Sooooooo close to Seven Years since "bad times" -- what to do?

[PrestonMcGinty]

I've read these boards zealously, and have a question.  Hopefully some of the wizards here will have advice for me. 

We experienced substantial credit carnage in 2003 -- defaulted on a handful of credit cards, etc.  I have lived carefully with my head down ever since, and the SOL has passed for everything, everything, everything.  I'm totally and completely in the clear on THAT bit. 

Last month, I started hitting the "seven years plus 180 days past DOFD" -- and between July 2010 and April 2011, every damn bad thing "should" drop from my credit reports. 

However...

Midland Credit Mgmt. has been re-aging one acount -- of course, it's the biggest.  ON my TU report, it showed that it should drop off next month; on my EQ, it shows that it's there until next March.  However, I recently tried to get a loan -- and MCM shows up as new every single month! 

I have been TOTALLY reluctant to "poke the sleeping giants" -- so I have done nothing, zip, zero to take on any of this... other than letting the calendar pages drip past.  Time is the only weapon I've been using. 

Soooo.... if you were in my shoes, what would you do? 

A -- ignore it, continue letting time take care of it and counting through the next six months before taking any action

B -- try to GW some of this stuff off, or try to validate it off?

C -- something else?  (which will NOT include paying a dime to any of them -- since I'm past the SOL, I'd be crazy to do that.)

I have added three positive tradelines in the past year -- paid 100% on time -- and my score has increased from the mid-500's to the low-600's.  So far. 

What would YOU do?  What advice can you give to somebody who's at the bitter end of nearly seven years of waiting for it all to drop off the credit report?

thanks!!!!

[jdxprs1]

id wait it out and let it drop unless you really NEED it off sooner than 6 months.

[RobertEG]

Legal background:

No debt collector can legally "re-age" the drop off date for their CA in your CR.  It is based ONLY on your DOFD on the OC account.  FCRA 605(c).

If you can, from your OC account records, establish the one date-certain that you first went into delinquency on the OC account (usually a 30-day late), and the account was not brought back into paid, good standing with the OC before the CA was reported, that is your definative, legal DOFD. 

The CA cannot remain in your CR after 7 years plus 180-days from that one single, date-certain DOFD with the OC.

So, my advice.  No violation of the FCRA occurs until the CRA issues any credit report after 7 1/2 years from your DOFD that includes the CA.

So, to address the biggest concern, your Midland CA,  First determine the DOFD on the OC account that ultimately resulted in the Midland CA.

Ignore anything, and everything, that Midland has reported.  Simply add 7 1/2 years to the DOFD with the OC, and if the CRA continues to include any reporting of the MIdland CA in your CR after that date, that is a violation of FCRA 605(a) as modified by FCRA 605(c).  Pure and simple.  The violation is by the CRA. So wait for the date that you calculate CA deletion to occur,and if it does not, then disptue with them under FCRA 605(a). Ignore their "projected dates"

If you want to read further, here is what the CRA might say, if you dispute, and they refuse to delete.  They might say that the DOFD in their files is different than the DOFD that you assert.

That opens a whole arsenal of avenues you can pursue.  The most important of which is who has reported the current DOFD in your CR, when it was reported, and what date was reported.  In anticipation of such disputes, congress added section 623(a)(5)(A) to the FCRA, which required the original creditor to have reported the DOFD on the OC account to the CRA within 90-days of their collection referral, report the DOFD to the CRA, and further specifies that the DOFD they report must match, or be verified, by prior reporting they made under the OC account. 

I know this is gettng a bit legal and technical.  I only get this deep to assure you that if you know your DOFD, you can fight any reaging of extension of drop-off dates.

Just wait, and if the CRA does not timely drop, come back on here, and I will give you some letters to send.

[PrestonMcGinty]

Thanks so much for the fabulous and detailed response!  Most helpful.  I've got my calendar marked for the month I hit 7 yerars 7 months (coming very soon) and if there's anything showing up that should no longer be there, I'll definitely follow your advice.

It's interesting... in an odd way, I actually feel fortunate!  Because my financial carnage is now years behind me, and I am gradually rebuilding -- but the cool part is that in the past several years, I have learned to live happily without credit.  I know how to find great bargains on those "big ticket" items like furniture, appliances, electronics, and I cannot tell you how happy I have been that we didn't try to buy a house right before the real estate freefall.  But I DO know the value of being credit-worthy, and I'm chipping away at it, in case I need to take out a loan again.  For now, I'm happy to live frugally and simply. 

[RobertEG]

i know exactly what you are saying about the possible fortuity of your prior mistakes on improvement of your credit scoring!

I feel the same way.

Five years ago, I would not have thought twice about letting one of my CCs go unpaid for a few months, thinking that all I had to do was catch up when convenient for me, and then my credit would be back to normal.  Spending was OK as long as under total CL  I viewed my good income as my credit worthiness!

I knew nothing of 30/60/90+ lates, COs and CAs,% util.

I only became aware when I screwed up. 

So, yes, having learned the real lessons of the process are painful along the way, but in our cases, now  being close to elimination of those bad derogs and having suffered the process brings us out of the tunnel, with the new realization of the importance of prevention of even the small stuff on the front end.

Congrats to you!

[PrestonMcGinty]

Here' the funny part -- I work for a LENDER.  My job is to sell loans and credit cards!  And I can tell you that lenders are flipped out nowadays, because so many people have scorched their credit in recent years, even while underwriting has tightened up.  So they have to work extra-hard to sell loans.  I think it's hilarious.  Knowing what I know now about the entire credit industry, I will N*E*V*E*R again put myself in a position where lenders and credit reporting agencies can rule (or ruin) my life.  I view all this stuff as one more way that the "overlords" (ID them however you like) keep the mass public under control.  As kids, we worry about our report cards -- but as adults, we are "graded" our entire lives via the work of the Fair, Issac Corporation. 

I will be THRILLED once my seven-year-old carnage has finally and fully disappeared from my CBR; I'll carefully use a handful of credit instruments to ensure my "FICO stability" -- and I will go on with my life. 

[Scuba]

Thanks for the inside tip

nicely said

I could not agree more. 

Never again!

[tinuviel]

---

@RobertEG wrote:

i know exactly what you are saying about the possible fortuity of your prior mistakes on improvement of your credit scoring!

I feel the same way.

Five years ago, I would not have thought twice about letting one of my CCs go unpaid for a few months, thinking that all I had to do was catch up when convenient for me, and then my credit would be back to normal.  Spending was OK as long as under total CL  I viewed my good income as my credit worthiness!

I knew nothing of 30/60/90+ lates, COs and CAs,% util.

I only became aware when I screwed up. 

So, yes, having learned the real lessons of the process are painful along the way, but in our cases, now  being close to elimination of those bad derogs and having suffered the process brings us out of the tunnel, with the new realization of the importance of prevention of even the small stuff on the front end.

Congrats to you!

---

I'm in the same boat exactly. I was stuck in subprime land for years because of this. I thought that I could let things slide, catch up, and no big deal.

And like the OP, I've learned to live without depending on credit, and making purchases only if I have the means to pay for them right away. Yes, I've come to value being credit worthy, but I've also learned to live within my means. This past holiday season, I've had more available credit than I've had in years. But, instead of running out and overspending, I made resonable purchases that I knew I'd be able to PIF, which I've done. I'm going into the new year with no residual holiday debt.

This whole experience has been not only one of rebuilding credit for me -- it's been one of restructuring my financial habits so that I am on firmer footing. Good credit stems from financially responsible behavior. It's been a painful, but overall valuable, life lesson.

[tinuviel]

---

@PrestonMcGinty wrote:

Here' the funny part -- I work for a LENDER.  My job is to sell loans and credit cards!  And I can tell you that lenders are flipped out nowadays, because so many people have scorched their credit in recent years, even while underwriting has tightened up.  So they have to work extra-hard to sell loans.  I think it's hilarious.  Knowing what I know now about the entire credit industry, I will N*E*V*E*R again put myself in a position where lenders and credit reporting agencies can rule (or ruin) my life.  I view all this stuff as one more way that the "overlords" (ID them however you like) keep the mass public under control.  As kids, we worry about our report cards -- but as adults, we are "graded" our entire lives via the work of the Fair, Issac Corporation. 

I will be THRILLED once my seven-year-old carnage has finally and fully disappeared from my CBR; I'll carefully use a handful of credit instruments to ensure my "FICO stability" -- and I will go on with my life. 

---

It's so funny that you put it that way, because that's exactly how I came to undertake the project of rebuilding my credit this past year! I didn't finish college when I was young and I always regretted it. I went back three years ago and this past May I finally completed my undergrad degree. I worked my tail off to make good grades and ultimately graduated both **bleep** laude and with departmental honors. After graduating, I missed checking my grades and watching my GPA inch upwards. Something led me to check on my credit, and I stopped and realized that if I put the same effort and discipline into my financial life that I had into my academic life, there was no reason for me to have to spend the rest of my life as "subprime." I'm now fully aware that I will have a "report card" for the rest of my life, and I need to pay attention to the rubric under which I will be "graded."

[tinuviel]

That *bleep* in my post above was not a bad word. It's Latin for "with," and the phrase I was trying to post translates to "with honors."