Midland/ Dell financial (CIT Bank) - Could use some advice

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody

As you can see, I'm new here and new to taking control of my finances and improving my credit. I would first like to thank everybody for the great resource and community this site is. I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately and this site has been invaluable. So thank you!

Now on to my issue. I have an unpaid Midland collection on my report for an old Dell Financial/CIT bank CO. Equifax does not show it. My experian report shows it, but does not mention anything about DOFD or when it's scheduled to be excluded from my report. I called experian and they don't have any of that information. All experian shows is when the collection was open, sometime in early spring 2012. The guy that I talked to at experian went by the date the collection was opened and told me a drop off date sometime in 2019, which is not right. Transunion shows an estimated drop off date of 5/2015. Transunion report does not show DOFD, but when I called them, they told me the date of DOFD was 6/2/2008. Dell financial is not reporting to any of the CRA's, only Midland is. 

The original debt is showing approximately $2000. It's now up to over $4000. Midland seems to update it on my report every month. I have not been served with anything. No judgements. According to the date Transunion gave me, I am now outside the SOL. I'm in NY and the SOL is 6 years. But I believe I'm bound by the SOL of CIT bank in Utah, which is still 6 years. However, I do not have physical proof or paperwork showing the DOFD. I only have the drop off date listed on my report and the actual DOFD that I was told over the phone. Since this is getting close to being dropped from my report, I'm worried about Midland filing suit outside the SOL and trying to get a default judgement. How would I go about protecting myself and removing this negative off my reports? 

I've had no contact with the OC or the CA about this matter and have not acknowledged the debt or agreed to anything. 

Any help would be much appreciated. 

[Anonymous]

Since Midland has reported a DoFD to TU, they obviousy HAVE the DoFD. Save a copy of that report just in case Midland suddenly 'forgets' it. I would formally dispute it with Experian, that will at least require them to 'compare notes' with Midland regarding the account.

Does Equifax have a DoFD for it at all?

[Anonymous]

The TL is non-existent on my EQ report. They're either not reporting to EQ, which I highly doubt, or there is a mixup on personal information. I share the same name as my father and grandfather.  I'm the third.  It might be reporting on my fathers EQ or my grandfathers EQ, who died back in 98. I've had something like this happen before and it was quite a headache to clear it up. 

[Anonymous]

Not unusual at all for them to report to only one or two of the bureaus. If its not on your EQ don't worry about it.

Also a third

[RobertEG]

Reporting of the DOFD on the OC account is not optional for a debt collector, it is a specific requirment of statute.

FCRA 623(a)(5) requires a debt collector to obtain and report the DOFD on the OC account within 90 days after reporting of their collection.

That is the only way the CRA can determine credit report exclusion date.

Unfortunately, many commercial credit reports dont include the reported DOFD, but it is required to be in your file no later than 90 days after reporting date of their collection.

Check your free annual report via annualcreditreport.com, which will usually proivde the reported DOFD.

If you have the reported DOFD with one CRA, it must be the same with all CRAs, as it is a factual date based on OC account history and obained via the required process outlined in section 623(a)(5).

A DOFD of 6/2008 would result in credit report exclusion of the collection no later than 12/2015, and normal, early exclusion of approx this month.

DOFD is also the begin date for running of SOL for your state.

[Anonymous]

This all started when I received my 3 credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. Like I mentioned earlier, the TL is non-existent on EQ. Experian only reports when the collection was entered and when they last updated it. There is no mention of DOFD or when it's set to be excluded.  I even called them and verified that they don't have any info than what's being reported. Midland didn't report a DOFD with experian. 

The transunion report only mentions the approximate date of 5/15 when it will fall of my report. It doesn't show the actual DOFD. I had to call transunion to get the date. I asked the guy if they could mail me anything showing the actual DOFD and he directed me to get my free report, which I already did and it's the reason I was calling. Just basically giving me the runaround. 

How do I go about disputing the collection when I don't have supporting documentation of the DOFD? Should I contact Dell Financial and try to obtain the last 6-12 months of activity? I was actually able to log into the old dell financial account, but it was locked and I couldn't do anything with it. It just said to call their 800 number. I'd like to be as discreet as possible. I don't want to jeopardize resetting the SOL. 

Or or is this one of those situations where I should let a sleeping dog lie and see what happens in May?

[Anonymous]

Your TU report is your supporting doc. They couldn't list an estimated fall off date without basing it on the reported DoFD.

Nothing you do, short of entering into a repayment agreement or actually making partial payment, is going to reset the SOL. NOTHING. Try, as I suggested earlier, to do a formal dispute with EX saying they have incorrect DoFD.

[Anonymous]

Apparently I did it all wrong and wasn't looking at the Ex report right. When I initially went through annualcreditreport.com, it said I wasn't eligible for a free report for Ex. So I signed up for their $1 credit report and tracker 7 day trial service. The report that's included with that service doesn't show DOFD or exclusion date.

I tried again today and I was able to get a free EX report with an actual report number. That report shows an exclusion date of March 2015. I called Ex today and talked to another CSR and he wasn't able to see the March 2015 date or go back further than 24 months. He told me to get ahold of the dispute department and they can look up my entire file and history of where that debt originated and who it was sold to and so on. How can I go about obtaining my report that includes all that information?

According to my Ex report, date of exclusion is March 2015. Subtract 7.5 years, according to the CSR I talked to today, and that makes a DOFD of September 2007.

I'm just really confused in this whole matter. It sounds like it may have been re-aged. According to the dates in my TU and EX reports, I'm still well outside of the SOL. As far as I know, I haven't been sued. Which surprises me considering how aggressive Midland is. I searched my name through the statewide court database and could not find anything. I haven't been served and no judgements listed on my reports. I'm having my father look up his reports to see if anything got mixed up, just in case.

How can I be proactive in preventing a potential lawsuit? Consult an attorney? Send Midland a cease and desist? Are my credit reports evidence enough, or is something more substantial needed? I've heard of Midland suing outside the SOL which frightens me.