Creditor ONLY reporting negative items

[harveyc7890]

So during my dispute I discovered that the credit card company has only reported negative information to Equifax and Transunion. The months of negative months showed as C/O but the positive months only show up as NO DATA. Its obviously unfair but is it possible to go for a deletion or something with this or use it in any way to my advantage?

[coldworld]

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@harveyc7890 wrote:

So during my dispute I discovered that the credit card company has only reported negative information to Equifax and Transunion. The months of negative months showed as C/O but the positive months only show up as NO DATA. Its obviously unfair but is it possible to go for a deletion or something with this or use it in any way to my advantage?

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Which part is unfair? The part where you stiffed the lender or the part where the lender reported when you stiffed them?

There is no deleting a CO. Your best option is to pay it, so it will report a $0 balance. After that, all you can do is wait. Time is your friend.

[AndySoCal]

@harveyc7890  What date was the account charged off?  What date did the account first go into a derogatory status? I agree pay the account off. If the account is still with the creditor I would take steps to pay the account. At somepoint in the creditor could sell or transfer the account to a collection agency. If they do so or not it is upto the creditor.

[ForwardLooking]

This is just an oberservation based on looking at my own reports, but I noticed Equifax seems to be only reporting positives for only about a 4 year period, but reports on negatives for the 7 year period (plus or take a few months based on their deletion policies).  I think it is assumed that if there is no negative data, then it is assumed to be positive -- so I do not think a dispute would work, or if it does work, you would not see any meaningful changes to your profile or score.  Even the new scoring models with Trending features only look at the past 24 to 30 months of data, so it would not affect those models either.

I understand the frustration, and see your point, but I don't think a despute for not reporting older positive data would result in anything really positive.  Also, if you open the dispute and it comes back verified, they will bump the last update date to current - meaning if they had not updated in a while, you would potentially see a hit to your scores.

[FireMedic1]

It would help to know who the creditor is. ND isnt a bad thing. That doesnt give you a case for removal. It was CO. Pay it. Sscore go up a tad. Then it will age off.

[harveyc7890]

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Which part is unfair? The part where you stiffed the lender or the part where the lender reported when you stiffed them?

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First off all I didn't come to this forum to be judged or hear a lecture from a random on the internet. And for the record the unfair part would be where a $400 vet bill ballooned into a $1k+ CO that I paid off but it still only hurts me after 5 years not letting me get a decent apartment, or buy a house or or get a decent car and the list goes on all while the credit card company got their money back. That's the part I would say is unfair. 

[harveyc7890]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

It would help to know who the creditor is. ND isnt a bad thing. That doesnt give you a case for removal. It was CO. Pay it. Sscore go up a tad. Then it will age off.

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Its been paid off but my score is still in the low 600s. this is the only negative tradeline but it has been there for a long time reporting as CO. 

[bass_playr]

Yes, it's still hurting your scores but since you paid it off, it is no longer updated as a chargeoff.  So, it's not doing as much damage--and the more time that goes by the less it will affect your score.

A couple of things.  First, you're right, no one comes here to be judged harshly like that.  None of us came to this forum because we had perfect credit and decided to pop on in one day.  Don't let the trolls bother you.  Just focus on the rebuild.  When I got the last late pay off my credit, my FICO 8 jumped over 30 points.  And that wasn't a charge-off.  Try to be patient, I know it sucks.  The single most important thing you can do now is to pay everything on time 100% from here on out.  Once you built positive payment history, you'll see this get smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror.  Then, one day, it will be gone.  

I started my rebuilt with FICO 8s in the low 400s.  You WILL get there, but remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. The biggest thing I did was create 100% positive payment history and the rest really kinda fell into place on its own.  Discover just out of the blue raised one of my credit limits yesterday by another $2,500.  The second thing is to be smart about applying for new credit.  Don't go crazy in getting cards, for example.  I have zero late pays and zero charge-offs showing on my credit--no collections either, last new credit card was over 3 years ago.  This is what I'm sitting on right now:

[bass_playr]

Also, if you're not able to get approved for a mortgage or a car, then something else besides this paid charge-off is likely holding you back.  Could be debt to income ratio.  Covid messed with the lenders so that many of them tightened up their requirements to play it safer.  But we walked into a dealership a little over a year ago, approved for up to $66K for vehicle purchase.  We ended up getting a 2020 Durango R/T in perfect condition for $4K under book value--no money down and 4% on a used vehicle.  Walked in, test drove it, checked it all out, signed the papers and drove it off the lot.  Smoothest deal I've ever done--we were surprised at what we got.  But I cannot imagine that a $1K paid charge-off that's been in this status for going on 5 years now would be the one factor that stops you from getting approved.  There's got to be something else--any other collections or charge-offs that are not paid off?  debt to income?  It may be worth your while to try a self-lend product.  It's not as important as payment history but lenders do look to see what kind of a mix of credit types you have.  Self lend gives you an installment loan with positive payment history on your credit, if you dont have any installment loans on there in good standing now that could help jump-start you.  

[coldworld]

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@harveyc7890 wrote:

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Which part is unfair? The part where you stiffed the lender or the part where the lender reported when you stiffed them?

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First off all I didn't come to this forum to be judged or hear a lecture from a random on the internet. And for the record the unfair part would be where a $400 vet bill ballooned into a $1k+ CO that I paid off but it still only hurts me after 5 years not letting me get a decent apartment, or buy a house or or get a decent car and the list goes on all while the credit card company got their money back. That's the part I would say is unfair. 

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No judgement at all. Life is unfair. I was in your situation not long ago, so I know it sucks.  The great news is, there's light at the end of the 7 year tunnel.