cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Paying a collection account changed my date of last activity and dropped my scores

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Paying a collection account changed my date of last activity and dropped my scores

Here's the story:  I checked my credit for the first time in January and discovered a derogatory Verizon account I didn't recognize.  I disputed, they confirmed.  I then spent the next 5 months trying to find out what the account was and pay it off.  It was only $221 and I was happy to pay it if it was mine.  It turns out it was the last bill for my wife's cell phone that we cancelled before we moved.  It took over 4 months to find this out.  I never received the final bill, dated December of 2010.  I never received a collection letter either, despite 3 different people telling me it was sent to collections (with 2 different companies).  After a total of 6 months going back and forth with different people, I finally confirmed that it was a valid debt and found the right person at Verizon who would take my money (despite it being supposedly sent to an outside company and no longer *their* debt as I was told) and paid it.  I thought that was the right thing to do all around.  Apparently, this changed it from a collection account with a DOLA of 12/10 to a paid collection with a DOLA of 6/12, so now it's registering as a recently delinquent account and my credit scores all took hits.  I'm pretty irritated at this point since I would have happily paid it back in January (and had it reporting as paid back THEN) if I could have had the same conversation with the right person to begin with.  Is that how it's suppposed to work?  I didn't realize that paying a collection would renew it.  Does that mean the account will be on my credit for an additional 1 1/2 years?  Is there any way to get it to at least revert to the original date that it went delinquent? 

Message 1 of 2
1 REPLY 1
Shogun
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Paying a collection account changed my date of last activity and dropped my scores

DOLA is not the same as DOFD.   Since there was a recent update, you might see an initial drop.  However this activity will not affect the CRTP.

Starting Score: 504
July 2013 score:
EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge

Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!

June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.
Message 2 of 2
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.