Re-aging an account

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I searched the board for information on this, but all I could find was info on when a creditor illegally re-ages an account. I want to know about creditors re-aging to remove the late pays from your credit report. Here is my situation.

In February of 2009, my wife lost her job so we went to a Consumer Credit Counseling organization and got on a debt management plan. The CCCS negotiated with all my creditors and they lowered interest rates, waived late payment fee's, etc. Everything was great and we were paying down our debt. I just checked my credit this week and I see that Sears/Citibank has been showing me as 30 days late for the past 6 months, and 60 days late for the 15 months before that! I was shocked, because all of my other creditors show a perfect payment history of the past 2 years, even another Citibank card that I have. Obviously, this is destroying my credit, so I contact them. They told me they could not change how the account has been reported because their hand were tied due to "Federal Law". She did not quote any statutes.

My questions is, is this true or can they re-age the account if they wanted to? What should my next steps be? I'm frustrated because I have worked hard to pay back everything I owe and I'm still getting screwed.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[cdtotten]

Yes, a creditor can remove a late payment from your credit report at any time.

What it sounds like is that your payments you are making are less than the minimum payment, and as such they are reporting you late each month. Are you making your payments to the credit repair agency or directly to the OC?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply!

I am making payments to the CCCS and they make the payments to the OC. This is based on a agreement the CCCS made with the OC over 2 years ago.

Does anyone know the legal statutes stating they can remove the late payments. Either the person I talked to didn't know about it, or she knew and was unwilling to admit it.

Any other questions that could clarify the situation, please ask.

Thanks again.

[RobertEG]

Under FCRA 623(a)(1)(A), any person reporting to a CRA is prohibited from reporting any information that is knowlingly inaccurate.

It is not a statement that information cannot be deleted.  It is a statement that if it is reported, it must be accurate.  They can assert that deletion of lates is inaccurate reporting, but the FCRA does not specifically require reporting of delinquencies.  It only says that if they are reported, they must be accurate.

I dont see an issue of "illegally re-aging" the account.  If the delinquencies were accurate, then their reporting is permissible.

The delinquencies will still cease to be included in your CR after 7 years from their date of occurance.  The date they were reported does not alter the date they occured, and thus they date they cease to remain in your CR.

The issue appears to simply be the legitmacy of the delinquencies.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply.

You're right, the issue is the legitimacy of the delinquencies. I don't feel they are legitimate because the creditor entered an agreement with the CCCS and I have held up my part of the bargain. I guess it's my responsibility to convince them of that.

What I don't understand is, why they care so much. I'm not asking them to lower my payments or to settle this debt for less than I owe. When I am done with the program, I will have paid them every cent I owe them, plus interest. So why are they so determined not to change the reporting status of the account when it does not affect their bottom line at all? That is what is frustrating me the most.

[cdtotten]

Heres the problem with the credit card counseling services... when you make the payments to them and they make them to the OC, they can send whatever amount of money they want to them, and typically what happens is that even though they told you they worked out an arrangement, they are submitting less than minimum payments each money, causing you to be late. This is very common with these companies. This is why most people on these boards will tell you to NEVER use these companies. They are not doing anything you coudln't do yourself. You can call creditors, tell them you are struggling, they will usually lower your interest rate and close your account. This is always a better solution then leaving it in the hands of a third party that may or may not pay certain people.

IMO, they will not delete the delinquencies because they are more than likely accurate.

[Anonymous]

Hi CD,

It certainly seems as if you're right and there is nothing I can do about the CRA reporting. I guess I just have to be more diligent in the future. I did sign up for credit monitoring, so if something like this happens in the future, I can catch it right away.

Thanks again to all who took the time to respond. It is appreciated.

[alecia1270]

I went through this same problem myself with a Target cc acct.  The problem was, Target claimed they did not approve the proposal from the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, even though the CCCS told me they received acceptance from Target.  Since we (the CCCS and myself) were operating under the assumption that the proposal was accepted, that is the payment amount that was being sent.  Target was viewing this as an ontime payment but it wasn't the minimum they required, thus they charged me late fees and reported me late.  I gathered all the information and / or correspondence I had and presented it to the CCCS to ask for a re-aging of my account.  They went to bat for me with Target and got the account re-aged and all the late fees refunded (approx. $150).  You probably won't get anywhere with the creditor directly but it is worth asking the CCCS to request a reaging of the account and / or changing of the reporting status (assuming you paid on time).  I would highly recommend the CCCS I'm using...American Consumer Credit Counseling.  I tried dealing with my creditors directly to have interest rates reduced (after the CC Reform Act went into place) and none of them would budge.  ACCC was the only way I could get the IRs reduced.

Good luck.