Clarifying SOL requests

[glennh]

Maybe this could serve as a good example for future use if anyone has a question, we can take a specific one, like for instance I lived in Pennsylvania and want to have an entry from Merrick Bank deleted for SOL reasons.

Going to the SOL page, I find the following for PA:

PENNSYLVANIA
INTEREST RATE
Legal: 6%, Judgment: 6%
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (IN YEARS)
Open Acct.: 4, Written Contract: 4, Domestic Judgment: 5 (writ of revival within 5 yrs.), Foreign Judgment: 4, -Lien against real estate: 5 yrs., -Personal property Ex: 20 yrs.

and so on...

My specific account, with a bank (which I POSSIBLY opened in New York), is listed as "Charged off as bad debt" or, as "bad debt/collection" and "closed charged off". Now, the SOL says for open accounts, mine is closed. New York, just for clarity, has 6 years on open accounts and written contracts.

1. Can I demand this item to be removed if 6 years have passed since the date of last activity? (None of the reports showed date of first delinquency).

2. Is it preferable to use this method if you are clearly past the time frame, or is it best to do a not mine?

[diamonddan73]

I think the first thing you should do is a Dispute with all three CRA's. Do everything by mail, not phone or on-line. I would ask the CRA's to "verify" the information. Since it's so old, it may just fall off. You could also do a 1-2 punch with the OC as well just to be safe.

[chane]

Originally Posted by glennh

1. Can I demand this item to be removed if 6 years have passed since the date of last acitivity? (None of the reports showed date of first delinquency).

2. Is it preferable to use this method if you are clearly past the time frame, or is it best to do a not mine?

No, the SOL has nothing to do with how long the FCRA allows creditors to report a debt on your credit report.

It's almost never best to do a "not mine". There are much better ways to dispute items including not mentioning a specific reason at all. "Not mine" is probably the worst way to dispute.

Many others are doing "not mine". Does it say somewhere at this forum to do that? If so, I need to change that and/or clarify that it's an old tactic that is ineffective and can cause the CRAs to issue a fraud alert.

[glennh]

OK, so statue of limitations has NOTHING To do with how long they can report an old debt? So why would ANY debt ever come off of the report then? Sorry, not trying to be thick...

[chane]

Originally Posted by glennh

OK, so statue of limitations has NOTHING to do with how long they can report an old debt? So why would ANY debt ever come off of the report then? Sorry, not trying to be thick...

It comes off if they can't verify it. Usually, the older the debt the better, because companies don't keep records that long.

It would be a big mistake to dispute because of SOL because the CRAs don't care about SOL, it has nothing to do with them. It would show them that the person disputing has no idea what they are talking about, that is the last thing you want them to think.

[glennh]

Originally Posted by chane

It comes off if they can't verify it. Usually, the older the debt the better, because companies don't keep records that long.

It would be a big mistake to dispute because of SOL because the CRAs don't care about SOL, it has nothing to do with them. It would show them that the person disputing has no idea what they are talking about, that is the last thing you want them to think.

Thanks, Chane. I misunderstood the purpose of the SoL, thanks for clarifying that. So now I'm doing the verification route, saying "please verify this account or remove it". I hope it works

[glennh]

My last post here seems to have gotten lost. Let me try to restate what I was meaning to add...

In the "Credit Scoring Basics" thread it says

"1. Paying off a collection account, late pay or derogatory item will not remove it from your credit file. It will stay on your file for seven years along with any dollar amount associated with the past due."

So, can I get a response to the following question, considering the following information:

Equifax reports last activity March, 2004, no close date. Transunion reports last activity Jan 2004, closed July 2004.

Question: Do I ask for validation, or expect it to drop off since it's been 7 years? (at the extreme outside in 7 months, taking the date the account closed)

^ this is the confusion, since it might drop off on its own, do I let it be or ask for verification now?

[chane]

When you say validation is confuses us, because we think you're talking about debt validation. Verification is something completely different.

It should say when it's going to drop off on your credit report, but it's ok to dispute it anyway. If it gets verified, it will still drop off after 7 years. Either way the account is not effecting your credit scores that much because of how old it is.

[glennh]

Thank you, Chane. I apologize for terminology errors, and if my persistance is a little much. I lived in Brooklyn for awhile and...it rubbed off lol.

Sincerely appreciate all the feedback, will update my situation in about...5-6 weeks (when I should learn more about my disputes). Today I mailed information updates to the credit bureaus, opened a new credit card (and am opening a second on Thursday) which will complete my requests for new credit until we decide to update the car. I'm learning, and preparing to begin disputing withing a week or so.

[chane]

No problem, Glenn. Best of luck!