Shar037:
Okay I understand now. Unfortunately, this all boils down to you're not sure if you were late and they (supposedly) are. You cannot get them removed on this basis. It was worth it to try at first but now you've been told. If you want to continue to dispute, and I think you should, you need to get proof that you are correct.
You said Great Lakes took over the loan and the original servicer reported it as late during the transition? If that's the case, Great Lakes *should* have your complete from your old servicer....but I personally had no luck with that. You might want to call and speak with a specialist; my servicer had to do a request for them to look in a warehouse of files, and gave me an estimate of 120 days (it only took a few weeks). Whatever you've got to do to get them, if they even exist. During transitions it's not rare for the servicers to drop the ball and you will be held responsible. Another helpful too is to do the requests in writing, fax or mail, with no phone number given. They will have to reply in writing. If they find them, you have your answer. If they don't, you have a paper essentially saying they can't verify the lates.
If you cannot get far with the credit bureaus, the next step is the Ombudsman. Some find solutions with them. I had a lot of success with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau though. They take your complain and send it to the servicer. Mine was unusually helpful after that. Emphasis that they verify the lates without proof if they don't have your account information at the time). Names, dates, times , and copies of correspondence and bills are helpful.
As far as your current statements from Great Lakes, just keep at it however your due date doesn't change and your payments should be stay abut the same. If you're late you're liable to be held responsible. Nothing you can really do about that except what you're doing.
Okay I understand now. Unfortunately, this all boils down to you're not sure if you were late and they (supposedly) are. You cannot get them removed on this basis. It was worth it to try at first but now you've been told. If you want to continue to dispute, and I think you should, you need to get proof that you are correct.
You said Great Lakes took over the loan and the original servicer reported it as late during the transition? If that's the case, Great Lakes *should* have your complete from your old servicer....but I personally had no luck with that. You might want to call and speak with a specialist; my servicer had to do a request for them to look in a warehouse of files, and gave me an estimate of 120 days (it only took a few weeks). Whatever you've got to do to get them, if they even exist. During transitions it's not rare for the servicers to drop the ball and you will be held responsible. Another helpful too is to do the requests in writing, fax or mail, with no phone number given. They will have to reply in writing. If they find them, you have your answer. If they don't, you have a paper essentially saying they can't verify the lates.
If you cannot get far with the credit bureaus, the next step is the Ombudsman. Some find solutions with them. I had a lot of success with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau though. They take your complain and send it to the servicer. Mine was unusually helpful after that. Emphasis that they verify the lates without proof if they don't have your account information at the time). Names, dates, times , and copies of correspondence and bills are helpful.
As far as your current statements from Great Lakes, just keep at it however your due date doesn't change and your payments should be stay abut the same. If you're late you're liable to be held responsible. Nothing you can really do about that except what you're doing.
Thank you so much for your help! After some serious digging and about a million phone calls, I have discovered that many of the delinquencies listed in the beginning of the loans are incorrect as I was in deferment and forbearance during those times. That being said, if I dispute those dates, my DOFD will change to 2 years later. Right now, the defaulted accounts are scheduled to fall off in the summer of 2020. If I dispute the incorrect dates, the accounts will not fall off until spring 2022.
I am thinking I will just leave them alone. I am not about to try to get a few delinquents off when I could just be patient a little longer and watch the whole account disappear
I am thinking I will just leave them alone. I am not about to try to get a few delinquents off when I could just be patient a little longer and watch the whole account disappear
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Kathyups:
Then I think the big question is what's left over if you were to cross out the lates with a forbearance or deferment. If you can break up a few chains of lates or get rid of the 90 day and 120 day lates... If ask you're left with is 60 day lates or less, I say go for it! You'll see a huge jump in your score.
As far as removal after DOFD, you might want to look that up before applying the 7 year rule. Federal student loans have weird rules; it might be 10 years instead or something different. It further complicates things because the loan got consolidated but who knows if they see then truly separately. I don't have a clue. I just remembered seeing something in a few posts on here. So if it's 10 years until it gets removed and you can get your lates down to 60 days, it might still be worth it.
Btw, don't forget to request a copy of everything they told you about the lates, forbearance etc. in writing.
Then I think the big question is what's left over if you were to cross out the lates with a forbearance or deferment. If you can break up a few chains of lates or get rid of the 90 day and 120 day lates... If ask you're left with is 60 day lates or less, I say go for it! You'll see a huge jump in your score.
As far as removal after DOFD, you might want to look that up before applying the 7 year rule. Federal student loans have weird rules; it might be 10 years instead or something different. It further complicates things because the loan got consolidated but who knows if they see then truly separately. I don't have a clue. I just remembered seeing something in a few posts on here. So if it's 10 years until it gets removed and you can get your lates down to 60 days, it might still be worth it.
Btw, don't forget to request a copy of everything they told you about the lates, forbearance etc. in writing.
Maybe this will help...
So after some more digging, I figured out that the loans were originally with Nelnet (8 of them), then they went to default with the Department of Education (more trade lines on my CR). I then completed rehab with the Department of Education but those loan trade lines still show the delinquencies (I thought they were deleted after rehab???)
Great Lakes shows 1 loan trade line with all of the 8 accounts (from Nelnet) and they show good payment history- no lates, and PIF (due to consolidation payoff by Nelnet whom I consolidated with).
The loans are now with Nelnet again and there are 2 trade lines current with no lates.
I was under the impression that once rehab is completed, the lates are erased?? Or are the lates only erased by the one servicer that completes the rehab?
Either way, the status on these loans are incorrect as ALL the previous loans from DOE and Nelnet are PIF due to the consolidation and the status should be PAID, correct?
I am going to call the DOE and Nelnet AGAIN to see what I can do. According to my CRs, these delinquent accounts are due to drop off next year. I will be doing a serious happy dance when that occurs
So after some more digging, I figured out that the loans were originally with Nelnet (8 of them), then they went to default with the Department of Education (more trade lines on my CR). I then completed rehab with the Department of Education but those loan trade lines still show the delinquencies (I thought they were deleted after rehab???)
Great Lakes shows 1 loan trade line with all of the 8 accounts (from Nelnet) and they show good payment history- no lates, and PIF (due to consolidation payoff by Nelnet whom I consolidated with).
The loans are now with Nelnet again and there are 2 trade lines current with no lates.
I was under the impression that once rehab is completed, the lates are erased?? Or are the lates only erased by the one servicer that completes the rehab?
Either way, the status on these loans are incorrect as ALL the previous loans from DOE and Nelnet are PIF due to the consolidation and the status should be PAID, correct?
I am going to call the DOE and Nelnet AGAIN to see what I can do. According to my CRs, these delinquent accounts are due to drop off next year. I will be doing a serious happy dance when that occurs
The lates *may be* deleted by the servicer you complete the rehab with, but there's no guarantee.
They would not have deleted the lates from any holder other than themselves.
Did you rehab or consolidate or both?
I found something:
"Normally, a defaulted debt will fall off a report after 7.5 years from the date of the first missed payment. This applies to private student loans. For federal loans, the time is actually 7 years from the date of default OR from the date the loan is transferred from a FFEL guarantor to the Department of Education. And of course, there is an exception. Perkins loans never age off while a balance is due. If a Perkins loan is in default for more than 7.5 years, the trade line will continue to show until the loan is paid off, be it through an actual payoff or through consolidation. At that point, the trade line will simply disappear.
This creates an interesting phenomenon for federal non-Perkins student loans. A defaulted federal student loan, older than 7 years may not appear on a credit report. However, because there is no Statute of Limitations, collections can and will continue.
Even more buggy is the rule that allows a FFEL to reappear. Remember, the age off date is 7 years from the date of default, OR FFEL transfer to Dept. of Ed. Let’s say default occurs January, 2000. The trade line would age off the credit report by January 2007. But let’s say this was a FFEL loan. Let’s say the guarantor transfers the account to the Dept. of Ed January 2010. The trade line can reappear and will not age off again until January 2017."
https://thestudentloanlawyer.com/968/student-loans-and-credit-reports/
So I don't think those lates are due to fall off any time soon.
I found something:
"Normally, a defaulted debt will fall off a report after 7.5 years from the date of the first missed payment. This applies to private student loans. For federal loans, the time is actually 7 years from the date of default OR from the date the loan is transferred from a FFEL guarantor to the Department of Education. And of course, there is an exception. Perkins loans never age off while a balance is due. If a Perkins loan is in default for more than 7.5 years, the trade line will continue to show until the loan is paid off, be it through an actual payoff or through consolidation. At that point, the trade line will simply disappear.
This creates an interesting phenomenon for federal non-Perkins student loans. A defaulted federal student loan, older than 7 years may not appear on a credit report. However, because there is no Statute of Limitations, collections can and will continue.
Even more buggy is the rule that allows a FFEL to reappear. Remember, the age off date is 7 years from the date of default, OR FFEL transfer to Dept. of Ed. Let’s say default occurs January, 2000. The trade line would age off the credit report by January 2007. But let’s say this was a FFEL loan. Let’s say the guarantor transfers the account to the Dept. of Ed January 2010. The trade line can reappear and will not age off again until January 2017."
https://thestudentloanlawyer.com/968/student-loans-and-credit-reports/
So I don't think those lates are due to fall off any time soon.
I called Nelnet and they asked me to send them a copy of my credit report, and a statement from the Department of Education that the loans were PIF. The lady had no clue what I was trying to say.
So instead, I filed a dispute with all 3 CRAs that the loan status is incorrect (they are paid in full- not 120 days late) and requested an update and/or early exclusion. I also gave them proof that the loans were paid in full in 2015 (some of the delinquents listed are before this date, some are after). So we will see what happens (if anything).
I'm so glad you didn't do it. They have been asking people to send in their credit reports. They report to the CRA, so they have complete control of what shows up there, lol! If they wanted to get a copy themselves of your complete report (which they don't need) they would have to ask permission. It's dishonest.
Good idea to move on. Just document your last calls with them and your attempts to get it fixed. If CRA disputes don't work, then Ombudsman. If nothing with the Ombudsman, then CFPB. This should work.
If you want to know if you'll be able to do the EE on the loans, you could always call the CRA. TransUnion told me right away my open credit card didn't qualify. An experienced user on here said it's for collections? YMMV.
Good luck with the CRA disputes.
Good idea to move on. Just document your last calls with them and your attempts to get it fixed. If CRA disputes don't work, then Ombudsman. If nothing with the Ombudsman, then CFPB. This should work.
If you want to know if you'll be able to do the EE on the loans, you could always call the CRA. TransUnion told me right away my open credit card didn't qualify. An experienced user on here said it's for collections? YMMV.
Good luck with the CRA disputes.