Midland Credit Management Issues that needs resolving urgently!

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. We just applied for a mortgage(VA) and everything seems to be in order excluding a charge off account my Husband has with Midland Credit Management that goes back to 2008. I told him to contact them to get it paid immediately and he tried to do so today only for them to tell him the account is in dispute with the credit bureaus and therefore cannot be resolved. He explained he does not want to  dispute anything and needs to pay the account urgently to ensure his mortgage closes. They told him to fax over a letter then call back in 10 days! The lady was of course incredibly rude and slammed the phone down on my Husband mid conversation. We never expected that paying off a debt would be so difficult and have no idea what we should do now to get this resolved quickly. We are supposed to close on the house in 5 weeks.

Any advice greatly appreciated. 

[Anonymous]

Did your husband dispute the account with the CRAs?  Did he send them a DV letter?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your response, he did query the issue with the CRA's in September 2012 but never heard back and honestly with his work schedule he simply forgot about it. Stupidly we did not realize that it would become an issue. We faxed Midland a letter yesterday saying we want the account taken out of dispute so it can be paid immediately and they have stated that it will take 10 days minimum and call back in 2 weeks to see if they processed a change. My Husband asked for a supervisor and they cut him off. I wish we could find someone at Midland who would simply just help.

The date is still incorrect on his credit reports but at this stage that seems so insignificant compared to not being able to purchase a home because it is not paid off. Since he disputed last year it seems odd its causing issue now as a dispute because I thought that the CRA's looked into things within 30/45 days then either altered or left the information the same.

I emailed my mortgage processor explaining and documenting the dispute created last year, the error on the report and the fact we are totally willing to pay off the debt but Midland are not co-operating . So far the only response the mortgage company have given is we cannot close until its paid. Very frustrating. My Husband wanted to just send Midland the money and hope they accepted it to pay off the debt in fall but since they are slamming down the phone and refusing to assist who knows how that would work.

Thanks again for responding.

[RobertEG]

If the prior contact with the CRA was considered by them to be an actual dispute under FCRA 611, they are the party that puts the dispute flag in the consumer's credit file.

The party who reported the furnished information has no part in that.  So clearing up the problem resides with contact with the CRA.

If the CRA actually considered it to be a dispute, they cant have it two ways.  They cant place a pending dispute flag in the consumer's file, and then not conclude the dispute within 30 days by sending a Notice of Results of Reinvestigation, which formally would conclude any pending dispute.

You clearly should NOT have a pending dispute flag in your file a year after an asserted dispute.

Contact the CRA.

Either way, the flag should be remvoved.

Either it was inaccurately posted as a dispute when it was simply an informal request, or they must have concluded the dispute.

If they hem and haw, advise them that unless they immediately remove the flag, you will be forced to file a formal complaint with the FTC,

Meanwhile, make the same arguement to your mortage lendor.  If they understand credit reporting, it should be clear that your file has no actual pending dispute.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your response, it is most appreciated.