I could cry...

[mm1294]

I have worked like a mad woman for the past year to raise my credit score from 660 to, as of October, a 734 - the highest credit score of my 39 years! I wrote dispute after dispute letter and watched every single penny and paid down/off all but 2 revolving credit accounts. I purchased a home (at a very low interest rate!!!) in July. I had one final 30 day late payment that was about to drop from my report in April 2011. Happy, happy right... Wrong.

When moving to my new home, I had a disconnection date of electric service of 8/2 at my rented townhome. I received a letter from the electric company dated 8/31 with my final calculated balance of $105.11 (final bill less security deposit). The letter states that they must receive payment within 30 days of the date of the letter, which would be approximately 9/30, or the account could be referred to outside collection. With the move and unpacking, I forgot about this bill.

I received a letter from an outside collection agency dated 10/7, which I paid in full on 10/19. I was told that the account had not been reported to the credit bureaus as it was paid within the allowed 30 days. Great!

I pulled my EquiFax report tonight via MyFico... the electric company is reporting this account as a collection account - 120+ days late - unpaid balance of $105.00. The outside collection (to whom I submitted payment) is NOT showing up on my report. My score has dropped to 668. All that work...

Do I have a leg to stand on here? The account was never 120 days late. At worst, it was paid roughly 19 days past the timeframe given in the letter dated 8/31. I have initiated a dispute with the electric company and have asked that the entry be REMOVED from my credit report. It has not been reported to Experian or TU (yet).

Is it best to just keep the dispute letter to EquiFax short and sweet without the above explanation? I will be purchasing a new (used) car sometime in late Feb/early Mar and need the best interest rate possible. Help? All that hard work down the drain for a lousy $100 electric bill?!?

[chane]

Yes, keep it short and sweet. Remember, that they don't care about your story. They can either verify it or they can't. Equifax is the easiest to deal with. Numerous disputes usually gets it taken off.

Congratulations on the house and getting your credit scores up! This is just a minor set back. Don't even sweat it!