topic Re: Macy's 30 day late help in Rebuilding Your Credit

Macy's 30 day late help

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 05:14:19 GMT

Hi everyone.

I'm hoping to get some help with my Macy's card credit reportings

I'm showing 2 separate 30 day lates on my credit report June and July 2013.

Basic outline, from April-August I payed my bill, in full, 1 day late each month. Stupid I know but I repeated this 4 times where I was consistently 1 day late on each bill. In fact the only thing I was paying at this point was a late fee on a late fee.

Is Macy's able to report this as 30 days late? It was my impression that I had to be over 30 days delinquent from the due date of the bill. And each bill was paid exactly 1 day late.
I've contacted Macy's support, the NACS line, and no body is willing to remove these lates. It was most disturbing, because the 30 day late for July appeared before the month was even over making a "30 days late" theoretically impossible.

I understand I messed up and owe the late fees. But am I allowed to be reported 30 days late? Do I have any further recourse? I'm considering mailing all 3 credit bureaus but reading into it online almost seems a waste of time in that they don't even read your documentation, just request confirmation from the creditor.

I had a flawless report before this in the high 700s. I'm now officially tanked in a time I finally need my credit.

Re: Macy's 30 day late help

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 06:22:38 GMT

I wanted to post a sample bill as I believe this is how Macy's is justifying it

May 15th $25 due. Paid May 16th ($27)
June 15th $52 due.. 25$ May past due + $27 late fee. However, bill does not seem to calculate 27$ paid May 16th so real amount due is $25, paid 1 day late June 16th.

I'm wondering if this is where I'm getting boned. In that I did not pay the $52 in full by the 15th, I was again one day late. I'm looking at it from the view that the 30 day late would have to be on the May 15th bill, which was paid off within 1 day. Can Macy's say the bill was late because I did not pay the original $25 + the late fee together within the 30 day delinquent window?

I've been looking at Them as separate bills. The May 15th bill paid 1 day late, and the June 15th bill paid 1 day late.

Re: Macy's 30 day late help

RobertEG — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 07:29:25 GMT

Each billing statement provides a specific minimum amount due on a specific date, regardless of whether what is deemded due was based on charges or fees.

A late fee only becomes a charge as of the date of the delinquency.

Being 30 days late, as you have correctly stated, is defined over and over in the credit reporting manual as being 30 days past the billing due date, not the date of billing.

I dont see a reportable late.

I would send a dispute via the CRA, asserting a clear inaccuracy in the reporting of a delinquency per their Credit Report Resource Guide.

This is a situation where I would not send a direct dispute to the furnisher, as you want CRA review per their reinvestigation right.

Include each bill showing the billing due date, along with proof of date the billed amount was paid.

Re: Macy's 30 day late help

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 16:46:21 GMT

I'll certainly be doing that ASAP. My worry is that it won't work. I've read all over the Internet the cra doesn't really review your information. Thy just log a 3 letter code dispute, send a query off to the creditor asking if it's valid or not and continue. So my fear is that if Macy's is sticking to their guns that all Macy's has to do is reply "valid" and I'm boned again.

Perhaps I'm looking at that too pesomisticly.

It makes things so complicated to read because macys sends their bill instantly after your pay date, so my late payments were never included on my statements for the next bill. It makes it look like I'm not paying my minimums, when in reality my past due amounts should not even be on the next bills I recieve, and I am in fact paying each bill in full one day late.

Re: Macy's 30 day late help

RobertEG — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 01:48:43 GMT

Yes, when their is a furnisher of the disputed information involved, which will be the case in most disputes except for public record information, the CRA is required by statute to forward a copy of your dispute to the furnisher for their investigation and comments. While the statute requres them to forward "all relevant information" to the furnisher, the CRAs take the position that they can determine what is and is not relevant, and thus do not foward all information provided with the dispute.

In almost all situations, they reduce your dispute to a code, and foward that to the furnisher through their e-Oscar electronic system. In most cases, they have no indpendent means to evaluate the accuracy, and thus rountinely rubber-stamp any verification they receive back from the furnisher.

However, the final decision on any dispute resides solely with the CRA under ther "reinvestigation" right granted under section 611(a).

Thus, my suggestion that if you can clearly document the billing due and payment dates, then reliance on furnsiher input deminishes, as the facts speak for themselves.

There is no issue that their own credit reporting manual clearly states that 30 days past billing due date is requred for reporitng of a 30-late.

You have a shot. Nothing to lose other than a 30 day wait for their reinvestigation to be concluded.