Fico score drop for disputing old account as pay for deletion.

[KozmosZ]

I just got a 51 point drop from Equifax for disputing an old charge off that was paid off a year ago while trying to get it marked off as paid for deletion. Any ideas as to why this happened? 

[JoeRockhead]

What do you mean you were trying to get it marked off as paid for deletion? 

Having a PFD granted would come from a collection agency since the majority of lenders won't grant a PFD.  

If the account was reporting as charged off with a balance, then you paid it off to a zero balance it should have stopped reporting the CO status monthly at that time. 

What likely happened is by disputing it, Equifax verified the accuracy of the charge off status with the lender and it subsequently showed  back on your repirt as recent. 

If it's reporting as a charge off with a zero balance, it's accurate and there's nothing to dispute.

[KozmosZ]

The thing is the dispute was for PFD, because it was suppose to be PFD when I paid it off. 

So what you're saying is by disputing any item on my record will automatically reset as if I paid

the charge off yesterday when in fact it was paid off a year ago?

[JoeRockhead]

No, nothing resets the clock on the fall off date... what I'm saying is it may have stopped reporting monthly a year ago when you paid it off... Then when you recently disputed it, it showed up again for example in June so the algorithm scores it as a recent event even though it's not.

If the lender agreed to a PFD, you should contact them to correct it, not the credit bureau unless you have written proof that a PFD was granted that you can show the bureau.

[1lifeisworthit]

Equifax did not give you a drop. They are just a credit bureau, they compile reports from the information furnished by your creditors, and then provide those reports to those who need them. Your scores come from either Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) or from VantageScore and those scores are based on the reports they get from the credit bureaus.

If you dispute something with a credit bureau, they have to take your dispute to the creditor in question for verification of the negative item. The creditor has a legal amount of time to verify. If the item is verified in time, then the item stays and is updated as current information.

The Pay for Delete is between you and the creditor and if you have such an agreement in writing, then it should have been deleted when paid. First you go to the creditor to get this settled, and if that doesn't work then you can dispute with the credit bureau by sending in the written proof of the agreement, and that should get it deleted.

What the credit bureau cannot do is simply take your word for the deletion promise. Equifax had to check with the creditor to verify the item, and the item was verified and updated as current information.

Then either Fair Isaac or VantageScore (likely FICO considering this is My FICO?) viewed the updated report and assigned you a new score.

Do you have the PfD promise in writing? If yes, send it to the creditor and send it to Equifax. If not, there's really nothing you can do to force this to happen. You have no proof that the creditor is lying about promising a PfD and Equifax can't put inaccurate info on your report, and Fair Isaac is going to go with the verified, updated report for its scoring. But that negative item will have to drop off the report within 30 days after 7 years after the Date of First Delinquency.

[JoeRockhead]

---

@1lifeisworthit wrote:

Equifax did not give you a drop. They are just a credit bureau, they compile reports from the information furnished by your creditors, and then provide those reports to those who need them. Your scores come from either Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) or from VantageScore and those scores are based on the reports they get from the credit bureaus. This is misleading.  The credit bureaus don't submit information to Fico, nor does Fico review reports to then score them.  Fico develops the scoring models, and even tweaks those models to a degree to fit each credit bureaus preferences.  This is why for example, you can have the exact same information across all three bureaus but get three different Fico (insert version here) scores.  Fico licenses their scoring models to the bureaus,  the bureaus calculate their own score based on their data, and the licensed Fico formulas.

If you dispute something with a credit bureau, they have to take your dispute to the creditor in question for verification of the negative item. The creditor has a legal amount of time to verify. If the item is verified in time, then the item stays and is updated as current information.

The Pay for Delete is between you and the creditor and if you have such an agreement in writing, then it should have been deleted when paid. First you go to the creditor to get this settled, and if that doesn't work then you can dispute with the credit bureau by sending in the written proof of the agreement, and that should get it deleted.

What the credit bureau cannot do is simply take your word for the deletion promise. Equifax had to check with the creditor to verify the item, and the item was verified and updated as current information.

Then either Fair Isaac or VantageScore (likely FICO considering this is My FICO?) viewed the updated report and assigned you a new score.  As stated above, that's not how it works.  Even with Vantage Scores which are owned by the three major bureaus use the same method of scoring.  Their data, calculated with VS score formulas which are tweaked to their own preferences and a score is generated.  

Do you have the PfD promise in writing? If yes, send it to the creditor and send it to Equifax. If not, there's really nothing you can do to force this to happen. You have no proof that the creditor is lying about promising a PfD and Equifax can't put inaccurate info on your report, and Fair Isaac is going to go with the verified, updated report for its scoring. But that negative item will have to drop off the report within 30 days after 7 years after the Date of First Delinquency.  

---