in December 2009 and responded that it would be corrected. The incorrect information was that the account was not PIF until March 2009 and that it was in charge off status through March 2009.
• In June 2010, a dispute was initiated and OC corrected the paid in full date, but listed the account as "Charge Off as of Nov 2008 to Mar 2009" despite the fact that the account was PIF and closed in December 2008.
• The OC was notified that there was an error twice (once through direct contact and once though dispute). The first time they did not correct the error, and the second time they did not fully correct the error.

So far, I've sent out one GW letter with no response, but -- since this is both the most harmful and recent derogatory -- I'd rather see it disappear.

BTW -- The settlement offer would be for them to pay my wife $1 (if that was not clear), in exchange for agreeing not to sue them for violating the FCRA.

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I'd keep on sending GWs asking for the lates leading up to 3/2009 to be removed. And BTW, if you don't need its history, you can also ask for it to be deleted.

Whether you have a paid charge-off from 3/2009 or 12/2008, you still have a paid charge off and that's going to tank your scores equally, at this point, whether the correct date is reflected or not. Let's say you do sue based on an incorrect date, what's stopping them from correcting it to the 12/2008 date prior to the suit? If they correct it to the 12/2008 date, you still have a major baddie reporting plus it'll make it near impossible to get them to remove the lates prior to 12/2008.

They'd take your $1 settlement offer and trash it.

I only write what I would do in any given situation, but I'd be persistent with the GWs for a few more months. I'd e-mail, fax, mail, send smoke signals, or do whatever it takes to kindly ask for a removal. I'd also try via planetfeedback.com. I'd also send letters to their execs. I probably wouldn't be satisfied with my efforts unless I sent a dozen or so GWs each month based on the situation. Then I'd escalate it to sending copies of my EX report to the OC showing the placement of the lates and would include proof to them that it was paid on such and such date and I'd probably ask for removal of the TL by that point.