Dispute Question

[Juss11]

First off, im new,but have been reading alot of info around here for a bit.Tons of great info thanks.

My wife owes a credit card that was charged off for $3,000.It should fall off her CR towards the end of next year.The account was sold to Arrow and now there asking for almost $6,000!We have never gotten any thing from them and id like to try and dispute it.What im wondering is if it does get deleted off her CR will her score go up?Since the orginal account owner will stay on her report?Right now her fico is about 630-650.She has one more account that we just paid in full($900) and got a letter in writing that it will be removed off her CR.So if the OC is still on her CR as a charge off, I dont see how it will pull her CR up any?Or does OC also get deleted?

Thanks for any help given
Justin

[Lian]

The CR apparently shows a reporting of a charge-off (CO) by the OC, and a collection by a debt collector?

Disputes are directed at inaccurate information reported to your credit file. So my first question is, what is the grounds for dispute? Are you intending to dispute reporting done by the OC, or by the debt collector?

Disputes must assert a basis for the dispute, and provide whatever documentation that is necessary for the party to investigate the accuracy of the disputed reporting. Disputes aren't just made in general terms, with no identification of the item being disputed, or how it is inaccurate.

Additionally, resolution of a dispute does not necessarily result in the deletion of anything, let alone the account. If the party finds the reporting to, indeed, be inaccurate, they can correct it. Disputes are directed at specific items of information, and prevailing as to the inaccuracy of one item does not compel any updating or deletion of other items of information. If, for example, you dispute the reported amount of the debt owed, the party can either verify that it is correct, or correct it. It does not relate to any other reported item of information, and would not, for example, have any bearing on the continued inclusion of the charge off in the CR. Deletion is not the necessary outcome of a dispute, and certainly not for items of information that were not the subject of the dispute.

[Hal Jordan]

Often times creditors don't keep old records on charge off's that have been sold to Junk Debt buyers. Also, there's a good chance this thing is out of the SOL if it's one year from falling off. Also, the date if falls off the OC is the date the CA's will fall off too.

People file disputes vaguely all the time. Let them figure out why it's inaccurate. I say dispute it as "other" and as this is not accurate.

I had a charge off removed from all three reports simply by disputing it online as "other" with "not accurate" as the reason.

The good news is that if it's going to fall off next year if your disputes do fail and you go through the entire. MOV process and the 623 comes back all you have to wait is until next year before it's gone.

You can read the "My success so far" thread in the success stories section to see all the collections and charge off's I got removed by either disputes or PFD's.

[Juss11]

Hal thanks

Yes I did read your Success story. Congrats!I ts awesome that you have done all this without the help of a lawyer. So one of the reasons, why I want to dispute it is b/c I know for a fact the last payment was made in 2003. The CR says it was 2005. My wife was in school then and we only had my income to live off. She did get a small student loan of around $4,000 and its about half paid off now, and in great standings. The TU CR says the one I want to dispute will fall off with the oc 9-2012 and with the co in 10-2012.So if I have to wait another year we will.

[Hal Jordan]

Definitely file the 623. If your dates are accuate they should remove them now. If you can prove your last payment was in 2003 you have a case for an FDCPA violation suit for reporting inaccurately and refusing to correct or for possibly re-aging.

Please let us know what the results are from the 623!!

[Lian]

Sure, if the date of a last payment is inaccurately reported in your credit file, you can dispute it. They will, most likely, agree with you and just update your CR to report an earlier date of last payment. CR deletion based on the inaccuracy of that item of information is not required.

With regard to your credit scoring, while correction of your CR can certainly be done, it is not affecting your score. FICO does not score the payment or non-payment of debt, and cares nothing about the date of last payment.

The only relevancy I see to correcting that date would be with regard to any issue of expiration of the statute of limitations on the debt. If your state includes a provision for reset of the running of your SOL based on a payment against the debt, and most states dont, then it might impact your SOL. Is that issue of concern to you? Most state SOLs are shorter than 6 years, so even if it reset your SOL, chances are that a date of 2005 would still result in SOL expiration.

[Juss11]

Originally Posted by Lian

Sure, if the date of a last payment is inaccurately reported in your credit file, you can dispute it. They will, most likely, agree with you and just update your CR to report an earlier date of last payment. CR deletion based on the inaccuracy of that item of information is not required.

With regard to your credit scoring, while correction of your CR can certainly be done, it is not affecting your score. FICO does not score the payment or non-payment of debt, and cares nothing about the date of last payment.

The only relevancy I see to correcting that date would be with regard to any issue of expiration of the statute of limitations on the debt. If your state includes a provision for reset of the running of your SOL based on a payment against the debt, and most states dont, then it might impact your SOL. Is that issue of concern to you? Most state SOLs are shorter than 6 years, so even if it reset your SOL, chances are that a date of 2005 would still result in SOL expiration.

Well my concern is that if we didnt make any payments past 2003 then it should have fallen off her report?Im not really concerned about SOL since it has past either pay.I dont see how they would be able to prove we made a payment in 05 if we didnt?

Also so your saying Fico does not score on late payments???

[J.A.]

Your score is effected if late payment info is sent to the bureaus, when you pay off an old debt, and if your last payment was made after your delinquency or before the delinquency.

[Lian]

The date of removal of a charge-off has nothing to do with any payments or non-payments. It is governed solely by the DOFD on the OC account, which is the date you first went delinquent and never thereafter put the account back into good-standing. FCRA 605(c). It is one, single, date-certain. If the DOFD on the OC account has passed 7 years plus 180-days, then the CO can no longer be included in your CR.

No, FICO does NOT score the payment or non-payment of debt. Paid in full, paid for less than the full amount, or unpaid status is not part of the FICO algorithm. While unpaid debt can result in the later posting of additional derogs, such as a collection on a debt that was previously charged-off, FICO scores the derogs and delinquencies that are reported along the way, and not the status itself of its repayment.

Unpaid charge-offs and collections are scored the same as those where the debt is later paid. Payment or non-payment might affect other things, such as your SOL or a creditors subjective view of your CR, but does not enter into FICO scoring. FICO is a risk analysis of your likelihood of default, not of your payment on bad debt, other than actions a creditor or debt collector might report in their efforts to collect the debt.