@Tooliebell wrote:
I have a total of 4 accounts that have been paid, settled in full. I have this in writing. I disputed the items on my report as the they were not updated. I did not dispute this until I received a letter from each company that states this has been settled and you have no further obligation. The dispute was resolved this week and the balances are not zero, they are showing the difference between what I paid and the balance owed. My understanding is that the balance on the credit report is an act of collection. Is my best course of action to file a dispute with the creditor or to send in the information to the CRA? I am frustrated as I waited 30 days for these things to update and now have to resend in the information and wait another 30 days for their investigation to be complete.
Are these CAs or OCs? If OCs, then the FDCPA doesn't apply.
I wouldn't dispute again. Know that some OCs/CAs only update one time per month. If you received a settlement letter from them, you should wait 30-45 days to give them time to update the correct balance before taking any action. If I had a settlement and after a month they didn't update to a $0 balance, then I would send a letter again directly to the OC/CA asking them to update and I'd include a copy of their letter showing them that we both agreed to a settlement. This method is much faster than a dispute. If they still didn't update, then I'd consider a dispute at that point and/or letters to them again, to the BBB, to the AG, etc. just to stir up the post and put a little bit of pressure on them. Maybe I'd start with a letter saying since you didn't update, please delete, and go on from there.
IMO, it is a FCRA issue and not FDCPA. Now if they actively tried to collect for the difference, with letters and calls, after receiving a settlement letter from them, then a case can be made for FDCPA issues.
Now if these are CAs, you wouldn't want them to update to $0. Your FICO score won't improve and a case can be made that your FICO score could dip if the DOLA hadn't updated in some time. If these are non-CC OCs, then the same applies. Your score won't improve any. If these are CC COs, then your score could drop or increase depending on the utilization, how they report, and your overall util minus these CCs.
