Stellar Recover Debt Parking/Reaging

[Anonymous]

Here's my Dillema.

I happened to check my credit report and to my dismaymy score had dropped 30 points. It was because of a collection account that had been reported. The agency is Stellar recovery. The OC is Comcast. Here is what happened. 

In 2009, I moved out of an apartment. When I moved I settled all my bills including the cable bill. I also took them the equipment. So I go on about life as usual. Then Comcast called me saying that the didn't get the equipment. I took the box and modem directly to the comast office. So I KNOW they indeed did receive it. So then she said they would charge me for the equpment and if I didn't pay it would go to collections. So I'm going on my way and wasn't going to pay for something I delivered in person. Ok this bring us to the present. 

Comcast never reported this on my credit report. So there is no Comcast tradeline anywhere on any of my credit reports going back to 2010 to now. So, in comes Stellar Recovery 7 years later reporting it on my credit. On the credit report there is an account opened date of 4/2012. The first reporting was 6/2016.  Which means, they were assigned the account in 2012 and then waited 4 years before they put it on my credit report. It's interesting that they have sat on the account for 4 years and just when the time has come for it to fall off anyway, they report this 7 year old balance. 

There is A DOFD date listed as 10/2010. This date is incorrect. If the DOFD is 180 days from the first payment missed that would put it at 3/17. 

Key Points
- Stellar never contacted me by mail or phone. They still have yet to contact me. I found out about it by checking my credit report.
- There is and never has been a Comcast original trade line anywhere on my credit report. 
- Since the DOFD determines when an entry falls off it looks as if they have reaged this in order to keep it on my report for another year. 
- For the DOFD date to be 10/2010, it means I would have had to make a payment in 4/2010. I did not. 

So. I am trying to find out the best way to dispute this. If Comcast furnished this info, Is there any way to request that they show proof of the last payment in order to substantiate the erroneous DOFD they are reporting?

[Anonymous]

Dispute for inaccurate information and send a dunning notice to the CA. It appearing on your credit report can be considered first communication from them since you didn't recieve anything else.

[RobertEG]

The DOFD is not defined as being 180 days after your first delinquency.

The DOFD is the date of your first delinquency after which you remained delinquent until the collection was reported.

The 180 days is provided under FCRA 605(c) as the date of beginning of running of the 7 year exclusion period.

The 7 year exclusion period begins 180 days after the DOFD.

If you dispute a reported DOFD, you should NOT include any reference to an added 180 days.

The reason for delaying the begin of the 7 year exclusion period for 180 days after the DOFD is due only to address the possible reporting of a collection when the CRA does not yet have the DOFD.  Debt collectors are permitted under FCRA 623(a)(5) to delay up to 90 days after reporting their collection to provide the DOFD to the CRA.

Thus, for a collection reported very late in the exclusion period, it is possible for 7 years to have passed since DOFD, with the CRA being in violation of exclusion without knowing it.  The added 180 days until begin of the running of the exclusion period is there to handle the rare but possible contingency of very late reporting of DOFD up to 90 days after expiration of the 7 year period by giving the CRA up to 180 days - 90 day delay in reporting of DOFD = 90 remaining days for the CRA to enter and calculate the exclusion date without having become in violation of the exclusion period.

Since such late reporting is rare, and thus the need for the additional 180 days is usually only academic,  the CRAs thus routinely exclude at 7 years from DOFD for most collections.

[Anonymous]

Okay. Thanks for your reply. Just to clarify.  The last payment on the account was in August 2009. The account has never been on my credit report in any form not even as an inquiry. The first entry related to this account happened in July 2016. Stellar recovery placed this on my Transunion report in July 2016, Equifax in Aug 2016 and Experian in Sept 2016. They staggered it. The information on the reports show an open date on Apr 2012 I'm assuming that's the date it was assigned or they purchased it. 

So 

"The DOFD is the date of your first delinquency after which you remained delinquent until the collection was reported."
"The date of first delinquency also known as the “DOFD” is the date an account became 30 days late which led to a charge-off by the creditor. The FCRA's Compliance/Obsolescence date determines when the 7-year reporting period begins for accounts that have been charged off or placed for collection."

If the last payment was made in 8/2009 then the earliest DOFD would have to be 9/2009

They have a DOFD of 10/2010. There is nothing that would support that date. 

Last payment August 2009
Assigned to Collector in April 2012
Collector then reported it to CRA in July Aug, and Sept on 2016

I have also received NO correspondence from Stellar Recovery at all not by phone, or mail. They have never contacted me prior to or after putting this on my credit. 

I was trying to find out the best way to dispute. I was going to request a verification of debt. Then I was considering just disputing the account period. This is not a situation where I just defaulted on a bill and didn't pay. To my knowledge the account was closed and all was fine. Then they came claiming I didn't return equipment that I returned directly in their office. So their claim that I didn't return it is false. None of the dates line up or even make sense. 

They would wait 3 years(from 2009 to 2012) to send an account to collections....
Then when the collection agency gets it they sit on it for another 4 years (From 2012 to 2016)......

None of these dates even makes sense.