Old debt "restart open date"...

MichWolverines1983 · ‎05-22-2021

So, me and my girfriend are in the process of rebuilding her credit and building my credit before we decide to get married in a few years. This post is not about my debt, which is only 1 medical bill, and only about her debt. She has 5 collections that we will be addressing before the end of the year. The one I am interested in dealing with first is an old utility bill ($59) that was opened on 07/8/2017 in Kentucky (5 year statue of limitations) and only being reported on Equifax.

We plan on signing a new lease through a apartment community by Jan. 1 2022 and I want this bill paid first. The account belongs to Credit Bureau Systems (800-627-5614). We will be trying to do a pay for delete on Monday. She is calling them in hopes they will delete the account from her report after paying. Now, this is my concern: If they agree to delete, with/without it in writing, then that is great they do that. Now, say they don't follow through with that. Does that mean her open date will restart on whatever date they update it to and it will have to stay on her credit report another 5 years? Will it say "closed" and fall off next year or what? The apartment community manager said to bring in any proof bills that have been paid and that will go a long way in making a decision on approving us but obviously I would rather see it simply deleted. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Equifax Open Date: 7/18/2017

gdale6 · ‎05-22-2021

@MichWolverines1983 wrote:
So, me and my girfriend are in the process of rebuilding her credit and building my credit before we decide to get married in a few years. This post is not about my debt, which is only 1 medical bill, and only about her debt. She has 5 collections that we will be addressing before the end of the year. The one I am interested in dealing with first is an old utility bill ($59) that was opened on 07/8/2017 in Kentucky (5 year statue of limitations) and only being reported on Equifax.

We plan on signing a new lease through a apartment community by Jan. 1 2022 and I want this bill paid first. The account belongs to Credit Bureau Systems (800-627-5614). We will be trying to do a pay for delete on Monday. She is calling them in hopes they will delete the account from her report after paying. Now, this is my concern: If they agree to delete, with/without it in writing, then that is great they do that. Now, say they don't follow through with that. Does that mean her open date will restart on whatever date they update it to and it will have to stay on her credit report another 5 years? The max time it can report is 7.5 years from the accounts DoFD, this is a date set in stone that cannot be changed legally. A states SOL is something completely different from the time an item can report. Also the open date of a collection is not the DoFD that is set by the OC. Will it say "closed" and fall off next year or what? The apartment community manager said to bring in any proof bills that have been paid and that will go a long way in making a decision on approving us but obviously I would rather see it simply deleted. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Equifax Open Date: 7/18/2017

RobertEG · ‎05-24-2021

There are two separate issues.

First is what recourse you have if you obtain a pay for deletion agreement from the debt collector and they dont then honor the agreement by deleting the collection, and second is what impact the reported open date for a collection has on its required credit report exclusion date.

As to issue 1, a PFD agreement as a prior condition to paying the debt is a legal term of your PFD contract with the debt collector.

If they fail to honor that condition of your PFD agreement, you can sue them for breach of contract, If the PFD agreement is only oral, it is still enforceble but is more difficult to prove in court.

Debt collectors are often reluctant to provide wirtten agreement to delete prior to your payment, as the CRAs have a firn policy statement in their common credit reporting manual that deletion should not be reported based on payment of the debt.

As such, they are often reluctant to put into writing pror to payment such an agreement.

However, if you pay and they then report deletiion, they are not required to provide any reason to the CRA, and will usually honor their agreement if it was clear.

As for effect of open date of a collection on the credit report exclusion date, the answer is none.

FCRA 605(c), which was added to the FCRA approx 30 years ago, explicitly provides that the exclusion period runs only from the reported date that the debt first became delinquent with the originl creditor and has thereafter remained delinquent.

The open date of a collection is irrelevant.