Good evening, Forum Friends!
I just posted about this Charge-Off, but that post was specifically about Good Will Letters to Merrick and how I might approach that.
This post is - due to the seemingly unlikely success that I will have with Merrick and the Good Will Letters - regarding the reporting of the Charge-Off by Merrick.
I have the one baddie on my three Credit Reports - this Charge-Off. I have been educating myself regarding how FICO Scoring works and how things can be handled.
The Charge-Off is from May, 2017 (again, that was the DofD). Initially, this was sent to a CA. I worked with them and paid off the amount due in full. There was no option for "Pay to Delete" (I asked....the CA told me that they simply collected the amount on behalf of Merrick!).
Once the past amount due on the account (a Credit Card) was paid in full, it went back to Merrick and the account now shows as a closed account (understand this) and the pay status is "Account paid in full; was a charge-off".
My question is this:
Merrick is updating this account literally every week. I am making use of the free anual credit reports COVID-19 related change (whereby we are allowed to get a copy of our three credit reports each week) and I have confirmed this on all three of the reports (one from each of the three CRAs). Every.Dang.Week! Specifically, the "Date Updated" field is updated every week.
Is this proper? Meaning, is this something that the Lendor is allowed to do (whether or not it is in my best interest)?
Ignorantly, I would think that the "Date Updated" field would reflect the date on which I paid off the amount due in full (at worst). Thus, allowing this derrogatory account to age and thereby eventually reduce the "FICO Score damage".
Thanks, all!
Starting Score: Exp 627
Once it shows 0 balance and is updated to paid CO then updating is to stop per CRA rules. If it doesnt stop write the CRA a letter and let them know that their rules are being violated and you want it to stop.
Thank you. I thought that this was the case but was not sure. I will contact each of the three CRAs and advise them of this. Thank you again!