Reporting SoL Reset By Written Agreement?

[Crossdivided]

Hello, all. Thought I'd throw this one out there for the pros

I have an unpaid college tuition balance from (approx) 2003, which is of course well past reporting age. I had requested a transcript from them in exchange for agreeing to pay them soon after (long story, Ill skip the irrelevant facts). This agreement was in writing, dated and signed approx 1 year ago. I made no payments to them. Approx 2 weeks ago I received a letter from a CA stating "make a significant initial payment by the end of this month in order to avoid credit reporting".

My question is this: does the fact that I made a written agreement to them reset the date this could be reported, or does the original date stand? Basically, I just want to know if they are bluffing or if they actually can report this debt (that has never been reported before). Although I am (finally) serious about debt, and therefore intend to pay them, it would be more productive to pay them first to avoid a new negative, vs pay them last considering paying them would have no effect on credit rebuilding efforts.

Thank you very much in advance!

[guiness56]

If the debt is beyond the 7.5 years for reporting, no they CANNOT. 

However, the written agreement could have restart your states suing SOL, depending on the state you live in,

[Crossdivided]

I see, thank you for the response.

Would my best course of action at this point be to write the CA informing them of the first delinquency date, and that Im aware of the7.5 year limitation (in the event they are just trying to bluff a payment from me quickly)?

Also, in the event it does get inaccurately reported with the written agreement date (not the original 2003), would it be sufficient to mail proof (to both the CRAs and the CA) in the form of some type of printout from the university showing the date of that tuition? If not, what else would you recommend?

Thank you yet again.

[guiness56]

You could yes.  As long as you never brought the account current after the settlement.

[RobertEG]

Yes, they can still report it.  The issue is whether or not it can appear in credit reports issued by the CRA.  Under cetain conditions, there is no credit report exclusion period, and thus any reported information can be included in a credit report regardless of its age.

The sole responsibility of a debt collector regarding credit report exclusion is to report the DOFD on the OC account to the CRAs within 90 days of reporting their collection.

The FCRA places no restritction on a debt collector from reporting to a CRA after that date.

It is then the responsibility of the CRAs to monitor the reported DOFD and ensure that the collection no longer appears in a standard consumer's credit report they issue after its exclusion date has expired.

If a collection is reported after its normal exclusion date, it is still entered into the consumer's credit file.

FCRA 605(b) provides a total exemption of all the normal exclusion dates under certain conditions, such as an inquiry made by a creditor for application for credit involving $150K or more. Thus, a collection reported at any time could be included in a credit report issued to that creditor.

Exclusion of information is not a bar to reporting, or a bar to CRA retention of  information in a consumer's credit file.

[guiness56]

Legally, it cannot be included on his CR, whether it is in the credit file or not.