Thoughts about disputing?

[Anonymous]

Hello all. I've been lurking around these parts for quite a while but have never posted anything. I've gleaned so much useful information from these forums and have seen great success in using it on my own credit rebuilding journey.

I have a question. I had a Chadwick's account about 5-6 years. I had a 30-day late payment in 2005, which I paid. The account was paid off and I THOUGHT closed a few years ago. While looking more closely at my credit reports recently it appears this account still shows as open with all three CRAs. I no longer have the card and I believe I shredded all of the paperwork; if I have anything it's packed away in my storage unit.

I called Chadwick's to try and confirm whether or not this account was actually closed. They used my SSN to look for the account since I do not have the acct. #.  The CSR told me if an account has not been used within a year they wipe it from their systems (which seems odd). He looked and sure enough did not find any record of an account tied to my SSN. He told me if it's still being reported to the CRAs I should open up disputes.

I'm not sure what to do here. I had hoped to send them (or WFNNB) a GW letter in hopes of having the late removed. Should I even be dealing with Chadwick's since WFNNB is the issuing bank?

[daisyduke]

I have a similiar situation in which my Victoria's secret card is listed as under "open" tl's but it isn't and it shows avail. credit as zero. If this is the same case, then I wouldn't bother disputing it. What is the avail. credit showing next to the TL?  Store cards that are not used tend to get closed pretty fast, in my experience...I am not sure however, if i believe that after a year they purge records, it doesn't sit well with me, personally. I can't believe there are not regulations in place. What I do believe is that if a store card is not used within a year, the account will automatically be closed by credit grantor.

I would take the creditors name from your credit report and send a GW to the address listed on your report. It probably is WFNNB as Chadwick's is just the store, but they don't have their own bank (at least I don't think they do).

You could dispute it as well as "account closed" since you have a valid reason for a dispute. But be careful with disputes, perhaps this account won't come back verified and you could lose it from your report completely, losing history as well, effecting your AAoA possibly...Disputing can be tricky.

hope this helps.

[BungalowMo]

Your subject line mentions disputing...what exactly were you thinking of disputing? 

[Anonymous]

In all of my research, the open account is reflecting positive because of the length of credit, hopefully showing a zero balance.  The 30 day late is 2005 and is no longer seriously affecting your credit.  However, if I were to do anything, it would be to send whomever is listed as the OC on your CR a GW letter asking them to remove the 30 day late payment from your CR.

[Anonymous]

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@BungalowMo wrote:

Your subject line mentions disputing...what exactly were you thinking of disputing? 

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You know - I guess I'm not really sure. I was just reacting to the CSR; just thinking out loud at that point. I just checked Experian and they do indeed show it reporting as closed which is reassuring. Sorry to bug you all for nothing but thanks for the feedback nonetheless. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@BungalowMo wrote:

Your subject line mentions disputing...what exactly were you thinking of disputing? 

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You know - I guess I'm not really sure. I was just reacting to the CSR; just thinking out loud at that point. I just checked Experian and they do indeed show it reporting as closed which is reassuring. Sorry to bug you all for nothing but thanks for the feedback nonetheless. 

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Don't apologize. No one here has all the solutions. We all have questions that need answering. That's the purpose of thse forums.

[RobertEG]

"Closed" accounts are still accounts in your credit file.

If you paid an old 30-day late, there is no longer any basis for dispute of  the delinquency.

So, no dont even think about disputing.  Just a lot of wasted ink and paper.

30-day lates are minor derogs.  After 5 years, they have minimal FICO impact.

If you pester them, they just might delete the entire account from your CR, causing you you lose its entire age of accounts.

Let it be, let it be, whispered words of wisdom, let it be.

[Anonymous]

Actually, I was never planning to dispute the late charge as I know that is valid information. I was initially wondering if I should take the advice of the CSR and dispute the fact that EQ and TU show the account as still open when I was quite certain that I had closed it a few years ago. I'm working hard to rebuild my credit and just want to make sure I explore all options. I just had a 13-point FICO increase after paying down my util from 89% to 32%. I'll just let the WFNNB beast sleep and continue hacking away at my util.