I was sued by a creditor that I felt I did not owe money to because I had insurance. It was jewelry that I purchased on credit but was later stolen when my house was broken into. I had insurance on my credit account but when I tried to file the claim for the theft I was told my insurance had been mysteriously cancelled. I fought the creditor tooth and nail for about a year and a half and I made partial payments while it was being all sorted out because I really didn't want it to impact my credit. Finally I realized for every payment I made only about $20 was going to the principal and the credit was totally ignoring my dispute over the insurance covering the theft of the items. I finally stopped paying them back in 2005.
Low and behold in 2007 I get a summons to go to arbitration over the dispute. I once again contacted the creditor and requested documentation of my payments as well as proof of cancellation of my insurance. Just like in the past, they were not able to provide me anything. The rep said that in her system it simply shows i cancelled my insurance over the phone on some unknown date and the balance due.
When we finally went to court I bought the remaining documents I had, including the receipts of purchase that showed I signed up for insurance. the guidelines to what the insurance really covered where very obscure... but I staked my claim anyway.
I explained to the arbitrator that I had paid on my account on time up until the date of theft. After that I paid for the following month after the theft and then I paid sporidically thereafter for the next 6 months because I didn't feel that I owed the monies any longer because of the insurance that I had been paying on the account. The creditor argued that the insurance was literally just something they offered all there customers but it didn't really have any validity! The arbitrator said that the insurance claimed to cover the purchase in case of theft. The creditor argued that did not mean I was no longer obligated to pay for the purchase. ??? that made no sense to me nor the arbitrator.
The next line of questioning was about my payment history. Since I was the defendent in the case the burden of proof of non-payment was on the creditor. They could provide absolutely no history of payment. None whatsoever. All they had was the last three payments I had made on the account in early 2005. So the creditor (who was just a local store manager representing the company) tried to say that I must have NEVER paid on the account because the balance due was so close to the amount of the purchase. Her argument was just that and nothing else.
I stated to the arbitrator that I had paid on the account for about a full year without the balance ever seeming to really go down. It was then that I found out that for every $80 payment I was making $5.00 was going to the so-called insurance premium, another fee for simply having the credit issued to me and ontop of that interest payments. when I called about this during the time I was paying on the account the rep told me that only about $20 was actually going to the principle and if I wanted the balance to really go down I would need to send in more money monthly. I also stated to them that overtime of me NOT paying on the account it had obviously increased the balance.
So finally, the arbitrator said that the credit had no proof of payment or non-payment and they could not sue me for an amount that they could not provide proof of owing. So I WON.
I had to wait 30 days to see if they would appeal and they didn't. A judgement was entered in my favor stating that I owed $0 to the creditor. I asked more questions of the court officials and they said officially they could never sue me for the monies again and that I didn't not have to pay them.
Here is the problem:
I still can't get them off my credit report and they have actually updated the balance to reflect court costs now too and they are still reporting it deliquent and updated the last activity date.
I have submitted my court documents to Equifax and they told me that it was up to the creditor to send them correct information and as long as they continue to say it is a valid debt they have to continue to report it. they said my judgement meant nothing.
I don't understand. How can they keep reporting a debt that has been taken to court and determined I do not owe? How can I get this off my credit report if they are only relying on the creditor for information and disregarding my documentation?
I was told that I had to wait it out and then dispute it again... but each time I dispute it, it updates the timeframe for removing it.
I have contacted the creditor and they told me that they would have to contact there law department and get back to me. Of course i have not heard back from them at all.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Starting Score: 469
Starting Score: EQ 679, TU 697