Help with Credit Report after SL Rehab

[hjh916]

Hi everyone!  I don't know if this is the correct forum, however I was  hoping somebody could help.

I completed my SL rehab on 09/24 and immediately disputed with all 3 CB's.  No change .  I have a question and wanted to see if I was thinking correctly regarding removing the old SL collections off my report.  Loan originated 2001 and I defaulted 2003 through Sallie Mae.  I was very young and VERY stupid.  Over the years, I would come to an agreement with Sallie Mae to pay, however would never oblige.  Loans sold to Navient.  They started reporting 2013.  Never paid them.  Loans sold to NelNet. They started reporting 2014.  Never paid them.  Again, completed rehab this year, however Nelnet won't budge and I have lates reporting all throughout 2014 and 2015.  Shouldn't I be able to dispute Nelnet as "account too old to be on file" since the original loan was defaulted over 10 years ago.  Does that make sense?  Or are student loans a different animal?

[rmduhon]

Federally backed student loans are different. I can't say how a rehab changes things though.

[RobertEG]

Federal student loans are different in several respects.

While the debt remains delinquent, the normal credit report exclusion periods set under FCRA 650(a) do not apply.  The Higher Education Act extends the exclusion periods if the debt remains delinquent.  However, once you pay the debt back into good-standing, the normal exclusion periods then apply.

The Higher Education Act explicitly requires the reporting of account derogs to the CRAs, and unless or until the delinquency is overcome, the derogs can remain, as discussed above.  The mandatory reporting provision of the Higher Education Act effectively removes good-will deletions.

However, federal student loans are also subject to a rehab program, which permits the removal of derogs prior to their normal exclusion dates if the consumer successfully completes the rehab program requirements.  Rehab is done while the loan is still delinquent.

You thus can have two different provisions for removal or derogs on federal student loans.

First, if you have successfully completed a rehab process, they should be removed upon completion even if prior to the full FCRA exclusion period.

Second, if the loan is no longer delinquent and the derog(s) have passed their normal credit report exclusion period as defined under FCRA 605(a), such as 7 years plus 180 days from DoFD for a charge-off or collection, then the derogs are subject to normal exclusion, which is done by the CRA.

You appear to meet condition 2.  Make sure the loan is reporting a non-delinquency status, and then contact the CRA and request exclusion based on the student loan being subject to the normal exclusion provisions of FCRA 605(a).  The creditor is not involved in credit report exclusion;  that is determined by the CRA.

The rehab results may now be irrrelevant if the account is now in good-standing at the derogs are beyond their normal exclusion dates.