Hi all, its been a while since I've been on the forum. I've had a 30d late payment post on my Experian only, from October 2020. I would love some advice on how to address it. I don't know if I should send a goodwill letter to cap1 or dispute on EX, or something else. The payment was not actually late at all. The vehicle was sold and the loan paid off and closed in September 2020. I have no idea why Cap1 reported for October 2020 to EX only that it was a 30d late.
How should this be addressed?
@radfam wrote:Hi all, its been a while since I've been on the forum. I've had a 30d late payment post on my Experian only, from October 2020. I would love some advice on how to address it. I don't know if I should send a goodwill letter to cap1 or dispute on EX, or something else. The payment was not actually late at all. The vehicle was sold and the loan paid off and closed in September 2020. I have no idea why Cap1 reported for October 2020 to EX only that it was a 30d late.
How should this be addressed?
My suggested first step would be to contact the lender, Capital One, and request they remove the item given that you certainly seem to have the paperwork to back up the claim that the loan was paid off in September.
You could attempt that first by telephone and then by written letter if the phone call does not get it done.
I always prefer to deal with the lender as a starting point rather than filing a dispute.
First matter to address is what were the dates for everything. Typically when a car is paid off, the lender gives a 10 day payoff amount. As long as the payment is received in that window, you're good. You need to find out when cap1 received the payment and reconcile that with the payoff quote/trade-in date. If it was late, I would hold the dealership accountable. Unfortunately, until cap1 received that payoff, you're still responsible for the monthly payment. And if they received it late, there's a possibility that the reason for the reported late was interest and late fees that they ended up waiving either to just close the account, or it wasn't worth pursuing.
When I traded my last car in, the dealer went past the payoff quote meaning even if they paid it, there would be additional interest not accounted for that would still be due. This would be a problem as chase would not close the account if there was a balance. I contacted chase to get a current payoff then contacted the dealer. They took care of the new payoff quote, but I was ready to make a payment if needed and told the dealer I would hold them accountable for any fallout. They made good, but I watched my account like a hawk to make sure the account was closed and there wasn't any additional interest or late charges for a good 2 months.
So how I go about holding the dealer accountable?
Its worth mentioning that when the account was marked paid and closed, we received a refund check from Cap1 for overpayment. So it makes zero sense to me how only one bureau is showing a 30 day late payment for that month when the other 2b are showing the account paid and closed in 09/2020.
You would sue them for any current and future financial losses due to their breach of contract. Examples would be being denied credit or receiving a higher interest rate because of the derogatory, maybe AA taken by your current lenders because of it's appearance.
If you received a refund check, it sounds like the payoff arrived early enough in the window for it to not be an issue. At this point, I would contact cap1 to fix it. If they refuse, submit a dispute with proof to the bureaus. If that fails, file a complaint with the CFPB. If that goes nowhere, you could sue them for the same reasons above along with violation of the FCRA. Just keep in mind that any lawsuit for loss or future loss would need to be proven. A chat log with a lender stating the derogatory was the reason for an action would work.
You are one busy individual! LOL
I had an Auto Loan with Capital One Auto Financing and had a great experience. I actually paid it off five months early. I would suggest that you contact Capital One and explain the situation (with the appropriate documentation, of course. I like to write down the timeline of events so that you do not stumble over your words if they ask a question a little sideways).
I am confident that you will resolve this. One more off of your list of "baddies to remove", right?
Starting Score: Exp 627Haha, yep I have been busy! Doing a quarterly (more like almost bi-annual) sweep of my CRs and stirring up some posts here to get advice on things I've forgotten or missed. 
Use the direct dispute on this problem, you will be dealing directly with Cap-1
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Direct-dispute/td-p/2309095
Going to try this method now. I tried the GW letter first, as I had already sent it off before I saw your reply. I heard back from the EO, and they told me to go kick rocks. Now I am trying the direct dispute method.