Date of First Delinquency (Equifax) - Never late but differs from BK filing date?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I filed Ch. 7 BK a few months ago - due to the fallout in the real estate market.  I am now trying to rebuild credit and have pulled credit reports and recently did my first round of cleanup/disputes.

Equifax shows 2 of my accounts (a car lease and an American Express account) with a Date of First Delinquency that is a few months prior to my filing Ch. 7 BK.  However, I was never late paying either of these accounts.  In fact, I am currently doing a ride through on the car lease & continue to make the payment on time each month.  AMEX cancelled the card when I filed Ch. 7 - - and the only balance at the time was that month's balance which was not even due at the time I filed (I previously paid the entire AMEX balance each month).

If both the car lease and AMEX account was current when I filed Ch. 7 - should there even be a date of first delinquency? If so, shouldn't it match my BK filing date? I have already disputed other aspects of these accounts and Equifax now reports that the creditor claims it is reported correctly.  Is there anything further for me to dispute?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hey there, old friend.

You are correct, the DOFD should be the month you filed BK.  However, since the item will drop from your credit 7 years from that date, if the DOFD listed on your credit report is OLDER than the month you filed, let it be.  This will mean that this item will fall off your report earlier than it technically should - which is good for you.

Further, your score is partially based on how long it has been since you have had any kind of delinquent account, so the longer the period from today and that date, the better.

Hope all is well.  Feel free to PM me anytime.  I was discharged in Oct 07 as you may recall, but still have not closed!

[Anonymous]

Hi Boscoe -

Great to hear from you.  It appears I am following you from board to board as life progresses.  May our next stop be a message board for those who have unexpectedly hit it big so BK & credit rebuilding is a thing of the past!

As an update, we were discharged about a month ago.  Our attorney still gets an occasional question from the attorney assisting the trustee.  I'm hopeful the trustee's attorney is concluding his report and the case will close in the near future.  I know the discharge is the important thing - but it would be nice to officially have the case closed.  I am so thankful for your advice & others - as I most likely would be in a Ch. 13 right now or worried every day that one of the banks would be pursuing a deficiency judgment against me for the soon to be foreclosure!

Your response to my question above makes sense - - one follow-up question to ensure I'm clear.  Are AMEX & the financing company for the car lease allowed to have a date of first delinquency on my account - - even though I have never been delinquent on the account? If DOFD is really just an indicator of the fact that I filed BK then I will leave it alone (as you said, since their dates are earlier than my BK). 

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Apparently, the act of filing bk is considered a delinquency and therefore the DOFD should be the date the bk was filed.    Does that answer your question?

[Anonymous]

Sure does - thanks Boscoe!