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So, I saw this thread, and it reminded me about how my mom had a former landlord who had put a mark (too young at the time to remember what kind of derog) on her credit report, complaining about not paying for damage to the house. Every year, like clockwork, the landlord would put the derogatory mark on her report, and she, time and again, would have it disputed the CRAs. Would there be any penalty for this today? Is there a statute of limitations on prosecuting this kind of malice? Just curious.
It would depend on the "Mark" and how it was placed on her CR as to whether or not it was a violation. We would really have to see it.
Did he get a judgment against her? How long ago was this?
That thread you were referring to is showing a payment that was never made.
You would have to check your state laws in regards to that SOL.
There is no actual statutory prohibition against reporting to a CRA at any time, provided the furnisher does not report information that is knowingly inaccurate.
Legal action for reporting would thus be appropriate only if it can be shown that the landlord had knowlege that what was being reported was inaccurate.
State statutes set limitations on how long creditors can sue on debt, which are totally separate from any credit reporting exclusion periods.
The FCRA sets periods after which any adverse item of information that has been reported can be included by a CRA in any credit report they issue.
Those periods, except for unpaid tax liens, are all based on a date fixed to when the adverse item occured.
A landlord is most likely reporting delinquency in payment or, if corporate, possibly a charge-off of the debt.
Monthly delinquencies in payment are all excluded from a consumer's credit report 7 years after their date of occurence.
If the landlord charged-off the delinquent debt, it would be excluded 7 years plus 180 days from the date of first delinquency (DOFD).
None of those dates are updated based on when the landlord chose to report.
Thus, any delinquency that occured prior to 4/20006 should now be excluded.
If the landlord did a charge-off or referred the debt to a debt collector, either of those reportings would now be excluded if the date of first delinquency with the landlord was prior to 11/2005.
Washington State. I'd have to ask her what kind of judgement.
Basically went like this:
-Mom and Stepdad lost jobs at same time (same employer)
-Landlords hears about this through the grapevine, sends an eviction notice almost immediately after they lost their jobs
-They move out, she bills them for damages to the property (washing machine, chipped paint) that were in that condition before they moved in, so they don't pay.
-They both file bankruptcy, noting said landlord.
-Landlord continues to tack on derog for three or four more years, each time, they successfully dispute it with the CRA, since it was mentioned in their BK.
I'm sure it isn't worth serious inquiry at this point (7+ years later), was just curious if anything could have done about it at the time.
Edit: They were not behind on rent, utilities, or anything.
A judgment, paid or not, can only be on a CR for 7 years from filing date.
If the judgment was included in the BK, the landlord can face some serious violations for trying to collect the debt. They judgment should have gone to a 0 balance and showed IIB.
In WA the landlord can evict without cause. Which is pretty nasty but they still have to follow the landlord tenant rights when they evict. Was your mom ever served and if so did she answer the summons?
@guiness56 wrote:
Was your mom ever served and if so did she answer the summons?
I don't think so. The BK followed pretty soon after.
If she was never served according to WA state requirements, she may be able to have the judgment vacated.
I lived in WA state for 20 years. It is a moot point now but the state has a very good landlord tenant law. It sounds like the landlord didn't do what was required of her after she evicted them.
She can contact the court clerk and get copies of all the paperwork and see what is in it.