Who to believe??

[Anonymous]

I am a little unsure of what to do in this situation. A while back I sent good will letters for two different cap one accounts, for a total of 3 lates to be removed. I was called for both accounts and told a good will would be granted and the lates would be removed within 30-45 days, but could potentially be 60 days. Within the last two weeks I have received a dispute mark on one account and a notice in the mail that they are reporting accurately and have added the dispute. I then called Capital One to ask about the dispute and to please remove it, since I was not disputing anything. Well, the representative I spoke to told me, very confidently, that the dispute and the late would be gone by the second week of September. I literally asked twice to confirm that the late would actually be removed and he said "absolutley." He acted like this was part of the process, but I've never heard anyone else say this happened to them. Someone suggested that the dispute mark could have triggered an automatic letter from the creditor. Now, I have a dispute mark on my other account I goodwilled and I received another very similar letter in the mail. Do I trust them that this is the process? Should I call again? I really don't want the dispute marks on there if the lates are not coming off! Advice please. 

[sarge12]

@Anonymous  I think that to remove the lates, they likely had to use a dispute to do the removal. As far as I know, a dispute remark is not a negative on a report either. It could hold up a closing on a mortgage until it is cleared, but if not in the middle of a home purchase, it is not an issue. Disputes are always temporary on a report, normally existing only after errors are disputed, until the investigation is completed at which time either the dispute is removed and the negative data is again scored, or the errant data is removed. While you have not in truth disputed the data reported as errant, it is probably the only means of removing the negative data. You would be wise to not complain to the issuer any further until you see how this plays out. Doing so could result in the issuer just removing the inquery in frustration before they can get the negative data removed. It appears the issuer is going to remove the lates from your report, so that is a win. Don't risk losing that goodwill removal by putting roadblocks in the way.

[Anonymous]

@sarge12 thank you this is really helpful! My husband and I are wanting to start to mortgage process soon, so I've been waiting for these lates to come off! I was really started to worry when I got the two letters that looked like a denial, but maybe they really are just an automated letter that gets triggered with a "resolution" of a dispute. On both account it says it's resolved. I'll wait and see what happens.