Change in the DOFD

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, I was able to pull my previous reports off of credit Karma, (didn't knew that was available) and I saw one of my accounts with a DOFD that was 2 years earlier than what is on my current report.  Who would I address this concern to, the original creditor or the credit agencies?  This account should have been removed if  the DOFD was not changed and I didn't realize that is what happened......

[MakingProgress]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi everyone, I was able to pull my previous reports off of credit Karma, (didn't knew that was available) and I saw one of my accounts with a DOFD that was 2 years earlier than what is on my current report.  Who would I address this concern to, the original creditor or the credit agencies?  This account should have been removed if  the DOFD was not changed and I didn't realize that is what happened......

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Were there 2 seperate late payments?  If you were late then bought it current, and were then late again, once the first one dropped off your DOFD would be the date of the 2nd late payment. 

[RobertEG]

Changing the reported DOFD is not per se incorrect.  It is possible that a previously reported DOFD was later found to have been inaccurate, and the updated reporting was done to correct the inaccuracy.

Thus, the issue is not that the DOFD has been updated, it is whether or not the reported DOFD is now accurate.

The steps/criteria for determining the DOFD to report to the CRA are set forth in detail under FCRA 623(a)(5).

If a previously reported DOFD is later found to have been incorrect, the furnisher is REQUIRED under FCRA 623(a)(5) and under FCRA 623(a)(2) to promptly correct the reporting.

If you have records that establish the updated DOFD to be inaccurate, then you can file a dispute challenging the accuracy of the reporting.

Include your supporting documentation, which should show when the account initially became delinquent, and that it thereafter remained dellinquent up to the date of the either the reported charge-off or collection.

You have the option to either file your dispute via the CRA, or to file a direct dispute by sending to the furnisher.

Either way, the furnisher will be required to conduct a reasonable investigation of your assertion/documentation, and either verify or correct.

[Anonymous]

These were 2 student loans with the us dept of ed that were opened in 1998.  Never paid on them and they defaulted in 2007 and that is listed on a previous credit report that I recently found on credit karma.  However when I consolidated them to one loan and paid it off, that happened in 2013 and now that is listed as the dofd, even though that is when I began paying on them and paid it off. The status never changed, remained as a collection account because it was sold to another company and then sent back to the us dept of ed, that was when I began payments.  They are since paid in full, but remain as a charge off, paid in full with the dofd as 06/2013 even though I initiated payment then for the first time ever.  Just wondering why the dofd was changed from 2007.  I think that is unfair because I only began paying on it is 2013.  So I found the previous report on credit karma with the first dofd for 2007, I stumbled on to it and I am trying to rectify it.  

[RobertEG]

DOFD is defined under FCRA 605(c) as the date when the period of deliinquency that immediately preceded the reported collection or charge-off was commenced, meaning when it initially began.

Both the FTC and the courts have clearly and consistently held that the DOFD remains the same, even if payments are made, if the payments do not return the account to good-standing, meaning it is no longer delinquent.

Making partial payments on a delinquent debt does NOT reset the date of first delinquency in the period of continued delinquency.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response RobertEG, I’m trying to figure out who do I address with this dofd, the OC or the CRA. Please advise, thx

[RobertEG]

AS stated in my first response, you have the option of disputing either directly with the party who reported the DOFD, or of filing your dispute with the CRA and letting them refer the dispute to the furnisher and conduct the reinvestigation.

Thus, if you wish to let the CRA handle the dispute, then send your dispute to them, along with any documentation that establishes the asserted inaccuracy.  See FCRA 611.

If you wish to file a direct dispute, then send it to the furnisher who reported the DOFD, and not to the CRA.  See FCRA 623(a)(8).