Question regarding account deletion from credit report

[Anonymous]

i'm wondering if someone can give me some insight regarding this situation.  my score is normally in the 770-780 range so a couple weeks ago i was shocked when i routinely checked my score and saw it had dropped to the 600s.  i quickly ordered a copy of my credit report and saw an item listed that was in error.  it was verizon and it claimed that i owed $180 which had been sent to collection back in february '08.  many phone calls and a letter sent to verizon later, they admitted it was a mistake and faxed me a letter that they would send a request for deletion to all the major credit reporting agencies and said changes would be reflected in thirty days.  so my question is, does anyone have experience with this type of situation, will my score eventually return to its previous level?  or does it still have a residual impact even though it will have been erased?  i'm guessing it will eventually be like it was never there and go back to normal but i'm hoping for some reassurance since this whole thing has totally stressed me out.  verizon couldn't answer any of my questions regarding this situation and told me to go to the fico website to find out what effect the deletion will have on my credit score, so here i am.  also the last paragraph of the letter they sent me says "Please note that under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act a creditor collecting its own debts is not a "debt collector".  Any request for a "debt validation" pursuant to Section 15 USC 1692g of the FDCPA is therefore not applicable to Verizon."  can someone translate that for me, i have no idea what that means, thanks.

[llecs]

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veggiedog wrote:

i'm wondering if someone can give me some insight regarding this situation.  my score is normally in the 770-780 range so a couple weeks ago i was shocked when i routinely checked my score and saw it had dropped to the 600s.  i quickly ordered a copy of my credit report and saw an item listed that was in error.  it was verizon and it claimed that i owed $180 which had been sent to collection back in february '08.  many phone calls and a letter sent to verizon later, they admitted it was a mistake and faxed me a letter that they would send a request for deletion to all the major credit reporting agencies and said changes would be reflected in thirty days.  so my question is, does anyone have experience with this type of situation, will my score eventually return to its previous level?  or does it still have a residual impact even though it will have been erased?  i'm guessing it will eventually be like it was never there and go back to normal but i'm hoping for some reassurance since this whole thing has totally stressed me out.  verizon couldn't answer any of my questions regarding this situation and told me to go to the fico website to find out what effect the deletion will have on my credit score, so here i am.  also the last paragraph of the letter they sent me says "Please note that under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act a creditor collecting its own debts is not a "debt collector".  Any request for a "debt validation" pursuant to Section 15 USC 1692g of the FDCPA is therefore not applicable to Verizon."  can someone translate that for me, i have no idea what that means, thanks.

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Your score will go back to near where it was before. There are no residual effects. The FICO score does not read anything that isn't there now. If there is a change, it would be due to utilization or other things happening to your CR. If they delete, you'll be fine. Keep that letter; I would frame it!

That last paragraph is legalese. According to them, part or the letter on a whole appeared to be a debt validation letter (DV). You may not have intended it to be a DV, but DV letters do not apply to original creditors (OCs). DVs are for collection agencies (CAs) and are permitted by the FDCPA. The FDCPA does not apply to OCs.

[Anonymous]

Deleted = non existent. There will be no record it ever existed.

[Anonymous]

Has it been thirty days yet? If you did this in Feb, it should be off your reports by now!  Edit: I just saw that you did this a couple weeks ago, nevermind..

Message Edited by scramblingin2007 on 05-07-2008 12:51 PM

[RobertEG]

Hey, veggie, all that Verizon was telling  you within all that legal mumbo jumbo is that they did not charge off the debt to a collection agency, and thus under the law are still the original creditor, and not a collection creditor.  Different provsions of the law apply to an original creditor and a collection agency to which the debt has been sold.  Believe me, you are MUCH better off still dealing with the original creditor than a collection agency, so I would not let this statement trouble me at all.  Verizon is free to pursue action against you as the creditor of legal record up until the time that it charges it off to a CA.  That is better, not worse.  One debt is sold to a CA, it brings in a whole new layer of bureaucracy it getting a dispute resolved, for the original creditor is out of the picture, with little incentive other than requriements of law to respond.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 05-08-2008 12:14 AM