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     | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 11:43 am  Hi all, I hope someone can help me. I have a credit card charge-off that was charged off in fall 1997 and paid off in full in the summer of 1998. Experian reported the date of the charge off correctly (fall 1997) but they reported the date to "fall off the report" as 7 years from summer 1998. I know that the FCRA states that a charge off falls off 7 years from the first delinqunecy that led to the charge off (in my case, spring 1997), so I disputed the "fall off" date with Experian, being very clear about when the charge off happened. Well, Experian updated the report and made it worse. The charge off date was changed from fall 1997 to fall 1998 in order to keep the "fall off" date the same. I know this seriously lowers my FICO score by making the charge-off more recent than it truly is. And to make matters worse, the fact that I disputed this entry is showing up on Equifax (and I suspect Transunion when I get it), with whom I did NOT dispute at all. I'm at a loss on what to do. I want to send Experian a letter from the credit card company proving the right date of the charge off to have their error reversed (hopefully raising my FICO score a bit), but I know in doing so, I'll also be validating the debt. And, I had planned to use Junum or Lexington to dispute this entry on Equifax and Transunion, but now I don't think I can, since apparently the company updated the dispute with one CRA to the other two. Does anybody have any suggestions? Should I let time pass without a validating letter from the creditor and then get Junum/Lexington to dispute it off the report due to inaccuracy or should I get Experian to change the date now to salvage my FICO score? Should I try to dispute with Equifax/Transunion, even though the entry reads "account disputed by consumer"? Does that notation on these credit reports disqualify me from any future dispute attempts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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| | Tuesday, January 09, 2001 - 02:37 pm This is NOT legal advice since I'm not a lawyer, but here's what **I** would do, and have done. Usually, I either don't have the cash for a lawyer or I can't find a lawyer to sue. So I would take one of those credit card offers and apply for credit. If the offer was for a $5,000 credit line and I got declined due to the credit report, I'd then file a Small Claims suit for $5K or whatever the maximum is. I've been told that Small Claims Court can't order creditors or bureaus to perform certain actions, but in my case a judge once ruled that the creditor who reported incorrectly caused the loss of a credit line and held the creditor (ITT) liable for the lost credit line of $2,000. While ITT appealed, they IMMEDIATELY corrected their reporting. And while I got a real jerk of a judge pro tem who reduced the judgment to $500, I MUCH rather get $500 and my good credit rating than PAYING someone else to dispute and dispute and dispute ... Well, that's what *I* would do. After my recent Small Claims action against VoiceStream Wireless, they printed my $1,000 deposit refund check the DAY after they received my filing. A law suit gets their attention. And I'd file a complaint with the FTC on-line. All you need to do is copy your posting above and submit it with your contact info. For details see Filing a complaint with the FTC about credit related companies.
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| | Wednesday, January 10, 2001 - 07:16 am Christine, Thanks so much for your reply and suggestions. I do understand that you are not a lawyer and you are not giving legal advice, and I appreciate your answer. I should receive a letter from the creditor validating the correct charge-off and pay-off dates this week. I do know that the initial reporting error was Experian's mistake, since the creditor reported the dates correctly. However, during the dispute process, one of two things happened: 1. Experian did not contact the creditor, but changed the date arbitrarily on it's own (which Experian has a reputation for falsely verifying info). 2. Experian did contact the creditor, and the information put on the Consumer Dispute Form by the creditor was wrong. I will file an online complaint with the FTC. In addition to this, if I decide to pursue a small claims lawsuit, should I (and can I) write Experian asking them to send me a copy of the "Consumer Dispute Verification Form" that they sent to the creditor - or should I write the creditor for a copy of that form? Have you ever successfully gotten a copy of that form before? Thanks!
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| | Wednesday, January 10, 2001 - 10:33 am No, I haven't seen that form. Years ago, I kept requesting by WHO and WHEN verifications were made, I NEVER got a response from the bureaus. So if Experian states that they verified the new (INCORRECT) date with the creditor, I would name BOTH Experian and the creditor as defendants in a law suit. It's up to the judge to decide whether to believe the creditor or Experian. SOMEBODY screwed up and they should fix and PAY for their mistakes. Obviously Experian will blame the creditor, and they COULD have been misinformed by somebody at the creditor.
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| | Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 06:16 am Thanks, Christine!
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