topic Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report? in General Credit Topics

Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

MrSpock — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:33:11 GMT

Hello all,

When my wife and I went to apply for a home loan a few months back I learned that there is an unpaid collection from PG&E in California for approx $189 from back in 1999. After doing some research I found out that my mother had opened the account in my name without telling me about it and never paid the final bill when she moved out of the house.

The amount is small enough that I considered just paying it to get it taken care of, but this will not immediately help my credit score and I do not want it to be hanging over my head for the next 7 years. Are there any good FAQ's or tutorials on how to dispute this type of thing? Would it be quicker / easier to offer to pay the collection if the the company agreed to remove it from my credit report?

Any help offered is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

MrSpock

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Tuscani — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:36:23 GMT

Dispute it as "not mine".

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

MrSpock — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:48:05 GMT

"Thanks" for the advice, but I'm hoping for something a little more comprehensive. Like to start, WHERE do I send my dispute letters? To whom should they be addressed? How long does this process typically take. Is there anything I can do up-front to reduce unecessary lag-time going back and forth between me and the credit bureau?

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Tuscani — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:51:22 GMT

Check out the Scoring 101 thread.

You need to dispute with each bureau. You can do this directly with the bureau (online) or via the links provided on your myfico.com reports.

The bureau has 30+5 days to respond. If they can't prove it is yours (and they shouldn't be able to here) they will delete.

Message Edited by Tuscani on 06-13-2007 06:51 PM

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 03:49:18 GMT

@Tuscani wrote:
Dispute it as "not mine".

It also has to be close to falling off as well.

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 07:51:40 GMT

MrSpock wrote:

When my wife and I went to apply for a home loan a few months back I learned that there is an unpaid collection from PG&E in California for approx $189 from back in 1999. After doing some research I found out that my mother had opened the account in my name without telling me about it and never paid the final bill when she moved out of the house.

Since this is from 1999, it's too old to be reported. Dispute it with the CRAs as too old to be reported.

In addition to Credit Scoring 101, read Credit Reporting Time Periods.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&message.id=6834

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

MrSpock — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:57:51 GMT

Noah_Bodie wrote:

MrSpock wrote:

When my wife and I went to apply for a home loan a few months back I learned that there is an unpaid collection from PG&E in California for approx $189 from back in 1999. After doing some research I found out that my mother had opened the account in my name without telling me about it and never paid the final bill when she moved out of the house.

Since this is from 1999, it's too old to be reported. Dispute it with the CRAs as too old to be reported.

In addition to Credit Scoring 101, read Credit Reporting Time Periods.
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&message.id=6834

That's what I thought as well, but even though the collection is from 1999, the reporting date to the credit bureau is 20003? Also, several people have told me that the "7-year" rule only applies to items that have been paid. Thus if an item is not paid off, the company can continue to report the item against your credit report every few years to keep it from falling-off. Is this true?

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:52:58 GMT

@MrSpock wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@MrSpock wrote:
When my wife and I went to apply for a home loan a few months back I learned that there is an unpaid collection from PG&E in California for approx $189 from back in 1999. After doing some research I found out that my mother had opened the account in my name without telling me about it and never paid the final bill when she moved out of the house.

Since this is from 1999, it's too old to be reported. Dispute it with the CRAs as too old to be reported.
In addition to Credit Scoring 101, read Credit Reporting Time Periods.
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&message.id=6834

That's what I thought as well, but even though the collection is from 1999, the reporting date to the credit bureau is 2003? Also, several people have told me that the "7-year" rule only applies to items that have been paid. Thus if an item is not paid off, the company can continue to report the item against your credit report every few years to keep it from falling-off. Is this true?

It does not matter if they reported it yesterday. It is all about the DOFD "Date of first delinquency" They can not report 7 years after DOFD

People told you wrong. This applies to paid and unpaid.
They can try to report and you can sue.

It is very common for CA's to not report immediately.

Message Edited by Timothy on 06-14-2007 07:52 AM

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

MrSpock — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:29:10 GMT

OK... Thanks for all the help. I will give your suggestions a try...

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:36:56 GMT

Was the account opened in '99 or did it go bad in '99, could make a huge difference.

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:11:08 GMT

MrSpock wrote:

That's what I thought as well, but even though the collection is from 1999, the reporting date to the credit bureau is 20003? Also, several people have told me that the "7-year" rule only applies to items that have been paid. Thus if an item is not paid off, the company can continue to report the item against your credit report every few years to keep it from falling-off. Is this true?

The important date is DOFD, Date Of First Delinquency. It's generally the date when the account went 120 days late.

For more info about dates.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&thread.id=8713

If this went to collection in 1999, then the DOFD must be 1999 or earlier.

7 year reporting rule applies whether it's paid, unpaid, or partially paid. 7.5 years from DOFD, and it must be off your reports. Period. Does not matter if you begin paying it AFTER it drops from your CRs. It cannot be reported.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&thread.id=2689

Call the CRAs, ask them what the DOFD is, and while ya got 'em there on the phone, dispute it as too old to be reported.

Re: Any FAQ's on how to dispute a derogatory statement on credit report?

Tuscani — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:26:46 GMT

Did you bring the account current in 2003? There is one exception if you did. The date which controls the seven year reporting interval is techically called DOFCD - date of first continuous delinquency after which the account was never again current while it was open and usable.

Example:
First 30 day late was January 1999, then the acct was current for 4 yrs.
The acct went delinquent again in Jan 2003 and was never current again.

The date which matters is Jan 2001. The January 1999 late should have aged off from your credit report after January 2006. Even prior to when that (1/2006) aged off, it was no longer controlling the TL's seven years because the account had been paid up sufficiently to become current again after that point.

For a charged-off account, the window maximum is 180 days (which represents the time period up to the latest date by which it had to be charged off if still in default) plus seven years. However, in practice just a flat seven years is when the CRA's age it off; they don't normally hold out for that extra half year.