TransUnion says paid, the other two say derogatory...what to do?

[Vbp6us]

I'm looking at my credit history and there is an account that says "paid" for condition, only for TransUnion though. Experian and Equifax say derogatory. Any idea what steps I should take to fix this?

Date opened: 2005
Reported: 2009

thank you

[JoeMurphy]

Thank you for your post!

To answer your questions simply: Dispute It! Clearly if TransUnion is reporting the information as paid then it is likely the other agencies are reporting incorrect information. Remember, Credit Bureaus are for-profit agencies and deal with TONS of information. This is more than likely an honest mistake and it is your job to maintain your credit history. Therefore, notify the other two agencies that you believe they are making a mistake and provide any further information that you deem necessary to prove why you think so.

I hope this was helpful and let me know if you have any further questions.

-Joe

[Vbp6us]

Thanks for the advice Joe. I'll send out dispute letters for both of those CRAs first thing tomorrow. Hopefully they comply and delete it. Should I scan my credit report that shows TU stating the condition as paid?

Thanks.

[Lian]

It can be both.

When the account is paid, its current status is updated to simply read "paid" and the remaining debt balance is updated to read $0.

Reference to an account as "derogatory" is not a credit reporting code, or specific item of information reported by a creditor.

It is an evaluation of the entire account. By derogatory, I would presume that they are merely stating that the account shows prior derogatory information.

A dispute would be directed to the inaccurate reporting of specific information. If you dispute the accuracy of reported information that someone is calling derogatory, then that is proper basis for dispute. Disputing a statement in a credit report that the file contains derogatory information is not disputing the accuracy of a specific item of information, and thus in my opinion would not be a proper grounds for dispute.

[Vbp6us]

Originally Posted by Lian

It can be both.

When the account is paid, its current status is updated to simply read "paid" and the remaining debt balance is updated to read $0.

Reference to an account as "derogatory" is not a credit reporting code, or specific item of information reported by a creditor.

It is an evaluation of the entire account. By derogatory, I would presume that they are merely stating that the account shows prior derogatory information.

A dispute would be directed to the inaccurate reporting of specific information. If you dispute the accuracy of reported information that someone is calling derogatory, then that is proper basis for dispute. Disputing a statement in a credit report that the file contains derogatory information is not disputing the accuracy of a specific item of information, and thus in my opinion would not be a proper grounds for dispute.

But why would it state the prior derogatory information if it's paid with a balance of $0?

I ended up sending those dispute letters in an attempt to draw their attention to the fact that TU is reporting it as paid and they should too. If you're reading this Mr. creditor, santas coming to town ho ho ho...please be nice and work with me for I would like to take care of my debt.

[Lian]

You are correct. If the debt was paid, they were required to update the status to paid with each CRA to which they had previously reported. A simple update that wont affect credit scoring. It is a clarification to your file that is important to a future manual review of your CR, showing others that you paid the debt. It is also their formal statement to the CRA that they have accepted your payment as full satisfaction of the debt.

The account remains derogatory because the prior derogatory reportings still remain in the credit file. It is unrelated to its payment status. That is not a credit reporting issue, and thus not something subject to a dispute.

[Vbp6us]

Originally Posted by Lian

You are correct. If the debt was paid, they were required to update the status to paid with each CRA to which they had previously reported. A simple update that wont affect credit scoring. It is a clarification to your file that is important to a future manual review of your CR, showing others that you paid the debt. It is also their formal statement to the CRA that they have accepted your payment as full satisfaction of the debt.

The account remains derogatory because the prior derogatory reportings still remain in the credit file. It is unrelated to its payment status. That is not a credit reporting issue, and thus not something subject to a dispute.

Thanks for your thorough replies. Will I ever get an opportunity to get this deleted from my record?