If you are sure that the debt collector has improperly reported an incorrect DOFD to the CRA, that is a serious violation of the FCRA.
Any person who reports any information pertaining to an account/debt referred for collection must comply with FCRA 623(a)(5), which is the statute that ensures proper reporting of a DOFD. The debt collector was required, within 90 days of reporting any information to a CRA, to provide the CRA with the DOFD on the OC account.
With some sympathy for debt collectors,this can be a bit of a chore. They are not the OC, and dont have OC account records to independently determine what occured on the OC account. Section 623(a)(5), in recognition of this dilemma, sets forth a three step process that they must comply with.
First, they must determine if the OC has previously reported a DOFD on their account to the CRA. If so, section 623(a)(5)(a)(B)(i) is explicit. The debt collector MUST report the same date as that previously reported by the OC. If the OC previsouly reported a DOFD, any reporting of a later DOFD by the debt collector is easy to establish as illegal simply by reference to what the OC reported.
If, after checking to see if there is a DOFD previsously reported by the creditor and finding none, they are then required under FCRA 623(A)(5)(b)(II) to follow "reasonable procedures to obtain the date of delinquency from the creditor." They must attempt to get the info from its source, and if they get a DOFD from the credtior, they are required to report that date.
The murk begins if the debt collector has taken reasonable procedures to get the DOFD from the creditor, but was unsuccessful. The catch-all provison of section 623(a)(5)(B)(iii) then kicks in. Since under a statutory requirement to report a DOFD within 90 days, they can then report their best "guesstimate" of DOFD, but in NO circumstances can they report a DOFD that is later than the date they received collection referral.
You can get all information from the CRA regarding what the debt collector reported in compliance with section 623(a)(5) by sending them a request for the information under FCRA 609(a)(1) and (2). You must pay the CRA a processing fee of $11.00 for such requests, but that is how you get the real facts related to any improper reporting of DOFD by a debt collector. Once you have their actual reporting information, you can compare their compliance with the DOFD reporting provisions of section 623(a)(5).
Until you have evidence, you dont have actual proof of illegal re-aging.
