'Paid, closed.' but shows as negative

[Slingmama5]

I just began cleaning my CR and I saw an item on there that says "Paid, Closed.", but shows up on as potentially negative??

I remember it was a bad check and didn't get paid till months later. I did pay it though (This was years ago and I do not still have the receipt). Do I dispute it to get it off my CR as negative or is it destined to be there forever even though it was Paid In Full?

Also, if I do write a dispute letter, do I have to include the account number? I don't have it and it only lists the first 3 numbers of the account on my CR. Why?

...and what is the Address ID # listed? Is that the same as the account #?

Thank you in advance for all your help!
Yvonne

[chane]

Yvonne, it's not potentially negative...it is negative. Yes, you can dispute it. You don't need the full account number, just dispute the name and number as they have it on your credit report. Don't give them a reason, just say you want to dispute it in the letter.

[Slingmama5]

Thanks so much! I will send the letter out today!

[danie86]

Is there a dispute letter to use to dispute something you have already paid and is showing as paid on your report? With the PFD letters I do the standard "not saying its mine but will pfd" but any recommended wording for something already paid? I don't really want to do the whole "different person with similar or same name thing" because I feel that is fraud isn't it?

[Lian]

Report of Paid simply means that the creditor has reported that the debt has been satisfied.
Current status of paid has absolutely nothing to do with prior items reported on the account.
An account showing a current status of paid is just a snapshot of its....current status.

Other codes record prior levels of delinquency on the account, such as your Payment Rating, which records the highest level of delinquency prior to its current status, and Payment History, which records all delinquencies back for approx 48 months.

Any remaining inclusion of negative items in your credit file causes the account to be referenced as negative. Negative is not a reporting code.

I would never suggest filing a dispute without identifying an inaccuracy, or asserting facts that are not believed to be accurate. Any dispute that fails to allege a specific inaccuracy or provide any documentation in support of an assertion of inaccuracy can be dismissed as frivolous or irrelevant.

Disputes will also put a dispute flag in your credit file, which leads to exclusion of some account information from credit scoring until the dispute is resolved, thus making your FICO score kinda useless in the interim.