CITI Chargeback from a previous work-related card

[Anonymous]

I have a chargeback on my Equifax report from Citi that's getting ready to go off.  I was sad to see that the reports on AnnualCreditReport no longer include dates for removal, which I thought were included to meet some sort of legal requirement.  Either way, I use MyFICO on the regular - I just wanted to know what the official date was (so I can plan whether I need to make arrangements or not).

Equifax says:

If you have a late payment and don’t pay the past-due balance, the account could eventually be charged off by the original lender and assigned to a collection agency. If that happens, the entire collection account would be removed seven years from the date of your first missed payment that led to the collection or charge-off status.

That should be sometime in 2021 for me!

Citibank says the following on my credit report (all 2015 dates)

All previous months: "no data available"
Jun/July/August: 120 days late
September and October: CO /  Chargeoff

Is there anything I can do to get this off earlier?  If it was 120 days late in June 2015, that would mean that it had been late since sometime in February or March of 2015.  This was an employer expense card that was in my name, and I had no idea this would happen.  I would sue the old employer and Citibank if I had the time and money.  Right now, I just want this off of my credit.  Any ideas?  It has a comically bad impact on my credit, as my other bureaus are above 800, and this causes Equifax to be over 100 points lower.

[chiefone4u]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have a chargeback on my Equifax report from Citi that's getting ready to go off.  I was sad to see that the reports on AnnualCreditReport no longer include dates for removal, which I thought were included to meet some sort of legal requirement.  Either way, I use MyFICO on the regular - I just wanted to know what the official date was (so I can plan whether I need to make arrangements or not).

Equifax says:

If you have a late payment and don’t pay the past-due balance, the account could eventually be charged off by the original lender and assigned to a collection agency. If that happens, the entire collection account would be removed seven years from the date of your first missed payment that led to the collection or charge-off status.

That should be sometime in 2021 for me!

Citibank says the following on my credit report (all 2015 dates)

All previous months: "no data available"
Jun/July/August: 120 days late
September and October: CO /  Chargeoff

Is there anything I can do to get this off earlier?  If it was 120 days late in June 2015, that would mean that it had been late since sometime in February or March of 2015.  This was an employer expense card that was in my name, and I had no idea this would happen.  I would sue the old employer and Citibank if I had the time and money.  Right now, I just want this off of my credit.  Any ideas?  It has a comically bad impact on my credit, as my other bureaus are above 800, and this causes Equifax to be over 100 points lower.

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Equifax is known to be a mess to deal with. They offer Early Exclusion (EE) of 1 month before it organically falls off, but often requesting EE will cause you an extra headache and possibly extending how long it remains.

Based on the information you've provided, it likely will fall off March 2022 (2015 + 7 years =2022).

If you have original documents from when your employer issued you the card, and it has wording that relieves you of all responsibilities for the card you could get it removed as you wouldn't be the legal owner of the account. 

Unfortunately, most employers don't include that information and credit card companies often issue the card to you with you as a guaranteer in the event your employer fails to pay for charges.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much!  I'm thinking I'll just wait it out, and if it doesn't organically fall off by March or April or so, I'll dispute it.  I don't need to open up new credit in 2021, but I still want a max score for emergencies.

Thanks again, and kudos!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you so much!  I'm thinking I'll just wait it out, and if it doesn't organically fall off by March or April or so, I'll dispute it.  I don't need to open up new credit in 2021, but I still want a max score for emergencies.

Thanks again, and kudos!

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Disputing it is a very bad idea, especially with EQ. There are many reports of how bad it can get. I would 100% leave it alone. It generally falls off a month earlier than you would expect, making EE pointless, anyway.

If you pull your CRs from annual credit report, each will spell out when they age off:

* TU will list "estimated date of removal"

* EX will list "on record until" and will generally be different from TU & EQ because they "build in" 2 months of EE into that date.

* EQ will list "date of first delinquency". Add 7 years to that date and that is whem the account should age off. This is not "date major delinquency first reported", that may also be listed.

If none of those dates are listed, the entire TL is not considered derogatory and will probably not fall off at the 7 year mark. Meaning, you probably only have a late or string of pates reporting. Thise lates will age off at the 7 year mark, but the entire account will remain for likely 10 years from closing.

Just guessing, I would imagine that this account will age off Feb 2022. Again, I would not mess with disputing or EE with EQ.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I'm glad I posted this!  It definitely says 'Date of First Delinquency' is 2/1/2015, so that makes sense.  I have older reports that explicitly say 2/22 - for some reason I thought it was 2021 and it just stuck in my brain.  7 years.  That's fine too.  As long as my credit scores are around 800, it doesn't negatively impact Equifax enough.  If the scores come down, it's more impacting.  Almost everything takes I've encountered takes TU, Experian, or middle score, so it could really be worse.

@Anonymous, when you say, "Disputing it is a very bad idea", is that because it's a charge-off, Citi, or Equifax?  I've had 100% success with every other dispute I've ever had over the years, but I know Citi can be a monster.  For this same card - TransUnion took it off completely when I sent them documentation, and Experian downgraded it to something that barely impacts my score.

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

It's because it's Equifax. They could manage to set the house on fire while trying to water the plants. Trying to get it off 30 days before it naturally falls off is NOT worth the risk of a total dumpster fire. Just leave it alone. That month will go by quickly.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm glad I posted this!  It definitely says 'Date of First Delinquency' is 2/1/2015, so that makes sense.  I have older reports that explicitly say 2/22 - for some reason I thought it was 2021 and it just stuck in my brain.  7 years.  That's fine too.  As long as my credit scores are around 800, it doesn't negatively impact Equifax enough.  If the scores come down, it's more impacting.  Almost everything takes I've encountered takes TU, Experian, or middle score, so it could really be worse.

@Anonymous, when you say, "Disputing it is a very bad idea", is that because it's a charge-off, Citi, or Equifax?  I've had 100% success with every other dispute I've ever had over the years, but I know Citi can be a monster.  For this same card - TransUnion took it off completely when I sent them documentation, and Experian downgraded it to something that barely impacts my score.

Cheers!

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If it shows 2/2015 for DoFD, I actually would not be surprised if it fell off Jan 2022.

That is just a bit over a year away and I would not base future results disputing on past results, and especially with EQ. There have been so many reports of basically irreparable dumpster fire level damage, it is not worth it when all you need to do is wait another 30d. Jan 2022 is already much sooner than you were anticipating.

Good luck! It will be off soon enough and it is only on EQ.