topic Re: Equifax DoFD in Rebuilding Your Credit

Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Sat, 24 May 2014 11:55:47 GMT

All,

I have an old account with GMAC. My Experian and Transunion reports suggests that the estimated date of removal is 04/2014 and 07/2014. SInce this information is not provided on my Equifax report, I am attempting to calcualte the estimated date of removal from the DoFD date.

Equifax lists the DoFD as 12/2008. However, this is the date that the account was charged off. According to the 81-month payment history, the account was first 30 days past due July 2007. The account remained 30 - 90 days past due each month and was effectively charged off 12/2008.

Should I be concerned that Equifax is reporting the DoFD as 12/2008 opposed to 07/2007? I would like to ensure that the account is removed from my credit report timely.

Please help.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t662/holmes60606/Myfico/ScreenShot2014-03-18at70105PM_zps8a3aba86.png

********** U P D A T E **********

after a long battle, i finally won. It wasn't an easy fight though. I submitted multiple disputes via Equifax and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I also sent several written communications directly to GMAC. After getting a consumer protection attorney involved, i started to see some progress. Here is what my attorney had to say--

I've reviewed the most recent report you sent me and compared it to the coding required by the Credit Reporting Resource Guide (Metro 2 Manual) for "Date of First Delinquency." The reporting does not comply with the Metro 2 guidelines. I believe that the reporting as seen on the most recent report could certainly be misleading to a reader of the report as to when delinquency actually first occurred.

Overall, she agreed with everyone in regards to the DoFD and how it was being reported by GMAC. I am now considering the possibility of a potential civil suit against Equifax for continuing to inaccurately report this account despite my attempt to bring it to their attention. I was denied several loans and credit cards as lenders pointed to this account.

But, as for now, i received an online dispute notification from Equifax suggesting that the account has been deleted. It looks like the dispute was initiated and completed on 5/22/2014. Unfrotunately, it is not clear if it was deleted at the request of GMAC or initiated by Equifax.

Stay tuned.

Re: Equifax DoFD

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:28:30 GMT

Yes. It goes by the DoFD that led to the CO or collection, not the CO itself.

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:43:38 GMT

Here is a link to the photos. I am uncertain if they are showing in my original post.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t662/holmes60606/Myfico/ScreenShot2014-03-18at70105PM_zps8a3aba86.png

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:47:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes. It goes by the DoFD that led to the CO or collection, not the CO itself.

Thanks for the quick response! Should I give Equifax the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if the account falls off next month? Again, the payment history details show when the account first went delinquent. However, the charge off date is listed as the DoFD.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t662/holmes60606/Myfico/ScreenShot2014-03-18at70105PM_zps8a3aba86.png

Re: Equifax DoFD

RobertEG — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 03:14:29 GMT

The CRA does not determine the DOFD.

They have no way of knowing when a consumer first became delinquent with an OC.

An OC could have, for example, delayed first reporting of delinquency until months after the account first became delinquent.

The FCRA thus places responsiblity on the OC to determine and report the DOFD.

It is the responsibility of the creditor to explicity report the DOFD to the CRA within 90 days after reporting of a charge-off. FCRA 623(a)(5).

The CRA then stores that reporting under a code called the "FCRA Compliance Date/Date of First Delinquency," and then calculates the max exclusion date based on that reporting.

I would send a direct dispute to the OC, contesting the accuracy of their reported DOFD.

As a simple, preliminary showing of inaccuracy, the FCRA requires that a DOFD must have preceded the date of charge off. Again, see FCRA 623(a)(5).

Thus, if they charged off the debt in 12/2008, a charge-off is only taken once an accunt is seriously delinquent, requiting the actual DOFD to have been months earlier.

You dont need billing records to establish that fact.

You can peg the actual date if you have adequate tilling records, showing first delinquency, followed by continued delinquency up to the date they took the charge-off.

Re: Equifax DoFD

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 03:35:20 GMT

@JAY305 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes. It goes by the DoFD that led to the CO or collection, not the CO itself.
Thanks for the quick response! Should I give Equifax the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if the account falls off next month? Again, the payment history details show when the account first went delinquent. However, the charge off date is listed as the DoFD.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t662/holmes60606/Myfico/ScreenShot2014-03-18at70105PM_zps8a3aba86.png

As Robert stated, EQ goes by the information funished by the OC. They don't make up the DoFD themselves.

I would do as suggested and send a direct dispute to the OC. You need to be able to back up your claim with any type of records you have, including prior credit reports showing the late payments.

It looks as the DoFD should be July 2007.

It also states you made a payment in Juy 2008. Did you? If you did, did it bring the account current?

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 09:11:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@JAY305 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Yes. It goes by the DoFD that led to the CO or collection, not the CO itself.
Thanks for the quick response! Should I give Equifax the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if the account falls off next month? Again, the payment history details show when the account first went delinquent. However, the charge off date is listed as the DoFD.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t662/holmes60606/Myfico/ScreenShot2014-03-18at70105PM_zps8a3aba86.png
As Robert stated, EQ goes by the information funished by the OC. They don't make up the DoFD themselves.

I would do as suggested and send a direct dispute to the OC. You need to be able to back up your claim with any type of records you have, including prior credit reports showing the late payments.

It looks as the DoFD should be July 2007.

It also states you made a payment in Juy 2008. Did you? If you did, did it bring the account current?

Yes, I did make payments each month from July 2007 thru around July/August 2008. However, each payment during this period was 30+ days late. Unfortunately, I don't have any of my payment records/receipts. However, according to historical credit reports (Equifax, Experian, Transunion) the payment history is as follows. Do you beleive this will be sufficient information to prove my case? Notably, considering the large balance due; the last thing that I want to do is provoke GMAC and prompt them to update the information on my Experian and Transunion to reflect that of my Equifax report. My Experian and Transunion reports currently show that this account will be removed 4/2014 and 07/2014 respectively.

I greatly appreciate the advice.

Jul 2007 - 30 days late

Aug 2007 - 30 days late

Sep 2007 - 30 days late

Oct 2007 - 30 days late

Nov 2007 - 30 days late

Dec 2007 - 60 days late

Jan 2008 - 30 days late

Feb 2008 - 30 days late

Mar 2008 - 30 days late

Apr 2008 - 30 days late

May 2008 - 30 days late

Jun 2008 - 30 days late

Jul 2008 - 60 days late

Aug 2008 - 30 days late

Sep 2008 - 60 days late

Oct 2008 - 60 days late

Nov 2008 - 90 days late

Dec 2008 - CO

Re: Equifax DoFD

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 14:06:34 GMT

All of the CRAs should have the same reported DoFD.

I would contact EQ and find out why they are reporting the DoFD the same as the CO date. Start with that and see what they say..

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:33:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
All of the CRAs should have the same reported DoFD.

I would contact EQ and find out why they are reporting the DoFD the same as the CO date. Start with that and see what they say..

Thanks guiness56. I will wait until 04/01 and pull a copy of my credit report directly from Equifax. If the account still shows the DoFD as the charge-off date at that time, would you reccommend disputing with the CRA or pursing a direct dispute with GMAC?

Re: Equifax DoFD

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:33:44 GMT

I would actually attempt to find out through EQ why they are showing that. Ask them what DoFD the OC reported and see what they say.

I find it hard to believe the other CRAs have it correctly with the same information provided by the OC.

It has happened before that EQ used the CO date as the DoFD and that is incorrect.

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:33:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would actually attempt to find out through EQ why they are showing that. Ask them what DoFD the OC reported and see what they say.

I find it hard to believe the other CRAs have it correctly with the same information provided by the OC.

It has happened before that EQ used the CO date as the DoFD and that is incorrect.

I purchased a copy of my report directly from EQ as I am eager to resolve this issue. I contacted them directly and I was told that they simply collect the information that is provided to them from the company. The representative was unable to provide any infomation other than offer to dispute the account. The representative also advised that they don't archive reports and he was unable to go back and review historical reports.

I chose not to initiate a dispute with EQ as I am going to pull together all of my old credit reports and send directly to GMAC. I hope this does not turn into a nightmare.

Also, the 81-Month Payment History on the report that I accessed today is completely diferent when compared to old reports. It no longer reflects any of the 30, 60 or 90 day late notations. The new report shows--

Aug 2013 - CO

Oct 2013 - CO

Jan 2014 - CO

Re: Equifax DoFD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 03:27:30 GMT

They can go back and look at historical data. They have to be able to do that.

Have you pulled a new one from TU and EX to see if that reporting has been changed?

I would send the direct dispute to GMAC and include old and new reports, any account statements you may have, etc.

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:51:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
They can go back and look at historical data. They have to be able to do that.

Have you pulled a new one from TU and EX to see if that reporting has been changed?

I would send the direct dispute to GMAC and include old and new reports, any account statements you may have, etc.

Thanks. i have prepared a direct dispute letter using the template provided in your signature. I have included 3 - 4 old credit reports in addition to a letter received directly from GMAC 01/2014. The letter confirms the payment history listed on the old credit reports.

Notably, I also contacted GMAC Asset REcovery yesterday evening to get an over night mailing address. The representative insisted that "they have been informed to no longer assist customers directly with credit inquiries; all disputes have to be initiated directly with the CRA."

It's terrible that I have to jump through so many hoops to request that this information be reported accurately. So, I will proceed and send the letter directly to GMAC as well as send a copy to Equifax via postal mail.

I also considered paying a family friend who is an attorney a small fee to type/send the letter on her letter head to see if I would get a qiucker response. But, hopefully the outcome will be favorable w/out going this route.

I will update as soon as I receive a response.

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:09:49 GMT

Hi All,

I have a follow-up question. Notably, I was able to get TU and EX to remove the GMAC acount early from my report. Per the notations on my reports, TU was scheduled to remove the account 4/2014 while EX was scheduled to remove the account 07/2014.

Notably, I have sent a letter to GMAC with a copy of the letter sent to EQ and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to validate the DoFD. While browsing EQ website I found the following information-- https://help.equifax.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/164/noIntercept/1

The information posted here suggests that credit accounts remain on file for seven years from the date of last activity. The date of last activity on my EQ report for GMAC is N/A. Is it safe to assume that if the date of last activity is N/A then the DoFD will be used? Or, should I be asking GMAC to update the date of last activity?

It would be so much easier if EQ was like the other CRAs and simply added a clear notation.

Thanks for the help!

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:17:06 GMT

@JAY305 wrote:
Hi All,

I have a follow-up question. Notably, I was able to get TU and EX to remove the GMAC acount early from my report. Per the notations on my reports, TU was scheduled to remove the account 4/2014 while EX was scheduled to remove the account 07/2014.

Notably, I have sent a letter to GMAC with a copy of the letter sent to EQ and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to validate the DoFD. While browsing EQ website I found the following information-- https://help.equifax.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/164/noIntercept/1

The information posted here suggests that credit accounts remain on file for seven years from the date of last activity. The date of last activity on my EQ report for GMAC is N/A. Is it safe to assume that if the date of last activity is N/A then the DoFD will be used? Or, should I be asking GMAC to update the date of last activity?

It would be so much easier if EQ was like the other CRAs and simply added a clear notation.

Thanks for the help!

nevermind - i found the answer in EQ Key Terms Section--

Date of Last Activity (DLA):
    * For paid as agreed accounts with a zero balance, the DLA contains the Date of Last Payment on the account.
    * For paid as agreed accounts with a balance greater than zero, the DLA contains the most recent date associated with the account.
    * For delinquent accounts and accounts included in bankruptcy, the DLA contains the date the first delinquency occurred leading to the Status being reported on the account.

Re: Equifax DoFD

TrueGeminiNC — Sat, 24 May 2014 11:58:30 GMT

********** U P D A T E **********

Stay tuned.