The DOFD is, by definition, the date prior to the collection that you first became delinquent, and thereafter the account remained delinquent until it was referred for collection.
It would be the billing due date set in the bill that you first were delinquent in paying.
As stated, the open/close dates are irrelevant.
The DOFD is required to be separately obtained and reported by the debt collector using the procedure outlined in FCRA 623(a)(5).
Unless the OC previously reported the DOFD to the CRA, which would only have been required had they reported a charge-off, then the debt collector eas required to have contacted the OC and attempted to obtain the DOFD directly from them. If they made such an attempt and were unable to obtain the date from the OC, they were then enttitled to make their best guess, as long as they dont report a date later than the date they received their collection authority.
In any eent, they were required to have reproted the DOFD no later than 90 days after reporting their collection.
Once you have obtained the DOFD that was reported by the debt collector, you can dispute its accuracy if you have documentation that supports a different date.
If you have no billing records or evidence that the OC reported a different date, that will be tough.
However, if they have reported different DOFDs to different CRAs, that in and of itself could support a dispute, as the DOFD is a factual date-certain, and should not vary depeinding upon who it is reported to. The issue would then be which one is correct. Without any documentation, it would be difficult to assert which is accurate......
