Do collection accounts age off your credit report after 7 years?
So I have debt from store lines of credit to a bank credit card. I haven't paid on them since at LATEST December 2007. Chase, citi financial (store line of credit) and Sears line of credit all have it showing closed but I am getting reporting from some debt collector companies.
I live in Arizona and just ordered my actual credit report today. I viewed the information online through a credit score tracking website. I read a lot of comments and researched online somethings. My questions are can any of them take me to court still because from what I read some debts are 3 years and some are 6 here in Arizona, I am not sure what they fall under, also at 7 years they have to stop reporting to my credit so I am told. Does this mean that it will show the old reports but they cant continue to report and since the original lenders have the accounts closed can the debt collector who purchased the debt also show up as a closed account or do they just disappear forever?
Any information to better understand when or if this will ever not be an issue for me would be helpful, as these debts were ran up by my ex and are thousands of dollars I cant and haven't been able to afford to even attempt to fix.
Do collection accounts get removed from my credit reports after 7 years?
—Jennifer
Original lenders and creditors show payment default on your credit reports for up to 7 years from when you stopped paying on the account.
When you first miss payments to a creditor or lender, you will see late pays show up in 30 day blocks of time on your credit report. If the accounts remain unpaid long enough, those 30 day incremental late pays turn into a charge off reporting on your credit. With credit cards, charge offs normally occur within 180 days of consecutively missed payments (they can happen sooner than 180 days).
The 7 years the negative item stays on your credit report starts from the first missed payment to your lender.
When your accounts get this far behind, it is standard to have the account placed with outside collection agencies, and often repeatedly. Many creditors have a practice of selling off debts that remain unpaid long enough to debt buyers. They are legally transferring the rights to the debt to someone else, as is often laid out in your original contract with them.
Collection Agencies and Debt Buyers Showing Up on Your Credit Report
When an additional entry from a collection agency shows up on your credit report it is important to look for some key items:
- Is the new entry showing a balance due? A debt buyer who reports a collection account to the credit bureaus with a balance owed should be matched with the original lenders negative credit reporting to be certain that the original lender no longer shows a balance is owed to them. You should not have more than one credit entry showing an unpaid and due amount on your report for the same bill.
- Does the collection account show a date of last activity on your report that is different than the date your original lender is showing? Collection accounts that are reporting separate from, but related to an existing negative item on your report, should not show a newer date. If a newer date is used by a collection agency reporting, it prolongs the credit damage and will take longer for you to improve your credit.
All negative trade lines related to the same collection account should age off of your credit report at the same 7 year mark you use to calculate your first missed payment to your original lender. The exception used to be when people got sued for collection and ended up with a judgment over one or more of the debts – which would show in the public records section of your credit report for 7 years from the date judgment was entered in the court.
Most judgments obtained in state courts were taken off our credit reports with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion as of July 2017
What to Do If You Need to Dispute a Collection Account on Your Report
I will have an upcoming article about disputing incorrect information on your credit report, but for now, it is important to consider the following:
If your debt is within the SOL (statute of limitations), to legitimately sue you for collection, you should carefully consider whether or not to send a dispute about a collection account on your credit report, even if it is showing incorrect information. When there is still room on the clock to sue you, sending a dispute may wake the collector to the fact that you are:
- Still an unpaid account.
- Care enough to start cleaning up your credit report (usually for some credit goals, which means you are more collectible).
If your debts are beyond the SOL to sue you legitimately, you should have less concern about waking a sleepy debt collector who may not have been bothering you, with disputes about getting your credit reports corrected.
Legislation was passed in 2011 that changed the SOL from 3 to 6 years in Arizona. Given the information you shared about 2007 being the earliest date of last payment, your debts may/may not be off of the current debt owner’s radar. You would need to be certain about the date each of account was last paid. Any of them you know were paid last in 2006 would be clear of the SOL.
Reviewing your credit reports for accuracy when you know you have old collection items is important. Staying on top of when and how to get your credit reports corrected will help you plan for future access to credit at fair prices.
If you have a particular issue or question you can post in the comments below for feedback.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
I live in GA. I racked up some medical debt while I was a single mother. My husband and I were married in 2011, these bills were before that. My husband recently pulled his credit report and one collection agency placed two different medical account for me on his credit. They say that yea they can do it although I can’t find any information saying they can. My husband kind of called their bluff somewhat and called them back and told that it was ileagle and they wouldn’t say anything after that and ended the conversation. My question is, is he responsible for debt previous to our marriage (none of this debt was after marriage). And if it is not how should I procede?
It should not be appearing on his credit reports. I would suggest he file a credit reporting complaint with the CFPB here. I would also encourage you guys to contact a consumer law attorney that specializes in collection violations. You may find there is more you can do, and at little to no cost. Post the name of a nearby city and I can email you some experienced attorneys you can consult with.
What is the name of the collection company?
We lived in TX and rented a house after we lost ours due to a bankruptcy (my husband had lost his job).
Anyway, the realtor, come to find out was the owner of the house we rented…she had us pay first/last months’ rent and one month deposit…found out later, that in TX, landlords cannot charge you last months’ rent as deposit…
Anyway, when we gave notice, she told us that we had to pay the last months’ rent…we said that she had already charged that when she rented the place to us, even though we were moving, she evicted us and took us to court for “damages”, we were ruled against for almost $6000 (made up charges) and found that she had written down AFTER we signed the lease, that the last month was part of the security deposit.
The judge, we could tell, didn’t believe her and her story, but, said he had to rule in her favor as it was written in the contract, we had signed the contract…she filled in the blanks after we signed it (that was BEFORE we lost trust in people…she screwed us royally).
I just looked at our credit report and saw that the court judgement against us was 9/2007~does that fall off after 7 years or can the woman re-file for us to pay…I wouldn’t put it past her…
Please advise…
Thanks.
Barb
If the judgment drops from your credit reports at 7 years, it will still likely impair your ability to get a home loan if unresolved, as it will be still part of the public record.
Your judgment in Texas is enforceable for 10 years, and can be renewed. Renewal is painfully easy. I think this is what you are concerned about with her refiling… so yes, and you should expect it.
I disputed them already but am not sure if they can be removed since it’s hasn’t been but 6yrs.
Just bought a house, have a brand new car, I’m set just hoping to bring up my score anyway…
From what you shared, you have a year or so to go before the paid collection and repo fall off.
Is there any balance still owed on the repossession?
I just recently pulled my Equifax & Experian reports. I have a paid off acct from 2008 and a repo also from 2008. Do they not legally need to remove till 7yrs from then?
I recently received a repayment plan from an old debt from a collection agency. I checked the box and started to make payments on it. That was a couple of weeks ago. Now, I realize after the fact that I may have re-aged this debt because I looked at my credit report yesterday and it is not on there anymore. Is this what I have done? Should I continue with the payment plan and hope that it does not appear on my credit report again? When will I see it reappear on my report if I have inadvertently re-aged it? How do I stop it from being sold again if I repay it? And finally, is it up to the collection agency to start the clock on this debt again once I have started repayment, or does that happen automatically?
Who is the debt collector you are paying?
When was it you first started missing payments to the original creditor? When was it you last made a payment on this debt to anyone?
By checking off the payment box you did, are you agreeing to pay the debt in full over time, or a lower settlement amount split up into monthly payments? How many months is the payment plan you opted into?
I think it is Jefferson something. It looks like they acquired it from RJM.
Missed payments over 7 years ago.
Last made a payment 2 weeks ago to the Jefferson company.
Lower settlement in a lesser amount was what I checked.
9 month payment plan with monthly payments.
Is it to late to stop the re-aging of this debt? Damn. Wish I had known before I sent payment. It was the last one of my debts that had reached its statute and was off of my credit report. I received the second payment request today for the plan.
Does the company re-age it? Or is that automatic once you commit to payments?
It has not appeared on my report since that first payment, but that was only 2 weeks ago. When could I expect it to reappear? Can they sell it to another 3rd party even if I pay it off?
I live in Alaska, but the debt was from another state. Oregon I believe. Thanks for your help.
Your payment does not reage the original credit reporting timelines. But it likely does reset the SOL for them to legitimately sue you.
I do not expect them to sell any portion of your debt off to another debt collector as long as you keep your end of the bargain by making all of those 9 payments on time (make them early if possible). If something like that were to happen, post an update about it here.
Thanks Michael.
Will it show up on my credit report again? If so, it will be there another 7 years even after I pay it off?
Based on what you shared so far, it shouldn’t. Post an update if it does.
I’ve got a good one for you! I was denied a loan today at Chase. When I got the reason I was told that I had a 3500$ charge off and that they will NOT do the loan.
When I replied that I have no such thing on file, they told me that indeed I did and I had a CO of a Chase credit card. Again I said NO WAY! Then they told me it was 14 YEARS AGO!!!!!! Only when I went back on my OLD files did I indeed recall losing my job many moons ago and could not pay the debt and it got charged off.
While the FCRA does provide for a clear wipe after 7 years….THERE is NO law preventing CHASE or other financial institutions from keeping records INFINITELY.
Furthermore as it was explained to me, if CHASE purchases another bank, they add any DEROGATORY info from THAT INSTITUTION!!!
Theoretically speaking, given all the mergers in the banking industry, you could be prevented from taking out a loan from DOZENS of banks making it near impossible to ever get a loan.
Does any one else think that this somehow is just NOT RIGHT????
AMEX has maintained a black list of folks who default on their credit products for ever.
Not sure about the derog’s Chase might add from, say Bank One or WAMU.
Time to vote with your feet perhaps?
I just think it is utterly wrong. Everyone and every business makes risks, and mistakes during the course of your life. I did back 14 years ago, and so do businesses….Chase with the London Whale…lots of people taking haircuts, AM EX too with lots of bad deals in the past where investors suffered.
Our entire system is built THANKFULLY to allow for risks and to punish then redeem. If you default you are going to be PUNISHED dearly via higher rates, denied access to credit etc.
Blacklisting just seems a step too far. This is the first time that I heard of this. Yes your right, vote with your feet, but I see it becoming more and more difficult in this environment especially after the financial meltdown where MILLIONS of people lost their jobs through no fault of their own and had no choice but to take credit hits.
A suit was filed against me by Berman & Rabin PA. It was on a Bank of America credit card that went to collection in 08. It is being collected by FIA. I have been making $320. a month on a hardship program in December of last year the check for the payment wasn”t covered by the bank. I tried calling them to set the payments up again and never could reach them. My question is if I don’t go for the court appearance what will happen? Is this debt covered by the statue of limations? I live in Kansas. The amount of the debt is $2500.
If you do not show, they will get a default judgment. That could lead to wage garnishment, and bank account and property liens.
You likely have an SOL (statute of limitations) that starts with your last payment, which was December of 2013. The SOL is of little help to you.
Can you pull together money to settle this with FIA in a single lump sum?
First thank you . I.m on social security and I really can’t come up with the 2500. Do you think I should call and try to set up payment arrangements before I go to court?
You can call and set those up. Read through this post and many of the comments first: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/can-you-negotiate-and-settle-a-credit-card-debt-if-you-are-being-sued/
If social security is your only source of income, you may also want to read over this post too: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/social-security-pension-state-exemption-debt-collector-garnishment/ – If I have not yet covered the protections from creditors in your state in the comment section of this article, post the name of your state there and I will respond with what your state protects from judgment creditors (this is in case any payment option is too much of a stretch for you to commit to).
I have several items on my credit report from 5ish years ago. I am working on getting my credit cleaned up and I have a question. I have some old debts that I was hoping would be dropping off within the next year but the debts have been purchased by another agency. Does the 7.5 year clock reset when they purchase them or does it remain the same? My parents are getting harassing and pushy people calling all day long looking for me and I haven’t lived there in over a decade. I need to get them to stop.
I have considered bankruptcy, but after talking with an agency, I make to much money. What would be the best way to tackle clearing my credit report, I am feeling totally overwhelmed and feel like I am sinking.
The 7.5 year credit reporting time limit (for negative items to remain on your reports) begins with the first missed payment to the original creditor. You would have to bring the account current to reset that clock. Your account changing hands from one debt collector to the next, or one debt buyer selling to another, does not change how long the negative stuff related to the account can still show on your credit. And when the original creditors reporting falls off from age, all the other stuff, like debt collectors and debt buyers reporting about the same account, should drop at the same time. The exception to this is if you were sued and a judgment entered for a debt already on your credit report. The judgment has its own new shelf life on your credit report.
Your parents should not be receiving multiple or harassing phone calls. You can put a stop to this. What is the name of a nearby larger city? I can connect you with some resources, and they may be available at no cost.
If bankruptcy is not an option, lets look at other ways to resolve your debts. Post a reply with who you owe currently and the approximate balance on each debt. I can help you consider the dollars and cents of different solutions from there.
My Husband owes an apartment complex money from the year 2008. Will it always be on his credit report? Or will it fall off? I am trying to fix it and we are almost done. I need to know which is the best way to go. Wait to see if it falls off or just try and set up a payment plan, in whhich I don’t know if they even do that. But he owes right over 2,000$. Any help would be great!
That would make the collection 6 years old, and ready to fall off his credit reports as early as next year.
What are your family credit and financing goals in the next 12 to 18 months (home, car, new apartment)?
What state do you live in?
If you have private student loans (with a very high balance) that are charged off as bad debt and your 7.5 years are about a year away, would it be better to start paying them or wait for it to fall off? At the 7.5 year mark with they completely disappear?
Who were the loans with?
What state are you in?
Sallie Mae.
I live in California but my loans were secured when I lived legally in Florida and attended school in Mass. I am looking to buy a home and have a large amount of federal loan debt that recently got out of default and are currently in good standing. I am concerned that by contacting Sallie Mae I will be hurting myself because my debt owed will be very large.
What are the total balances for the private student loans showing on your credit reports now?
Are you working with a loan officer or a mortgage broker already?
I have two totaling 37k. I started the process but am on hold due to those loans being in default as directed by the mortgage broker.
If your payments are small enough so that your current income and expenses still fit within the qualified mortgage standards and recommended debt to income ratios, you should be fine. If not, wait out the credit reporting time lines. Ask your mortgage broker about how often they see old (8 or more years since last paid) student debt shows up in factuals and tri-merge reports underwriters use.
Hello Michael,
I live in Michigan, I had purchased a vehicle in Nov 2007, it was repossessed in Oct 2011, it shows that I have balance of $4065. I would like to know if I should try and pay this bill off, or wait to for it to drop off my credit report. Also, when would this drop from my credit report?
I’m just trying to make since of the whole restore your credit without going deeper into dept.
Thanks for any information that will help me in my situation.
You can be sued for collection on a debt like yours, the deficiency balance from the repossession in Michigan, for 6 years. Your collection risk is high until 2017. That same collection and repossession can remain on your credit report until some time in late 2018 to early 2019.
If it were me, and know the value of older collection debts, I would not look to pay the whole amount. I would look to settle the debt for as much a savings as I could negotiate. I do see settlements on deficiency from repo balances go lower than 50% often enough. And sometimes even under 30%.
How prepared are you to negotiate a pay the settlement you put together as of now?
From Illinois and my student loans are all Private. I have been unemployed for a long while and have defaulted on all loans. Will these loans fall off my credit report? The loans are from 2008?
Were you sued for any of the private student loans?
I have a collections account from October 2010 for a lease that was broken.I’m wondering if I wait it out ( the information is correct, I just cannot afford to pay a debt my ex ran up) will it basically fall off my report? I live in Tennessee. I haven’t been able to rent any kind of apartment because of this smudge even though I have 100% on time payments on my car loan as recent indicators of my good credit behavior. I’m already 4 years deep nearly and I currently rent from private homeowners. I’m just curious, they have not contacted me in any way since 2010and I’ve never made a so.gle payment or agreement. What is the likelihood they will sue me before those 3 yrs are finished?
I was thinking they possibly aren’t worried about it so much because I didn’t “spend money I didn’t have” I just got charged fees for an one month inconvenience.
The collection is only related to late fees or something similar?
How much is the amount in collections?
Is the debt still being collected by the creditor, or is there a debt collector now showing on your credit reports too?
Hi Michael,
I have been reading your posts and you have been a great help with others. Would you be able to assist me with my credit question? In June 2009 I voluntary gave my my vehicle for repossession. The name of the creditor was Americredit, which is now GM Financial. The total amount of the loan was around $20,000. The car was sold, which left a remaining balance of around $12,000. I had one late payment in March 2009 which was 30 days past due. In May of 2012, I decided to pay off my old debts. This auto loan being one of them. I called and made a one time payment of $50.00 and told them I would send in as much as I could to get the balance to zero. Later that day, I was told not to pay anymore on it because I didn’t have all the money up front and they can reage my account on my credit reports, so I decided not to pay anything else. Fast Foward…Now I am looking to purchase a home and was advised to pay off the balance. If I pay the balance, I will not have any money for a down payment for my home. Will this age off my credit by March 2016 or May 2019? I am trying to figure out if I should just suck it up and pay it or wait til it ages off my report. Any advice you give would be very helpful!
Thanks
From what you shared, the repossession can stay on your credit report for as long as late 2016. That 50 dollars you paid would not reage your account for credit reporting purposes.
If you want to purchase a home before the account falls off your credit, you will probably have to suck it up and pay. But probably not the full amount.
Who is it that is collecting now?
Have you had a loan application put through yet?
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your quick response! GM financial still holds my account. I did submit a loan application and was told that my middle score was 600 and I need a 640 in order to be approved for a mortgage. The loan officer said I have to pay/settle the balance or wait until it ages off my credit report. Do you think I should just save and wait for it to age off to ensure I have a better credit score?
If it were me making that same decision, it may depend on how strong my income is, and whether the amount I would have to pay to settle, let’s assume half, is something I could replace relatively quickly.
My thoughts would also move toward what home prices in the area I want to buy are doing, and if they are on an upward trend, even a little, the math starts to favor settling for as little as possible in order to get the credit report updated.
I was sent papers from a collection agency saying they are taking me to small claims for checks that were non sufficient and from a car dealer that I know nothing about…it says the charges occurred in 2005 and this is the first I am hearing of any of these against my credit…and non of them are any that I accrued myself…what should I do??????
When you say “against your credit”, do you mean you see these collections on your credit reports? Were you ever a victim of identity theft? Please pull copies of your credit reports, post what you see, and lets go from there.
I went through a foreclosure in May 2013, and the creditor issued a 1099-C. Which I reported on my income taxes for 2014. The creditor lists the trade line on my credit reports as a charge off with a $95,000 balance. Shouldn’t the balance be $0? This seems like I’m getting dinged twice. I had to pay taxes on the 1099-C to the IRS, and still owe the original creditor $95,000. How is this right?
Please consider filing a credit reporting complaint with the CFPB here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/.
Please post an update with how your progress along the way. This is a very important topic for others as well.
Hi, during a divorce in 2010 I wanted to sell the marital home which was in both names, however, my ex wanted to keep it and the dang Judge agreed with him and gave him “full custody” so to speak. She said there were enough homes at that time being sold for under value and because he showed he could afford it, against my wishes, he was ordered “sole” custody of the home. I was not allowed there at all and there was to be a appointee to check in the home each year. Well within the 1st year I went to buy a new home, I had no idea what was happening there, and I did buy a new home, but at the same week I closed on my current home i found out he had moved out and walked away. I had absolutely no idea. I hired an attorney and real estate agent to try to do the right thing and short sale, however, by the time his lawyer got back to us it was too late in a sherriff sale. Now I just lost my job and need to pull equity from my new home or refinance to be able to stay and there is a $35,000 collection on my credit report. this is not allowing me to move forward. Yes my name was on the last mortgage, but only because a judge ordered it to be, and I am wondering if there is anything I can do to get this removed from my credit report? I had no idea my ex had even moved out and I feel I had tried to do the right thing from divorce to sale and by other peoples choices, (judge) and his lawyer I am getting screwed. I feel this is discrimination. I pay my bills.
Can I get collections account removed from my credit report on my ex’s foreclosure
You are stuck in a hard place here. Many options you can explore are going to take time and money, and you are short on both.
Sue your ex for the money = time and money.
Settle the 35k balance = money.
Dispute with the credit reporting agencies = time spent on a hail-Mary that would likely trigger less savings were you to settle.
What are you inclined to do?
How much time do you have?
I have a student loan (Alaska State Loan) that I defaulted on back in 2007. I was able to make payment arrangements through the collection agency and have been paying monthly on time every time. I just checked my annual free credit reports from all 3 bureaus and none of them have that debt on there! I was married last year and I did not update my name with the collector as I just didn’t want to talk to them. Could that be the reason it is not there or do you think it is because it has been long enough to be removed? If it has been long enough while I know I still owe this debt, can they sue me? I currently live in North Dakota but the original debt was when I was an Alaska Resident. Thanks for your help.
I do not think the name change from the marriage had anything to do with it falling off your credit reports. It is more likely due to the 7 year time frame passing.
The majority of student loan debts simply do not go away. You may not get sued, but your tax return (if loan was federally guaranteed) could be intercepted, and even social security be affected, many years down the road.
Are the payments to the collection company still manageable? Can you afford to pay even more?
can debt collector come after me, after it has been delected of my credit report. can they still ganish my check or take money from my bank account because i still receive call from them. eventhough the account as been delected after 7years.
Legitimate debts do not go away after they fall off your credit reports. They are still able to be collected upon through phone calls and collection letters. This type of debt is often referred to as zombie debt, as it cannot hurt your credit, and the limits to legitimately be sued by a collection company has passed in nearly all states… if the 7 year credit reporting time has lapsed.
An exception is if you have been sued. Collections risks like garnishment and bank account levy can persist for 20 years or more in some states. Once a judgment, or the collection account that later became a judgment, falls off your credit reports, it does not limit the extra ordinary collection methods the debt collector has to get money from you.
What state are you in? Are you dealing with a judgment debt? Did a debt collector call and threaten you with legal collections on an old debt?
I have a couple of problems with my credit report. I have an old item from Verizon for 300 that is on my report. I have paid this in full and asked them to remove. They did not. This has been some time ago. Would I stand a better chance asking again? Also, I have a collection from a credit card that originated in 2005. It was turned over to Portfolio Recovery in 2011. The date on my report from Portfolio states 2011, not 2005 from the original debtor. Is this correct. If the default was 2005, does the 7 year rule apply and it should be removed? I there than that I own a home and have a car loan. I have one credit card with a very low limit. Several years ago I closed everything out (which was a mistake on my credit report) How do I get my credit report number to bump up a date how long will it take? Thanks
Negative credit reporting can stay for 7 years. You can ask again, but they do not have to remove the paid negative. Was it Verizon you paid directly, or did you work that all out with a debt collector?
Portfolio Recovery should not be reporting that collection account if it went delinquent more than 7.5 years ago. Can you recall the date you last made a payment on the account? Who was the original creditor, and do they show on your credit reports still?
Are there other collections on your credit report?
How long have you had your mortgage? Any lat pays on that? How about your auto loan?
I can better offer feedback about credit improvement after I have those answers?
I paid Verizon directly. It has been a while since I asked them to remove from my credit report.
HSBC Bank in Nevada is the original creditor for Portfolio Recovery. HSBC is also on my credit report with an open date of 11/2005 but they show $0 past due amount because the credit was sold to Portfolio. I have not made a payment since at least 2012.
I have had my mortgage for about 5 years. I have had my car loan for 2. I have been late on my house but not the car.
I don’t have any other collections or open court records on my credit report.
I do have several inquiries that hurt my score. Some of them I know what they are but some I have neverh heard of. Who can inquire about my credit?
Thanks for any help you can lend.
You could try a good will letter to Verizon requesting the deletion, but success is a long shot.
I read your first comment to say that the account PRA is showing on your credit reports was last paid in 2005. I could read this follow up comment to say that the HSBC account went into default in 2012.
The credit reporting limit of 7 years is for negative reporting. The clock does not tick based on the account open date. Can you clarify the date of last payment to HSBC?
There is a difference between hard and soft inquiries. Soft inquiries will more often be made by current creditors, or potential creditors who want to solicit people for new credit offers. Debt collectors can show as soft credit pulls too.
Hard inquiries are typically the result of you applying for credit. Are there hard inquiries that you do not recognize?
I have a have an account in collections it was a credit card in 2005, the account was sold to another collections agency in 2010, this account still on my credit report. is legal for them to re star my debt, also My Mother in-law took my son to the hospital, I never authorize treatment nor was aware he was taken to the hospital, this account has been added to collections, can they do this? they had my information from years back that I had a surgery, but I never signed paperwork nor received a call from the hospital for authorization for treatment.
When you say the account was from 2005, is that also when you fell behind with payments? What is the name of the collection agency showing on your credit reports?
You can be liable for the debts incurred regarding your minor children.
Cavalry Portfolio they are the ones that have the account now.
I would not be surprised if Cavalry Portfolio is reaging collections on your credit reports. You can dispute this fact with the credit bureaus, and directly with Cavalry too. But first, can you verify when it was you stopped payments on the original credit card?
Just when I stopped payment or when I made last call to the previous creditor? when I try to dispute it last year they told me that going by the last contact I made to them.
When you made last payments.
Contacting the debt collect does not extend the permissible time for a negative item to stay on your credit reports. Did someone at Cavalry say that to you over the phone, or is it in writing?
When I disputed the account last year they send me a letter by mail stating that their records show I contacted the previous debt agency by phone therefore the debt was set to the contact date.
If you have a copy of that letter, could you scan it and email it to the email address you get these comment notifications from (that is my direct email address)?
If you no longer have a copy, you can dispute the entry again with all credit bureaus who have it on there, and with Cavalry too. Send your dispute certified mail return receipt. Keep a copy of your letter and the return receipt card. If that does not take care of it, post an update and lets go from there.
You have not answered when you stopped making payments to the original creditor. If that date is less the 7.5 years ago, it is not yet time to legitimately expect the Cavalry collection to drop off your credit.
Hello,
Just ran my credit report and I have a few debts that under “Status Details:” says this account is scheduled to conintue on record until….One is until sept 2015 and the other for Oct. 2015.
Is it best for me to leave these alone and then they will “drop off” my credit report?
Or is it better for me to pay them off now?
Post the names of the original creditors, the date you last made a payment, and the state you live in. I can then be more specific to your situation with my feedback.
Hello,
for the 1st item: the original creditor is Sprint, and I probably went delinquent sometime in 2008-2009, I have never made a payment to the collection agency. It says date opened 3/2011 (I am unsure if that is when it went into collection?) is also says Reported Since/Date of Status:/Last Reported/ All are 01/2014
This debt was acquired while I was living in Utah, but now I live in Washington and have been for 3 years.
2nd item: probably went past due in 2008-2009, again never made a payment to the collection agency. It says date opened 04/2011 Reported Since: 05/2011 Date of Status: 05/2011 Last Reported: 02/2013
Again this debt was acquired while I was living in Utah but now I reside in Washington for the last 3 years
If you plan on buying a home, or have other large financing needs in the next year to two, you could benefit more from these collections showing paid than not. If you have no tangible credit goals in the next 1 to 2 years, I would let these lay if it were me.
If you want to pay them, settling for less than the balance owed will provide the same zero balance owed getting updated to your credit reports. How much are the balances on these accounts?
I have some concerns that the collection companies are reaging the trade lines. If you do not settle or pay the debts, but decide to wait this out, be sure that the collections entries drop from your credit at the same time the original creditors reporting does. If that does not happen, you can dispute them with the collector and with the credit bureaus.
they are amounts of about 270-390 not very large amounts. I am looking to purchase a home somewhere in the next 2 years.
What does “reaging the trade lines” and how do I know if the collection entries drop the same time as the original creditors?
On my credit report I do not see a separate report for the original creditors. I only know what original creditors this came from because it says so next to the name of the current collection agency that has this debt.
Reaging in this context is using a different, and more recent date, for when the account would be considered to have gone delinquent. The affect of this is having an account drop from your credit reports later than should have happened. You keep tabs on this by watching for the original creditor negatives drop date, and that all collection items (other than court judgments for the same debt) fall off at that time too. It is a bit odd that none of your original creditors are reporting the debts on their own. Are these mainly utility types of bills, like the Sprint account?
Yes it is Sprint and then Direct TV
It seems both have been sold to a collection agency but the original creditor is no where on my credit report
If it were me, and I were looking to buy a home a year or mare after these are going to fall off my credit reports, I would be more likely to let them lay. If you have a 620 or higher credit score, you have a shot at FHA home loan underwriting approval. But they would want to see any collections on your credit reports as paid. If your home loan goals accelerate to before these collections are set to fall off next year, that is when I would settle them.
My mom bought a car in Texas in 2006 and paid on it until mid 2009. She lost her job and because she was retirement age, she retired and moved to Oklahoma. When she could no longer pay, she voluntarily called the finance company to pick it up. The original lender is reporting it on her credit report as legally paid in full for less than the full amount. They apparently sold the vehicle for less than she owed and now in 2014 she was served with a court action from a collection agency that the original lender sold the debt to. She has no income other than Social Security and owns no property other than a car she paid cash for. What can she do about the court case. She is not too worried about credit report impact, just is afraid of what can happen at court.
Based on what you shared, she is not collectable. If you want to know the threshold for all relevant exemptions from judgment creditors in Oklahoma, post a comment about that at the bottom of this page: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/social-security-pension-state-exemption-debt-collector-garnishment/
You can see more about how to deal with a debt collector when sued here: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/can-you-negotiate-and-settle-a-credit-card-debt-if-you-are-being-sued/
I stopped making payments on a car that I signed my name on to in 2000 – 2001, within the same year that i bought it.
I know now that i was 20 years old and never could afford it. The Haundi Elantra was 2 years old when i bought it, in Virginia. I was defiantly ripped off @ 22. something apr and 22,000.00 or around that amount. I remember this because of all the comments i got from others at how stupid i was to do that. That car was recalled after I let it get impounded. Bad seatbelts i think.
Anywho. I have recently had it removed from my credit reports via Lexington law.
Parents called me today to read me a letter stating that I owe another collector 16,000.00 and threats of wage garnishment.
Today the car is worth 235.00 max trade in, and 532.00 private,. KBB ( Kelly Blue Book).
This is probably the third or fourth collection agency that I have seen this being sold and bought through.
What is the best way to handle this?
I just want to have them send me an agreement stating that I can pay this off and make it disappear for 300.00 .
Does this sound do-able, if I handle them correctly?
Cody – Were you ever sued for this debt? Debt collectors cannot garnish without suing first. Threats of garnishing if they have not sued, and in writing nonetheless, if there is no judgment in place, is likely a violation of federal debt collection laws (and maybe state law too).
Would you mind faxing over a copy of the letter to me to look over? You can also scan and email a copy to the email address you get these comment notifications from. I can then post better feedback for you.
If you have not been sued on this debt, and given the age of it, I would not pay them anything at all, and would connect with an experienced FDCPA attorney about your options to sue them.
Hello, I just checked my husband’s credit report to find that he has 1 account in collections. The debt has already been transfered to a collection agency and the “last reported” date as well as the “opening date” are 09/16/2009. My husband did not know he had this debt and we have never received any letters or phone calls. We live in CA and want to build his credit because we are planning on buying a house in 2017. If I have my research correct, the SOL has expired since in CA its 4 years and it has already (come this september) been 5 years. Therefore, the collection agency cannot sue us for the money correct? Also, is there any real benefit in trying to pay it off since we only have 2 more years to go for the collection to fall off the credit report? My worry is that we open a can of worms by trying to do the right thing and pay it off. Or is it better to pay it off? Will the debt fall off the report sooner if I pay it off, or is 7 years, 7 years regardless of paying it or letting it “expire”? Also if we do have our credit run in say feb of 2017, there should be no history of this debt right? What are the chances of the collection agency “finding us” after 5 years of no contact? Thanks.
You want to base your SOL to be sued on when the account was last paid, not when the account was opened, or last reported date on credit reports.
I can respond better to your time lines, and questions about settling or letting this lay, if I you can post when the account was last paid? Can you look through any records you have and answer that with confidence?
Also, what is the balance being reported as owed? The cost to resolve a debt (if that is something you decide to do) can enter into consideration.
Hubby says he never paid on it. So, the date of last paid should be right around (or at most 6 months prior to date opened right?) that time frame. The debt is fortunately the smallest of them all, and the others have already dropped off/been paid. Its a little over $1000. This amount is completely do-able, I just don’t want any repercussions for trying to take care of this!
Okay, thanks for the additional details.
Paid or unpaid, the account should drop from the credit reports at the same time. I do not think you will hurt your goals by settling this far in advance, but I also do not see how you would hurt them by doing nothing and waiting for the account to drop off on its own without payment. Yours appears to be a situation where more than personal finance math and credit reporting will guide your decision to settle or not.
Your in a good position if you want to settle. Who is the debt collector?
Some more information when they took it over it was already in collection 07/08. They changed that to 2010 when it went into collection.
What were the terms they added? Was it a joint account with a co-borrower, or is this completely false?
What state are you in?
I would not leave an account alone that was re-dated so that it will show on my credit report for 2 more years than is legitimate. But what state you are in will impact my feedback if you can still be sued for collection.
The terms they added were 99 months. The never was a co borrower they just made that up. I live in Kansas.
If it were me, I would skip filing a dispute with the credit reporting agencies, and copying the collection agency furnishing the info to the bureaus. They sound like the type to have either poor data management systems and staff, or are willing to just fabricate stuff they send to the credit reporters. Either way, sending disputes to them would probably be a waste of time.
I would file a credit reporting dispute directly with the CFPB here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/.
SST/CIGPF1CT took over one of my accounts from SS/SYNOVUS. When they reported it to
the credit bureau they changed some of the inforomation. They added terms when there wasn’t any and they have it as a joint account instead of individual. Should I dispute it or
just leave it alone. It is scheduled to drop off in 2017.
So my wife has debt ~1700 and ~2400 from when she was 20 back in 2004. They are unpaid, what i’m wondering is if they will still have a negative impact on her credit score? And if in the next year or so I decide to pay them off in full, will that show up again on her credit score?
If the debts have gone unpaid since 2004, there should be no trace of them on her credit reports. If debt collections do still show on her reports, it would be in error after this long.
Are either of these judgment debts, where she was sued for collection? If not, there is really no benefit to her credit scores, or credit reports, from paying anything on these debts.
If the date she last paid on these is anything newer than 7 years, post the dates last paid, and lets go from there.
In 2002 I purchased a car. In 2007 I was laid off and ran behind on my payments. When I became employed again in 3/2008 I made my final AGREED payment of $800. The balance of $1,200 was supposed to be “forgiven” and I haven’t heard from them since. On 8/1/2014 I received a letter from a collection agency. I called the original debtor. They say I still owe the balance. The car has been “junked” since 2009. I don’t have any paperwork to prove anything. What should I do?
What is the name of the debt collector? What state do you live in? Is the debt showing on your credit reports?
I am in Wisconsin. The car was purchased in Wisconsin. The Collection agency is in Minnesota. It is NOT on my credit report.
—Also, The agency called me yesterday and now claim I owe on a “Bonneville”, which is my CURRENT vehicle. I owe no money on that Vehicle because I paid CASH last year. I don’t think they know what they are doing! I told them I do not owe money on any “Bonneville” because I paid cash for the car, and I am not paying any balance on any “Bonneville”. Is this a loop-hole because they are trying to collect on the wrong Vehicle?
The 6 year statute to legitimately sue you in Wisconsin would appear to have passed. It is a good thing the late pays, or any collection item, are not showing on your credit reports.
What is the name of the debt collection company contacting you?
The debt collector could be a scam. I would not have jumped to that assumption until you mention what they pulled on the Bonneville. You could call the original lender and verify if they still own the account, who they have it placed with for collections. If they sold the debt (that happens too), find out the name of the company they sold it to.
Post an update and lets go from there.
it is called Northland group. They asked me to send a letter of dispute, which I was reluctant to do because I read somewhere that can reactive the “clock”.
I did speak to the Bank, and they were supposed to email me copies of my file. The guy just called and yapped in my ear about what he “saw” in the file, but I have yet to receive that paperwork. The original debtor apparently sold it to the bank (who NEVER contacted me this whole time) and the bank sold it again to the agency -who is now contacting me 6 years later. The agency seems legit. Although they have 300+ poor BBB reviews sighting inaccurate information, abusive language, threats etc.
–Not to mention, the bank claims my last payment was made in 3/2009, which is incorrect. it was 3/2008. I do not have any paper proof of that.
so your saying they cannot sue me anymore? I should do nothing? What should I do if they call me again?
A letter disputing the debt does not reset anything for credit reporting purposes. And given the fact that your dispute is basically saying you do not agree with the debt, you would generally not have to be concerned about the letter resetting an SOL timeline for them to sue to collect in your state. Talk to a consumer law attorney in your state to verify that.
Northland group is a legitimate debt collector.
If it were me in your shoes, and Northland Group, nor any other collector, appears on my credit report, and I am confident about the date I last paid being passed the 6 years to sue in your state, I would do nothing (unless for some other personal reason not attributed to credit reports, collection risks, or affordability). If were called again I would let them know you dispute the debt, as it was paid to your knowledge. You can send them a letter to that same effect. Be sure to keep a copy for your records, and use certified mail return receipt (save the green card you get back).
Great. Thanks a lot! 🙂
Hello, I have private student loans that are old. I filed for a ch.13 bankruptcy which held them off from collecting from me and now I am finished paying the 5 year bankruptcy. I finished the bankruptcy in 2013 and am now recieving phone calls from collectors for the private loan. I live in California and the Experian report does not show a start date. It’s NCO Financial Services and says its a closed account. Lately I have been getting phone calls from an attorneys office about it. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know when it started being reported as late but I did start my bankruptcy in 2008. I can’t figure out what date the loans started or any info on them. I’m wondering if they can still sue me for money because it is a large amount. Any information on what I should do or to better understand it would be wonderful. Thanks!
Ok…the bankrutpcy would have frozen the clock until the discharge. Was your loan current or in default when you filed? If in default, when is the default date? If you were NOT in default, the bankruptcy would have triggered a default and the clock would have started when the bankrutpy discharged.
I think it was in default already because I never made any payments on it. I finished school in 2005 so it should have started sometime after that. I only paid my federal loans as far as I can recall. I believe I deferred the loans as long as I could but I have no idea how to find out this information. Any idea how to figure it out?
When you finish school you got ~6 months of deferment….so if you graduated in say june of 2005 that would take you thru the end of the year. Then any deferments…add those on. Then it takes 6+ months to default. So if you filed BK in 2008, it is possible that it had NOT defaulted, or was a new default. 5 year bk freeze….clock starts ticking again in 2013. So it is very possible that you will now be sued, which is standard practice for private loans in default.
Monarch was the collector. I am attempting to raise my Fico to utilize my VA entitlements for a home purchase. The original creditor shows Chase as Zero balance/ Zero Due/charged off- transferred. Is it legal for a collector to pursue for a balance that is different from what the original creditor reports??? That does not seem logical, however I wonder if somehow legal financial book keeping practices allow for this, maybe you can confirm or enlighten me. Oddly enough, as I review the line item for this account it shows no reporting dates for 30/60/90 lates and only shows the High Credit=1,300 Balance=0 and Payment =0 Past due=0. Last reported March 2011. Your thoughts on this??
I am concerned my rapid rescore may improve now for initial paperwork to start but that closer to close in 30-60 days Monarch might appear and ruin the close. Any advice?
Debt collectors will often be collecting a balance other than what is showing on your credit reports. The difference may be fees and interest, or the charge off balance from the creditor being something other than what was last reported to the credit bureaus, and prior to the sale of your account. It is a huge problem though, and debt collectors have a hard time justifying inflated balances they try to collect, when held to a rigid standard of proof. The problem here is that the rigid standard is often not applied until the debt reaches the court, and most of us want to avoid court collections.
How much is the balance on the other account? If you get everything cleared with VA underwriting, but this collection account shows up in credit reports to gum things up, are you in a position to raise the money to settle it quickly?
Old Worries Returned-
I have and old Chase credit card accound in collection since 2011. the account has been been charged off and is closed with chase. I do not see any other lines on my credit report relating to this account.When I called to settle a different account with a collection company I was told that they had the chase account on file as well. I played along like it was not mine and moved on to paying the other account off. I am concerned that I just woke the Beast and that they will begin coming after me for this account that is charged off. Chase shows Charged off Zero balance, but can the collection company come after me almost 3 yrs after chase closed it. I live in Illinois, how long would I have to worry about this.
You have to worry about the statue of limitations to sue in Illinois being 5 years (from the date you last made a payment).
It is quite possible that you have created a situation where the Chase account will now see collection activity, including it showing on your credit reports, where it had not been showing by the debt buyer before.
What is the name of the debt collection company?
Why settle the one you were talking to them about, but not the other?
Michael, I have a bunch of collections on my credit report as it seems alot of people do. Anyway, I was laid off work in 2008 and unable to pay my credit card bills or mortgage. I lost my home (forclosure). NOW the problem.
1) I have no idea what charge off means and can a collection agency collect for it?
2) I have a credit card with Bank of America, FIA Card that has been closed on my credit report but a collection attorney Daniel Gordon sued and won a judgment/garnisment on my wages. They collected $1358.oo from me and then sent me a check back saying that the account was closed. Ok no problem, my bad, I assumed the account was done and all good. WELL, not so much I guess because now a NEW attorney has sued and won a garnishment on my paycheck for the same debt? same case no. I am not sure what to do at this point I cannot afford to let them take 300 for 3 more paycheck just to send it back and then how many other attorneys will grab the same debt and sue me?
When the garnishment is up in 60 days should I contact the attorney and ask for a satisfaction of judgment? so that I can be sure that it comes off my credit report as paid?
3) what is the SOL in washington state? I have 15 collections on me and I have not paid any of them for numerous years.
I am just trying to get back on my feet and would love at some point to purchase a home again.
Thank you for the time and hopefully an answer to my problem.
1. Here is some good details about charge off and collections afterward: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/my-credit-card-account-just-charged-off-and-a-debt-collector-keeps-calling-me/
2. I cannot say what happened for the first lawsuit to have been tossed and you refunded. But you have the judgment and garnishment now. If you cannot afford the amount they are garnishing, and can show you meet a the standards for full or partial exemption, you can request a hearing through the court to show that to bethe case. I see many instances where garnishments are stopped completely, or way less is allowed to be taken from your paychecks.
You can definitely expect that the court would be updated as to the paid status of the judgment. Once the court file is updated, and the data miners that share/sell the court info with the credit bureaus do there thing, your credit report should reflect a paid judgment. But it will not typically “come off” until the 7 years time frame (from the date of judgment entry).
3. The statue of limitations for credit card debts and the like is 6 years in Washington state. There is some confusion about the SOL in WA being 3 years, but that is not how the courts have ruled.
If you can clear up your credit reports, and get any unpaid collections resolved and settled (often for much less than the balance owed) you can find yourself in good shape for home loan approval sooner than you may think. If you would like to post the approximate balances owed, and the debt collectors or creditors showing on your credit reports for each of the debts, I can offer you feedback on what to aim for in negotiating with each.
Hi,
I just received a call from a collection agency regarding an ATT bill from 2009. I just checked my credit score and it is currently at 735. The ATT bill doesn’t show up on my credit report at all. I want to pay the bill because it is the right thing to do (I let a family member open a phone line under my name – BIG MISTAKE and lesson learned!). The collection agency is offering me a deal to settle at 50% of original debt. Would it be better for me to pay the debt in full or to pay the settlement price they are offering? I am in my early 20’s and don’t fully understand all of this. Thank you in advance for your help!
When it comes to debts that are this old, paying the full amount, or settling for less, accomplishes the same goal. And if this does show up on your credit afterward, either option will show as a paid collection, which is as good as it gets more often than not. Your collection account with ATT is not showing at all, which is great. I just hope it stays that way once paying or settling.
I have another question. In 2013 the VA sent a survivor benefit check to me for my father
pension. That was an error on their part because I’m not eligible for any benefits. That was
in Feburary. They didn’t contact me until January of this year to till me I had to pay it back.
I made arrangements to pay what I could a month they said it was fine. Three weeks later they
said no they needed more money. By the last of May they put it in collection. I paid it in full
the last of June. My question is should I dispute it to see if they will remove it from credit report? I got a letter from the VA saying it was paid in full.
Who was the debt collection company?
The Debt collection was Debt Management Center Department of Veterans Affairs.
It is worth a shot to send a dispute, but if it does not work, and the paid collections stays on your credit report, it may not hurt you much over time.
If you do not mind my asking, with this collection account, and the First Equity collections showing, what are your credit scores (if you know)? And do you have several other positive items on your credit reports that are paid on time all the time?
My credit score is 556 and the fico score is 608. I have 3 positives and the same
amount of negatives. I was trying to see if there is any way to raise the score but
two of the negatives have been on for almost 7 years and the other one since may of this
year.
The two older collections that are going to fall off soon are probably not causing near the damage combined, as the one from last month. Now that the Veterans Affairs collection shows paid, you need time to improve the scores (if unable to get it removed).
Thank you for answering my questions. I have one more that I would like to ask
you about. Advanta closed my account in 2007. They have been reporting it on
my CR since then . This month a company by the name of Cardworks started
reporting it and they say the drop off date is 2017. If they are a collection agency
that took over shouldn’t that drop off my credit report when Advanta wrote it off
and closed it in 2007? Thank you in advance for the help.
Collection companies that later show up on your credit reports should drop at the same time the original creditors charge off is removed. There are very little exceptions to this, such as a court judgment that gets its own fresh set of years to stay on your credit.
Cardworks on your credit report should be removed at the same time as Advanta. If it does not come off, you can dispute it with card works and the credit reporting agencies. If for some reason that does not work, post an update at that time, and lets go from there.
Keep a copy of the credit reports you see today in a safe place for later comparison purposes (hopefully you do not need it).
Hi I have a collection on my credit that origionally dates back to 2006 but the collection agency has it listed as 2010? Can they do this? Does this mean it will be another three years till it’s off my credit? From what I was told by a financial advisor they have to go off of the original date? I am in Texas any help or advise is appreciated 🙂
If your first missed payment to the original creditor (that the debt collector is now reporting on) was in 2006, all collections reporting tied to this same account should be gone from your credit reports… unless you were sued and a judgment entered in court.
Who is the debt collector showing on your credit report for the 2006 account?
Trident Asset Management is the collector reporting in 2010 the original was BMG in 2006
Send a credit reporting dispute letter to Trident and the credit bureaus too. You are disputing that account as being passed the allowed time to report. Send your dispute letters certified mail return receipt. Keep a copy of your dispute letters, and green return receipts. You should hear back from the credit reporting agencies within 30-ish days of their receiving your letter.
Post an update with what happens and lets go from there.
I have have been looking at my credit report from transunion. I had a credit card with
First Equity. They closed and sold it to SST/SYNOVUS It was reported on my credit report 07/11 and in collection o7/08 . Was then sold to sst/cigpf1c and reported 04/14 and in collection 10/10 which was the dated reported as last activity on sst/synovus account. My question is it going to drop off my report in 7.5 years from the first time it was put in collection
or will it be the second time? I have not paid on it since it was sold by First equity.
Based on what you shared, the account will fall off of your credit 7.5 years from the date you last paid First Equity.
I have a few things I havent paid since 2007, visa card, cable bill and cell phone and they are still calling and wanting their money I was so young at the time and messed up, I dont even have the money to pay them what should I do? I dont want to go to jail or court as I am still struggling to get my life together. I dont have any credit cards nor any assets. please someone help me.
brits – Were you ever sued on any of those old debts?
You cannot go to jail for unpaid debts in the way you are thinking. But if you were sued, and ignored a judges order to show up in court for an asset hearing, or something along those lines, you should get a handle on that situation quickly.
What state are you in?
When was the last time you paid money on these accounts to anyone?
Hi,
I have been working on cleaning up my credit report for the last several months. There is a collection on my account that I’m trying to clear up. However, I was hoping you could help clarify some things for me as I kept getting confused reading your article and some of the other questions. The debt came about in 2008. But my report said it was opened in 1/5/11 then has a report date of 10/22/12. First off, is it right there are 2 dates on the report? Secondly, does the 7.5 years start at the most recent date, the open date, or the date the debt accrued?
Also, if I agree to settle the debt, and get them to agree to drop it from my report, will that help boost my credit; or will it still show as a former collection until the 7.5 years?
Is that MMI number still good to contact for free?
Mandy – The 7.5 year credit reporting clock starts ticking from when you first missed your payments.And even though you will see different dates on that same trade line – date last paid, date last updated, date opened… it is that first 30 day late that is going to dictate when this falls off your credit.
It is not common to pay a collection account and have it deleted from your credit reports. And each individuals credit scores changing, when you settle a debt, will vary from person to person, and even from one scoring model to another.
The MMI number for a free one on one review of how to read and understand your credit report is still good. Cal 877-721-9723 and let them know that is why you are calling.
Hi Michael,
I received a call from a debt collector at work telling today me I need to pay something back that is old. This is not on my credit report anymore do I have to pay this back this back should I be worried and can they sue me?
Mari – If the debt is too old to be on your credit report, it is in all likelihood too old to sue you for collection on that same debt. But to be sure, what state are you in, and when was that last time you paid anything on this account (to anyone)?
I live in the state of California it has been since 2006
You are in the clear based on what you shared Mari. If something does pop up on your credit, or a debt collector suggest they will sue you (when they cannot), or otherwise threatens to do much of anything, post an update and lets go from there.
Did you get the name of the collection agency?
Good morning Michael
I’ve read a lot of these post here and here’s my situation in Florida.
I applied for credit and was denied due a judgment that was filed against me back in 2009. The problem with these judgment is that I wasn’t served and apparently and off duty sheriff served the summon at a old residency. I went town clerk to get copies of the filed judgement and all she gave me was the judgement document?? Should there be some type of backup proof? Also, I walked over to the sheiff department to get a copy of signed service and the sheriff ask me why I waited to long to follow up on this judgment?? I didn’t get anything with a signed signature. Now, my question, Can this judgement be vacate? Sewer Service? Look forward to your reply? Also, this judgement CaptialOne.
Thank you
It is possible to vacate the judgment, but it is a nuanced process. You should connect with an experienced debt defense attorney in your state about getting help with this, or even to learn how much of a possibility this will be, given any established state court case law.
Post the name of a nearby larger city and I will get some contact info to you for attorneys who have the experience you need. You can usually consult initially at no cost, so worth the effort.
Hi Michael
I apologize in not mentioning the City. Port Saint Lucie, Florida
Thank you for your time
Thanks Eve. I sent you an email with a couple of attorneys you can speak with in Ft Lauderdale (closest I could find with debt defense experience.
I have credit card opened in 12/06 and closed due to non-payment in 06/09 by BOA. Although is was closed I was enticed by their rep to pay montlhy as they claimed it will help my credit. I guess I should have left it alone as older credit has less affect on the score.
My question is when is the 7 year mark for me. I was told that it is 7 years from the date is was first reported as delinquent but I don’t see that date of first delinquencies that led to the closure of the account.
{edit – link removed}
Please advise!
*account # blacked out for security reasons
Jay – How many months of payments did you miss to BofA before agreeing to the repayment plan? Is it full paid off now?
Good question but I am not sure how many months of payments were missed before agreeing to make repayments. I wish I had old paperwork to look it up! All I have is this from my report.
I have not it paid off because I heard it’s best to leave it alone. There is still 1,240 balance on this closed account and it now appears they just sold it to a collection agency but that has not showed up on my credit yet.
It looks like you were reported 90 days late in March of 2014. It that is correct, your account could have charged off last month. You are looking at 7 years for that charge off to roll off of your credit report.
If the balance is still showing up on your credit reports as owed to BofA, they likely did not sell the account. And the debt collector they assign the account to may never appear on your credit.
Are you able to come up with roughly 40% to settle this (give or take)? How long will it take to pull together that amount of money? Have you heard from the debt collector for BofA?
Yikes! 7 years from March 2014. I was hoping it was charged off when they closed the account due to non payment in 2009.
I have received letters from an collection agency called Northstar Location Services saying they are representatives for FIA Card Services.
Yes! I am able to pay 40% or even the FULL balance of 1,240 if needed to remove from my credit! This ding is really hurting my credit so I’m willing to do what ever it takes.
I want to be sure I understand your comments correctly, my impression of things:
You could not make payments years back, so stopped briefly. Your account was set up on an internal repayment plan direct with BofA within a couple months of your missing payments, and you paid those on time every month for years. Your credit report showed that Bank of America closed the account at consumers request back then, but did not show that they charged off the account. Now, after having missed payments again, you are looking to settle or pay the debt, and want the credit reporting removed in return for the payment. Northstar Location Services is collecting for FIA card services, but not showing on your credit reports.
Please correct anything I have wrong, and then I can respond more fully.
Also, what month/year was it that you stopped making those monthly payments you agreed to?
Hello,
Thanks in advance for your time and feedback on this. I reside in California, I was able to save certain amount of money recently and I’m looking to settle old credit card debt from late 2008. I have my credit report from the 3 different agencies, one particular account shows, the original account was reported 6/2010 charge off /sold (last payment 9/2008, major delinquency 4/2009) Estimated to be removed 9/2015. The collection agency shows opended 6/2010 (have never talked to them) and has been reporting ever since, I recently received a settlement offer (85% off!?) $1700.08 if paid by 7/30/14, I don’t know where to go from here, please advise. I was planning to call or write them a letter and hoping they take, $1000.00 as full payment, can this be done?? will this restart SOL.
Who is the collection agency?
Assett Acceptance, LLC
You would not restart the SOL if you took advantage of a single payment settlement with Asset Acceptance. Calling to shave a bit more off the settlement on a deal that is already 15% of the balance is possible. The reason they are offering something this low is likely because you are passed the 4 year SOL in California to sue. But you are within the 7 years SOL for Asset Acceptance to still show on your credit report.
What are some of the other collections on your credit reports besides this one? Are any newer than the one with Asset? If so, when were the payments on those missed, and what are the balances owed? With this information, you can prioritize the money you have to settle accounts and get the newest collections updates to show paid/settled, and zero balance owed on the credit reports.
Thanks so much for your reply. Other 3 accounts are also from late 2008, last payment 11/2008. These all sold to Midland Credit Mgmt and when I add up the balance on these, they show $6,900 total (original debt was approx $2,000). I have not received any settlement offers from Midland recently. Am I better off trying to settle this debt? calling them and offering the $1,000 for all 3 accounts?
It depends… if you want to settle all of them than you should try to get as a good a deal as possible. But 15% and lower on all accounts could be stretching what is realistic.
Midland Funding bought Asset Acceptance last year, so you are essentially dealing with the same company on all of these.
If you cannot get the deals done for an amount you can afford, or can live with, and are not pressed for time, you can call the next month and see if they are willing to loosen up a bit.
Thanks for the info.
I will call them. I do want to settle all 4 accounts. Now, can I deal with just Midland or Assett on all 4 accounts (since they are the same)… or deal separately with the two? sorry.
Call and ask what is possible. Even if you cannot actually get your 3 Midland Credit accounts managed through Asset Acceptance, or the one with them through Midland, do the math and negotiate openly with each company so that they know you only have so much money, and it has to knock down all accounts.
Hello again,
Thanks again for your feedback on this. I really appreciate it.
A follow up to the tread above, I finally contacted Asset to try to settle the one account, I offered $1200.00, at first the account manager that took my call was courteous, telling me it might not be possible and that he would see what he could do. But, when I mentioned I had the amount in CASH and that if we settled I would have to mail them a cashiers check (I read this is what I should do and also ask that they follow up in writing first), he started raising his voice and was just plain rude. I was really upset and just ended the call. Now, I will contact them again (hopefully a different rep), question, is it OK to settle just over the phone and pay say with my checking card? or direct deposit? or should they agree to mail me something in writing and me mailing a cashiers check?
I would not send any payment without the agreement and terms you negotiated in writing first. Read through this article and the comments before you proceed with anything: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/debt-settlement-letters-agreements/
Once you read through that article about written agreements, you can determine how best to pay in away you are comfortable. I prefer people follow the method for payment I outline here: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/paying-your-credit-card-debt-settlements/
Hi Michael, I have a couple questions for you. My fiance had a vehicle go back to the bank in 2007, we live in Michigan, is 7 years how long it takes to drop off your credit? Its been 7 years and I had no idea about things dropping off your credit after 7 years , last year we tried getting pre approved for a house and he couldn’t because of that… if that drops off could we be approved now?
My next question, I have zero credit and I’m trying to build is so maybe then I can get approved for a house, what is the fastest and safest way to build your credit!?
It can take as long as 7.5 years for collections to drop off your credit. Do you know the exact month the car was repossessed? When is the most recent credit report of his you looked at?
When it comes to building credit from scratch, I would start with one or two credit cards, use them sparingly, paying them off or on time every month, and for 6 months to a year, then look to establish an fixed/non revolving loan.
Are you working full time? Do you have some savings? Have dependable transportation?
Hi again and thanks for responding! As far as my Verizon account and how long ago… gosh, I am not sure, I am thinking at least 7 or 8 years ago and I have not made any payments since then, I had no idea I even had a balance with Verizon or this Convergent company. My credit is in the high 6’s and I am planning on buying a house someday. I was advised to get a credit card through my Credit Union and of course pay it off monthly, but now this little thing showed up & I have now idea what to do!
I have been watching my credit score over the last couple of months and saw one collection account that was removed from my report but my credit score went down 30 points. Why didn’t my score go up?
There are a host of factors that figure into your credit score. One or more things triggered the drop to your credit score. The collection account dropping off may have had nothing to do with it.
If you want to get live feedback that will help you understand your credit report and score better, talk to a credit counselor. Some have credit report consumer education initiatives where you can call and spend some dedicated one on one time looking over your credit report, and at no cost. Call 800-939-8357, and press option 1 and let them know you are calling to discuss your credit reports as part of that program.
My boyfriends Mom opened 2 bills in his name (a phone bill and a cable bill) back in like 2009 without his knowledge. We just ran his credit and found those on there because we are looking to get a house. His mom admitted to it, but is not going to pay them off. We want to rid his credit of these collection charges so he will get approved, but the 7 years is not for another 2. He called the companies that the bills originated from and they said he needs to file a police report. He doesn’t want his mom to get in trouble/arrested, but why should his credit be damaged because of her. What ways can this be fixed? Could he be denied because of these collection charges?
Yes, he could be denied a home loan as a result of the unpaid collection accounts showing on his credit reports.
They want the police report because that is their policy for responding to identity theft claims that result in collections and other negative stuff showing on credit reports.
How much is owed on the collection debts according to his credit reports? If he does not want to rock the boat with mom, he may have to settle these debts (pay less than what is owed), to increase the ability to get a mortgage loan approved. Here is more info about settling with debt collectors: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/settling-charged-off-credit-card-debts-with-collection-company/
Are there debt collectors showing on the credit reports, as well as the original service providers, and if so, who?
Hi, I just received an out of the blue bill from Convergent saying I owed a past due amount to Verizon, offering a payoff of 50% if paid within a certain time frame. I am clueless about this, where did these people come from? This does not show on my credit report, I had no idea I owed anyone any money or I would have taken care of it. First question, should I contact Verizion or should I contact this Convergent company and pay this? Second question is IF I do pay this bill will they report it to credit companies? Like I said, nothing regarding this shows on my credit report now and the last thing I want is for them to report it after I pay and tarnish my credit! I am baffled here. Please help. I want to pay if I owe this, however do not want to blacken my credit at the same time and am not familiar with the policies. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much.
How long ago did you have your Verizon account? When did you last make a payment on it?
It would help to know the answers to those questions in order to offer feedback about any Convergent credit reporting.
Michael Thank you for your advice, but what about if I don’t have money to hire a lawyer?
I remember I received a court papers but I take them to a person who is responsible for reviewing the credit, I received the papers on friday. I brought it to her on tuesday she said the time already pass, they give me the paper two weeks after the day I can answer.
Now I have 10 day to respond this one, What should I do?
Local legal aid offices will often help with debt collection issues if you qualify for help.
I am not sure who you are dealing with that is responsible for reviewing your credit. But it sounds like they told you it was to late to respond to the original notice of the lawsuit because you ran out of time, and that may not have been the case. The time you have to initially respond to a lawsuit typically begins the day you are served, not the day the lawsuit got filed in the court. Otherwise process servers working for debt collection attorneys would just wait until the day before the response deadline to serve everyone.
I think you should at least talk to an experienced debt collection defense attorney about your options. Most offer an initial consult at no cost. This way you can assess what you can/cannot afford, and get some basic questions answered.
Do you recognize the debt they are collecting on?
I received a letter from Court, “Application for entry of default” from a collection agency Midland Funding LLC, they said a have 10 day to answer or file a responsive pleading with the court of the file application, default will be effective and default judgment will be enter against me.
What is this? What can I do? I need your advice please, thank you.
I live in Arizona.
Laura – Did you know you were being sued before receiving this? Can you offer a bit more back story?
Because you are being sued, you really should be speaking with an attorney of your own, and one with debt collection defense experience in Arizona.
P.S. the original account is from a bankruptcy in 2002 that has been removed from my credit report.
I have a 12 yr. old charge-off account that is showing on my credit report from the original account, and then was sold and resold 2 more times to collection agencies. All four appear on my credit report, and each time the debt balance goes way up from $212 original charge-off to over $2900 now. The last collection agency refused to settle anywhere near the original debt. I checked and the last 3 agencies are actually under the same corporate umbrella, and the agent told me as long as they keep selling the debt in house they can keep the account / reporting going. Is this true?
No. Not true at all. Who was the original creditor,and who are the other collection companies appearing on your credit reports. What state are you in?
Post your answers, as it will affect the feedback I have to offer, and lets go from there.
Hi,
I would like to know if is it true that many or all credit card for stores have some kind of insurance that cover up them when someone no pay and they put your account on delinquency. That insurance cover an amount of the debt and the other part they recover it for selling your account to a collection agency. That’s why the lawyers that works recovering your credit recommend not pay the amount the collection agency is trying to get from you and they resolve the problem sending some kind of letter that the collector never answer and by law that’s make that your credit reports change.
Is that true?
Sounds pretty hokey to me Melissa. If you cannot pay your debts, and are not optimistic of any plan that can help you clear unpaid bills in the span of about 36 months (though sometimes shorter or longer), than chapter 7 bankruptcy can be a better option than doing nothing, or opting for some administrative process that hits on banks cant loan money, creditors have no losses when you do not pay, and other alternative debt relief theories, like their insurance makes them whole.
What is it you have going on that makes it difficult to pay your bills?
I paid for an Experian membership for credit monitoring and found 2 collection accounts on my report. I was not aware that I owed medical bills because at the time I was eligible for free care and I moved and changed my address after the appointments. Still seeing the accounts, I called to pay them in full because I didn’t like that I had debt. Upon calling the worker named an additional bill for $200 more ( a bill that wasn’t on ANY of my 3 reports!) .. I paid all three (debts) in full but now I’m wondering if that was a mistake. This other 200 some odd debt supposedly happened in 2008. Now I’m wondering if I made a mistake paying for that. Can a debt collection agency scam you? Is it possible or should I just be thanking my lucky stars that that debt wasn’t on my reports?
Debt collection companies can be scams, but the information you shared does not lead me to think you were scammed by one. They brought up a bill in their system, but you do not recognize it. You could have paid the other two and asked for additional details about the third and taken care of researching the legitimacy of it on your own time, since it was not appearing on your credit reports, or actively being collected on.
You still could look into the matter.
When reviewing our credit report, we noticed a new collection activity. There were 3 collection accounts from the same collection agency all listing the same original creditor. The credit report list 3 different “Date opened” dates and 3 different “Current balances’. We contacted the original creditor since we had never had service with the listed original creditor. Turns out the Century Link bought Qwest and they claim that our debt is from Qwest. Century Link sold the debt to Credit Management Company. Century Link claims that the debt was all from one address (we lived in this house for 10 months) and that there were actually 4 accounts in our name linked to this address, but only 3 had been sold to the collection agency. We lived in this home from August 2007 – June 2008. The collection agency have “Dates opened” as 9/24/2013, 10/03/2013 and 3/10/2014. Those dates obviously have nothing to do with the last payment on the accounts or when the accounts became delinquent. My fear is that since the credit report does not accurately show delinquency, that the 7 to 7.5 year will be based on the listed “Date opened” date. We live in AZ and the SOL is 6 years, I believe. Can the collection agency legally be reporting this as new? I apologize for the multiple issues in this one question, but would appreciate any answers and advice. Thank you!
How the items appear on the credit report – as if they are newer – may not be the dates set to age off of your credit reports. But before hitting that, do you agree that the multiple accounts are yours, or did you just have the one account?
I’m sorry, Is that really the answer to the SPECIFIC QUESTION I asked? I don’t mean to be rude here but I am not some RUBE that just fell off the Bad Credit Bus. I know EXACTLY how to look up the SOL for collections in ALL 50 states & have done so. I also have read some conflicting court case’s where some DUMB ASS JUDGE didn’t rule as he should have in a particular state. But how can you fight STUPID. MY question is/was “Shouldn’t I (or should I say “SHOULD I”) expect my CREDIT SCORE number to jump UP (IMMEDIATELY) as of the date ALL THREE of the BAD REPORTING S DROP OFF??????????????????????? DO the ALGORITHMS used by the Credit Agency’s when you call in for a CURRENT CREDIT REPORT use the CURRENT EXISTING DATA that is in your REPORT, OR do they keep some kind of SECRET backlog file of the fact that you just recently had THREE BAD DEBTS fall off and use that information to keep your SCORE NUMBER from being as high as it should with what should look to the computer like a person with GREAT CREDIT HISTORY since all those BAD things are NO LONGER SHOWING UP ??????? I think I am asking a very Perice, clear and detailed question here. I think I got a “boiler plate” answer that missed the whole point. Do you care to try again to address my specific question? If you don’t know the answer , JUST SAY SO! There’s no shame in admitting that the Credit Reporting agency’s are keeping all this information a big secret. It might be criminal of them that they do this considering how important it is for people to repair or maintain their rating numbers. But that’s a whole other story!
No, I would not care to take another swing at the answer. It is what it is. You don’t like the answer, I get it. I cannot offer a precise one. In all your reading of all 50 states this and that, and perhaps all of the folks you have asked your question to, you have not gotten a definitive answer because… it depends, like I said prior.
No I cannot answer your specific credit algo questions, and the folks that can are not going to.
Dusty – If you want to rail against the credit reporting system, do it on another site, or start your own.
Very well said Michael. Love seeing your answers to the questions.
QUESTION…. I have THREE credit cards that I let go delinquent just about 7 years ago. I understand I should add about 180 days (6 months) to that for the “TIME CLOCK” for when they should drop of my CREDIT REPORT. I have done NOTHING and contacted NO ONE (Collection agencies or CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES ) in that time. (Naturally the debts have been bought & sold through a number of collectors, but NONE have successfully GUILT ED me into attempting to make a “payment schedule” .Neither has any of them successfully served me to bring the matter before a Court to get a JUDGEMENT. (The individual amounts probably just are not worth the expense it would cost them to do so). MY QUESTION IS….
When these “Bad Debts” drop off from my Credit Reports as REQUIRED by FEDERAL LAW, If all the other items on my report are “IN GOOD STANDING”, Should there not be an immediate substantial upwards jump in my CREDIT SCORE when I finally call in and order my reports from the three big agency’s ? (Assuming I do not have errors that need to be disputed such as the possibility that some collector (vulture) has tried to report a later date for the item or it’s being reported as a second separate item with a later 7.5 year start date). I am well aware of the 50 states SOL for collections and the fact that there is STILL controversy in some states about what the time limit should be or what state should be considered as the “home” state for the time rules on TIME LIMITS for collections. I am more concerned with rebuilding OR knowing if my SCORE numbers will significantly increase the MOMENT the bad debts drop off from reporting. Maybe some insight into how the “ALGORITHMS” that are apparently kept as a big secret from the consumers would help people understand how to work on their credit problems, Instead of the type of answers the people that CLAIM to be trying to help you at these so called CREDIT HELP SERVICES give like….. “If you give us all your information we can work out a lower % rate with the collectors and save you money”. Why don’t they just tell them that by contacting them and then the collectors through them they have just RESTARTED the time clock for the 7.5 years and now the collector knows EXACTLY every detail about how to SERVE you to get you into COURT and get a judgement against you! I think anyone that has read a little bit on line knows most of this but the question stands about how the DROP OFF from the BIG THREE will effect my SCORE NUMBER and Will it be IMMEDIATE if all else on my report seems to be of good standing????? Thank You
Everyone’s credit rating, and contents on their reports are different, so it is hard to say. I can tell you that my experiences are that folks who have on time mortgage, student loan, and car payments kept up all the while negative collection account(s) appeared, until they aged off, fair better credit scoring wise, than those whose credit reports are dominated by accounts that went into collection. Someone who was able to keep other unsecured accounts positive and still open will often do better when other credit card collections fall off.
Finding out for certain the SOL to sue in order to collect from you has expired should not be difficult.
I am in the process of cleaning up my credit to purchase a home. On my credit report it says “Item to be removed July 2014” does that mean July 1st or end of July?
Safest to assume by end of month.
Should I not call the credit bureau? The lender is running my credit next week but I wanted to be sure that it would be off before they ran it.
If I had the lead time of a few days like you do, and I were concerned about the day of removal, I would pull the reports myself and verify removal of the negative item. I would probably pay for the credit reports rather than using a free service. But if you have not used your 1 per 12 month period free reports federal law requires the large credit bureaus provide, you can pull those at http://www.annualcreditreport.com
I have a credit card debt from Bank of America for $700. California SOL is past. Now I am receiving a collection letter (Cavalry Portfolio Services) that also shows up on my credit report. Their letter states they will not sue me because of the age of the debt but they will continue to report to credit bureaus. They are offering $491 to settle. Should I take their offer?
As long as bank of America is showing a zero balance owed, while Cavalry shows the balance owed to them, that is normal. If they are both showing a balance owed to them on your credit reports, that is a problem.
Cavalry Portfolio blinked first with the offer to settle for less they mailed you. You could call and offer a lower amount, say 1 to 2 hundred less, and see if they bite. If they cannot sue you to collect, than the leverage they are left with is the fact that they can continue to show as an unpaid collection on your credit reports.
If you have financing and credit goals that would mean getting this balance to show resolved and zero owed, try to get this settled, even taking them up on the unsolicited offer. But don’t expect Cavalry to delete what they are reporting. You should expect them to report accurately about there no longer being a balance owed.
I understand that items can be taken off the credit report after 7 years. I have a credit card ( opened as college student ) that is 8 years old from first delinquency and sold to a collection agency and was never paid off. Do items still come off after 7 years, even if there is money still owed to the agency?
Yes, in general collection accounts should still come off after the legal limit to report on your credit has passed, and even though there is still money legitimately owed on the debt.
You can dispute old debts, that are not taken off of your credit when they should be, with the credit bureaus themselves, and the creditors and debt collectors that are furnishing bad information to the reporting agencies.
Hi, I had a medical collection from sometime in 2008 in California, that was “purchased” by a law office ( in California) and now the last reported date is October of 2013. I have lived in Oregon since 2009 and was never sent any type of notice or bill until recently. My questions are could I have been sued without knowing, being out of state, and is the new date of reporting legitimate?
I want to be sure I am understanding your comment correctly… you had a medical collections show on your credit report, and later, that same account is appearing from a different debt collector. Does the original collection entry show a zero balance owed, or are there two collections showing for the same account, and both say you owe their respective companies? Is there a judgment showing in the public records section of your credit reports, or are we discussing general collection accounts appearing? What is the name of the debt collector last reporting in 2013? Is that the only collector ever reporting for this account?
Hi I have a question in regards to a private student loan from University of Phoenix in the amount of $4800 which have been charged off and transferred to CA by the name of optio solutions. I have not received any notice for collection. This happened in 2007 and was never paid on from that point according to my CR it says its scheduled to fall off Sept 2014 so my question is am I still within the SOL to be sued? Secondly if applying for a mortgage loan after the date for the collection to fall off will they still see it as a collection? Should I contact them to make arrangements before Sept.?
What state are you in?
Were you ever sued for this debt?
Its in California
No I was never sued.
I would not expect this to hold up financing after the date the credit bureau states it will be deleted. Are the dates similar across all 3 major credit reporting agencies? Home lenders often use a tri merge report for underwriting, so I would verify something is not on all of them.
My husband was pre-appoved for a mortgage back in Arpil of 2014 and since then we have been look for a home. Well long story short we found a home that we loved and sent all the info to the lender before we asked to view it. Our lender told us that everything looks good and if we like it then we should put an offer on it, so we did. We put any offer on it May 26, 2014 and our realitor gave us a closing date of June 30th. Well all we’ve been hearing from the lender is everything looks good that’s all everybody envolved has been hearing. We are days from closing and after not talking to our lender for 2 weeks he calls and tell my husband that his credit score dropped. About 3 weeks pryor he calls my husband on the phone tells him that there are some things that he would like him to pay off on his credit. My husband paid them immediately and tried to get letters stating that they have been paid. Now the same things that were on his report when he was pre approved and when everything was great are still there except for the 4 things that he was asked to pay off. How did his credit score drop if nothing was added to it but things were paid off of it?
Old negative items, like accounts sent to collections, get stale after a year and two. There is a certain amount of freshness that can get calculated into some credit scoring models when these collection accounts get updated as paid, or settled recently.
Not all scoring models will do this. One of the newer Vantage credit c=scoring models gives no weight to paid collections, and there is a FICO scoring model that does not factor paid collections on really small balances.
Did the lender tell you the loan cannot go through now, or that your interest rate has changed?
Hello,
I have a few questions pertaining to my credit report (Ive made a few stupid decisions when I was 18 😐 )
1) I have a public record from when I signed an apartment from dec.2008. Ive never paid it and it just says “Disposition unknown” in the comments. Does that mean that at the end of the year, it will be purged from my bureau?
2)Theres also 1 collections item that has 3 dates:
Date Assigned: 2011-03
Date of Last Payment: 2008-08
Date Paid: 2011-10
I know it takes 6 yrs to be purged, but from which date? The date I paid the collection, the date the collection agency received it OR the date the account in question was last paid?
Lastly ( dont judge me!), I have 2 items on my tradeline that were past due for 180+ days but never went to collections. I paid them both off in 2011. They look like this on my CB:
Date Opened: 2008-04
Date of Last Activity: 2008-09
Status: Bad debt, collection account or unable to locate
Date Reported: 2011-10
Comments: Account Closed,Account paid
Again, which date will they be purged from my Credit Report? Any guidance would be much appreciate.
1. It likely means it is not known whether the judgment has been paid, settled, etc. You can find out what the record shows for yourself through the court.
2. What state do you live in? When did you pay the collection account, was it Nov of 2011?
Negative trade line reporting that you are referring to can stay on for 7 to 7.5 years. There are some exceptions, like in New York, where paid collections stay on for less time, but unpaid debts go the 7ish year distance.
Thanks for your prompt reply!
I paid the collections item off in Oct of 2011….
Are public records also removed after the 7yr mark?
Not all public records are, but judgments for unsecured debts like credit cards will typically fall off your credit report after 7 years.
I’m having an issue getting two repossessions removed from my credit bureau specifically Experian. Trans Union and Equifax have both dropped off at the 7ish year mark, but Experian still show up and the reason it does is because the bank reported it being charged off on November 2012. I have documentation from the bank showing that they charged one off in May and the other June of 2006. I have sent this to Experian and they are telling me that the information is correct. What else can I do? Thank you in advance.
Also I have contacted CFPB but that got me no where it just shows the investigation is complete.
What is the name of a nearby larger city? I will send you contact info to any experienced fair credit reporting attorneys I can find. You should consult with one. Most will offer a no cost initial consult to review your situation and learn if their is anything actionable to pursue.
Who is the creditor or debt collector?
Springfield, MO is the closest big town to me.
The creditor is Community Wide Financial Credit Union in South Bend, IN
The closest with experience I found were in Kansas City and Columbia. Distance does not have to be an issue with situations like this, and the experience is what you need. If distance is an issue for some reason, ask for a referral to someone nearer you.
There are a number of items (10 total) that are scheduled to be removed from my credit report over the next couple months what can I do if they are not removed what is my recourse?
Have you calculated the removal dates yourself, or are you relying on dates the credit reports are stating that each item is set to be removed?
In general, when an item is too old to stay on your reports, but is still there, you send a written dispute. You can use online portals offered by each agency, but if they fail to do the right thing, and they do sometimes, you will want a paper trial. Which is another reason you use certified mail return receipt requested when writing to the credit bureaus.
Your dispute is simple enough; the item is too old to remain on your credit report. Be sure to include all of your info so that you can be identified clearly. It is best to include a copy of the agency credit report that you are disputing, with a highlighter pen covering the entry at issue.
Give the agency 30 days to respond to your dispute. If something that should be taken off your reports does not get removed, post an update and lets go from there.
Hi Michael,
So here goes. I have 3 debts from the same collections agency LVNV LLC. All from different Original Debtors. All 3 are already pass SOL and even 1 of them has already fallen off the credit reports(not sure when) after 7.5yrs. Currently I am in the process of purchasing a new home and the with the current credit report only 2 remains from LVNV LLC. So I opted to pay them off per request and condition of the loan. I managed to settled both accounts that was on the credit report and paid them off.
Question now is I wasn’t even aware of the 3rd one until I had called to LVNV LLC to arrange settlements for the other 2. They mentioned it on the phone to me as I was making arrangements for the other 2. But I told them I am not even sure if the 3rd was legit or even remember which the Original Debtor is. And Honestly I don’t. So I told them to handle the 2 for now and I’ll deal with the 3rd later when I get more information. Just today I received a letter from them stating I have 30 days to dispute the validity of this debt or the will ASSUME this debt is valid. Can they do that, Assume it’s a valid Debt? I want to dispute it, but how will that impact my credit, will it start the SOL all over? I will be typing up a dispute letter for the validity of the debt. What should I include in the letter. should i just say I am not responsible for the debt and what information should i request from them? And when they send back information about the Debt how should I handle the information Provided.
Much Appreciated
David
LVNV cannot put the account back on your credit report if the time for them to legitimately report has passed, and it sounds like it has. Your sending them a dispute letter, or even a cease communication letter (which I might do if it were me, but I do not know enough about your situation, and would wait to close on any loan just in case), whould not result in any additional credit reporting on the debt collectors part.
The 2 accounts that LVNV showed up for on your credit reports do not get to stay on longer now that they are settled/paid.
If you are serious about asking them for more details about the debt, you can send a simple validation request asking for who the original creditor was, how much is owed, etc. Send any letter certified mail return receipt requested. And keep a copy of all communications organized and in a file. You may need to refer back to details later on if mistakes in reporting do occur, or the debt gets passed along to other collectors.
After some research on the debt. The 3rd account was a charged off visa card from a failed business I had to close in 2007.
Since it has already fallen off my credit report and past the SOL. Would it just be better to send a cease of communications letter to the collector? Since currently I am in process of purchasing a new home. I would not want it to impact my borrowing ability at this time. And will this restart the SOL over, if I decide to ignore the letter? And if they decide to file a judgement, will that impact or go after the house I am purchasing?
Generally speaking, because the account is no longer showing on your credit, and the SOL to legitimately sue you to collect has passed, sending a cease communication letter would not impact you in any way, other than to stop the calls and collection notices from this collector. But you should talk with an attorney in your state that is familiar with debt collection and credit reporting from the consumer perspective. There are not many consumer law attorneys out there, so if you would like a referral, post the name of a nearby larger city and I will email contact details I find.
They cannot file a judgment with out suing you first, and if the SOL to do that has passed, you should not have to worry about this. If something did occur, it would be simple to resolve.
If I were you, and based on the details I have to go on, unless I wanted to pay or settle this debt for purely personal reasons, I would send a cease communication letter.
Okay so 2009 is when I got into that accident and in November is when I didn’t make a payment at all because I couldn’t drive the car so it started around December. I’m trying to rebuild my credit now I figured if I pay off all my credit cards and maybe do a secured loan through my bank and as long as im on time I should be okay.
What are your credit goals for the next 2 to 3 years?
Well right now I’m paying off all my credit cards leaving a 0 balance then I’m going to start paying off the small things that are in collections once I get my EMT job next year I’ll be making more money so then I can really save more, payoff the repo but also put more into my 401k
I have a repossession on my credit that’s through the finance company I had the loan through I’m trying to figure out when will it drop. The account was opened for the loan in 7/08 the car was repossessed in 12/09 because I didn’t have full coverage on the car and got into an accident so I gave up the car I think in 2/10 it was charged off but when you look at the account on my credit report it does say repo but it still gives the date it was originally opened which was 7/08 so my question is when will it drop.
In general it is 7.5 years from the date you first missed a payment, so after you bought it, but before they repossessed the car and auctioned it off.
Can you please tell me what the SOL on credit card debt is in Nevada? I have heard both 4 and 6 years. I have a number of defaulted credit card accounts that I last paid on in early to mid 2009. Only one of the many has sued me and obtained a judgment. I would like to start working on cleaning up my credit, but I don’t want to wake any of these creditors up since they don’t really bother me by phone or mail at all. If the SOL is 4 years then I am ok, but if it’s 6 and I start disputing things more of them could potentially sue me. What is the final word on the SOL? I suppose I could just be patient and let them all age off in another couple of years, but I would really like to try to buy a car and retire my old rattletrap. Thanks for any input you can give me.
What I looked up shows SOL of 4 years for credit cards, and 6 years for loans tied to written agreements. When there is confusion on an issue like this, it is sometimes related to how the SOL has been argued in your state courts. Your best resource would be to talk to an experienced debt collection defense attorney in Nevada. I can email you contact info to some if you like?
How many collection accounts do you have?
I have a $5000 and a $1000 medical collection from a hospital and ER services. I had medical insurance at the time. I thought all along they were sending claims to the new Insurance company but they never went back to review my new information from medical records. It shows that they have it, they processed the claim, but because of untimely filing the insurance company didn’t want to pay for it. I remember giving them my insurance card for the third time while in labor pain. 2 months after having my son I moved to a different apartment and the new mail was lost and we didn’t receive some of the mail that had the old address for a while so I missed on some statements/medical bills. 4 months after my son they sent it to collections, I called them we spoke and they said they would send again to my insurance company but they were sending it to my old insurance. I called back again hoping that it was taken care of, I’ve spend much every year speaking to them about them same thing over and over again talking to different people. I found out in 2012 and the insurance company denied bc of untimely filing. So again ,they never called to let me know that. SO this time around they tell me that bc they sent 3 statements that it is my responsibility now and I have to pay for it. I told them I would not because it was their negligence due to them not seeking my correct info from the hospitals facesheet. spoke to one of their members once and they mentioned they would tell their manager to review that this is a negligence from their part bc of the facesheet and that should’ve been taken care of. He even asked me to contact medical records and confirm I have the right ins. info. Even medical records said the same thing. I called the credit bureaus and they said to get a letter of proof that I gave them my ins information regardless of the year 2012. The bills are from Feb 2010. And they said they could remove them from my credit report. The medical company refuses to give me that information because they say they just dont do that. the credit bureau told me that they have to bc Its my account my information that it is illegal to keep it from me. I called the collections agency and they said they don’t have that information and they cannot provide it either. What other step would you recommend in order to get that information of proof that I gave them my insurance card.
File a debt collection and/or credit reporting complaint with the CFPB. Be as detailed with times, dates, and the names of companies involved. Start the complaint process here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
Please post an update with how you progress.
Hi Michael,
Who can I contact locally that can help me with credit issues like you do? I’m not looking for specific names but rather who do I even look for? A lawyer, a Credit Counselor, a banker, a mortgage lender? Who can legitimately help me out with advice such as yours, but who will go over every item on my credit report with me, and help me figure out which items need to be paid and which ones should be disputed or just waited out until they fall off my report?
Thank you immensely!
-Molly
Molly – I do not mean to sound egotistical here, but there are not a lot of me’s. Most people want to be paid, or have a chance at being paid (you are a prospect for say a home loan). And there just are not a lot of folks that understand the minutia of settling combined with near term credit goals, or that are not somehow regulated to a point of not being able to charge you for the type of help you appear to be asking for. Some options:
What city do you live in? I may be able to refer you to someone I know, or know of.
Are you looking to purchase a home, or refinance an existing mortgage? A savvy broker or loan officer (someone with a decade or more experience) who is going to be working on a loan would be a good fit here.
Are you willing to work with me off line to use your situation as a tutorial publicly on this site (not using your real name and the like of course)? You get me, no fee, and ultimately will be helping other people too (offer not available to anyone but Molly).
Hi Michael. Sorry for the late response; I somehow missed your reply and only saw it now as I read through your posts again. In response to your questions, I live in Vancouver, Washington. I am not trying to purchase a home anytime soon but would like my credit cleaned up for a future home purchase. And yes, I would be very willing to work with you off-line if you would be willing to do that. Thank you so much for your offer to help! :))
If you check the box to subscribe to comments before you submit one of your own to this site, an email will be sent to you every time someone comments on a page you comment to.
In between your first comment and today, I learned that some nonprofit credit counseling agencies have a program available where you can talk with a counselor about every aspect of your credit reports, how to understand them, and how you can make improvements, free. The call will not cost you anything. Call 800-939-8357, and press option 1 and ask if their counselors have this available.
Thank you for the info! If you think MMI is a reputable company, I will definitely give it a shot! I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again, Michael.
Hi Michael,
I live in Illinois, and I got carried away with getting credit cards when I was 18. I was paying them off for a while, until I lost my job while in college, and with the course loads getting more intense, getting a job to pay my bills was out of the question. I was very fortunate and didn’t need to take out student loans, so the only debt on my credit score currently are several defaulted credit cards, all of which should be off my credit report by 01/15. My credit score is currently dismal, like under 500, and I wanted to know what should I do to try to fix this mess. I’m moving out of state in a few months for graduate school, and I’d like to get my own apartment and not have to get subleases for the rest of my natural life for something that happened when I was a child. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
CRV – What state do you live in now, and what state are you moving to?
Do you have any accounts showing on your credit reports at all, other than the credit cards in collection?
I currently live in Illinois, and moving to New York.
I have one small school debt, under $1000, that should be off by 1/2015. The other debt is credit card debt, and that should also all be off by 1/2015.
Was the student loan in collections? Part of the issue is there are nearly only collections showing on your credit reports. You need to add positive credit, not just not have the negatives removed. If all you are looking for is getting cleared for an apartment, and no other financial products, no worries. Wait until January (sublease for short term until then if you have to), and those collections dropping from your credit will not hold you back. If you do intend to build credit, you can get started with a secured card, and add additional credit diversity in measured steps.
I really like the lay out, information, and functionality of the tools available with credit.com. Check that site for action steps, and even find the financial products you have the best shot at getting approved for that will help build your credit from the ground up.
Yes, it was in collections, and I’ve nearly finished paying them off.
As far as the credit cards, the limits were very small, like the highest was $500, but most of my debt is fees. So thanks for letting me know that waiting until January is my best step. And I’ll definitely check out credit.com for more information.
If I have other questions, I’ll come back in January or sooner.
Cheers!
Hi – thanks for this site.
I had a lot of old debts I racked up back in 2002 – then left the country for 12 years. I am now looking at coming back and all 3 of my credit reports show $0 balances. However Experion shows the history of one debt (10k) as transferred / purchased by another lender – but the status is set to ‘ok’ and $0 balance. Last payment in 2002. Am I all clear here? Or can I expect to be harassed by collection agents upon return? And will I be able to build credit with this new $o balance/ok status? Do lenders see the ‘transferred’ status – or do they just see a clear $0 credit report, like a fresh start? There don’t seem to be any negative comments. Thanks so much for your help.
You may get collection calls and letters if any of the debt collectors that have your accounts set alerts, or periodic reviews of your credit reports. You can manage those if and when they occur.
From what you shared, your credit reports are cleared up. Lenders will view you favorably… so to speak. It sounds like you have no recent credit history at all, so you need to build that up.
Last question, I think ;/
My ECMC account for student loan is not my orginal collector. It was LVNV,LLC which the government bought my debt then turned and contracted it to ECMC. My orginial diliquency has been since 2004. It shows it will be removed 06/2016. What can I do with this situation? I can’t pay it is still too much. I have not talked to them ever, ECMC. They show that it was reported, filed 2009. Sorry for all the questions, but I do appreciate your advice greatly!
This is one that you mentioned there being a judgment for?
No judgement. This ECMC has been around since 2009 and says it will be removed 06/2015. How likely is this? It is a private loan.
In my attempt to self-help, I disputed two collection agency amounts on my Experian Credit Report that had small amounts on charged off credit cards. Both accounts had been paid in full through wage garnishments in 2010 and 2011. I was hoping that if they could not verify that they would be deleted. Not so much. One actually reaged it by reporting it with a new amount.
I’m confused on how they can get a default judgement, garnish my paycheck, and then continue to try to collect and damage my credit even further.
I received a email notification today from Experian where they both came back verified as either updated or remained unchanged.
No. 1. This account was paid in full through a wage garnishment in 2011 for $2241.43. Why are they saying that I owe an additional $100, now $101.
UPDATED WITH NEW AMOUNT
Account Name LVNV FUNDING LLC (Mary Jane M Elliott P.C.)
Account # 4XXXXXXX
Account Type Debt Purchase
Balance $101.00 (Was $100, but after dispute they changed the amount to 101.00) – the effect as if new collection.
Date Opened 11/1/2008
Account Status Closed
Mo. Payment
Past Due $101.00
Payment Status Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor’s internal collection department
High Balance
Limit
Terms 1 Month
Comments Account in dispute-reported by subscriber
No. 2. This account was paid/satisfied in full through a wage garnishment in 2010 through a different agency Weber & Olcese, P.L.C. Have a copy of the Certificate of Satisfied Judgment from the firm. How can National Credit Adjust be charging me. For what?
REMAINED UNCHANGED
Account Name NATIONAL CREDIT ADJUST
Account # 54XXXXXXXX
Account Type Debt Purchase
Balance $99.00
Date Opened 12/1/2009
Account Status Closed
Mo. Payment
Past Due $99.00
Payment Status Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor’s internal collection department
High Balance
Limit
Terms 1 Month
Comments
Loise – I would encourage you to file detailed complaints with the CFPB. They could be credit reporting complaints, or debt collection complaints. Here is the page to start that process: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
Be thorough with your complaint as possible. Post an update with the results when you know them (can take a few weeks), and lets go from there.
Credit card 6 Unifund CCR Partners v. [edit] (Oregon Court of Appeals Docket [edit]) and Unifund CCR Partners v. [edit] (Docket [edit])
Spoken contract 6 ORS 12.010
Written contract 6* ORS 12.080
Mortgage contract 6**
Promissory note 6 ORS 12.080
Judgment 10 ORS 12.070 and 18.150 to 18.162, and ORS 18.180
* 10 years for “sealed instrument” (ORS 12.070)
** Presumed.
How much does this one with Unifund show as owing?
This (sorry) was just a copy and paste of Oregon’s SOL. Those are not anything owed statement. I was tired when I was posting these yesterday.
Correction most of bad debt is from 1999 or 1998 and are paid debt or should be closed I thought?
The Bonniville above here is not true on their Date Filed. They have done this before. I had it corrected and now they are doing it again. This account should of been removed. It was first diliquent in 2005.
Sorry for all the posts, but I am so stressed and need advice as soon as you can.
Date Filed : 7/16/2009 ECMC Expires 6/2016 private loan Same as above too, private loan
Also, this one too, account repeats same acct # four times and same info date and everything, but with different amounts.
What can I do on this account? There is no way I can ever pay this back?
Date Filed: 02/12/1998 AES/SunTrust Bank “Student Loan Perm Assign Govert; Claim filed with Government.Expire 06/2015
Also, this account repeats same acct # four times and same info date and everything, but with different amounts.
Forgot to mention my two collection judgments are school loans. One was from 2008. Other was small so I paid in full and was opened in 9/ 2012. Removed 7/2019
I have four school loans that have the same acct number with different amounts of money showing. Is this right? Also these were opened in 7/2009. And is suppose to be removed 6/2016.
I’m trying not to be excited about finally getting a fresh start. Hoping my credit score will go up after these are off my reports. And I can finally have a fresh start. My score is 599 and I have one secure credit card paying on time. Just opened. Don’t want anymore!
File a credit reporting complaint with as much detail and chronology as you can with the CFPB. Complaint page is here. If the account you first posted about above persists, post an update after the CFPB investigation results.
You should try to come up with a plan to deal with the remaining judgment. The balance is likely growing from interest set by the court, and often gives the creditor extra ordinary collection methods like bank levy and wage garnishment (how much or if at all depends on the state you live in). And thought the judgment may age off of your credit reports, it is still enforceable, and for much longer than how long it shows on your credit. It will still show up in public records, and may still hurt your ability to get a home mortgage etc.
The one civil judgement I owe $3,540 Date Filed 03/2008 Date updated 06/16/2008
Will be removed 02/2015
This is my only judgement. You said this one won’t just fall off as it says? This originally was owed same date as the other school loans since 2005. All of them are over 10 years old.
I am an Oregon resident too if this helps.
Judgments fall off of credit reports. What I referred to is that just because it is off of the credit report, does not mean it cannot be enforced (collected on through lien, levy or garnishment), or located through public records search, and hold up something like of new home purchase. Judgment debt in Oregon is good for ten years, and can be renewed for another 10. Government backed student debt remains collectable for, well… ever for most people (but DOE does offer different solutions).
While your credit is improving, and will continue to with all of the awareness and effort you are putting into it, there are still some concerns.
If you would like to know more about your risks of collection, post details about the judgment, and include the fact you are in Oregon, over on this page: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/social-security-pension-state-exemption-debt-collector-garnishment/ – I can respond with what exemptions there are from judgment creditors collection efforts.
oops maybe I should of not put the collection info. Can you delete that part?
I am having a huge problem with a gas company (for heating). I have in the passed disputed that we originally closed our account, but could not prove it (lost papers since we move so much.) We should of never owed this money. But, my complaint is they keep changing the original date of payment of default. I had to send a letter a few some years ago because they changed it to a new open account. Now they are trying to get away with it again.
The original date of collection should be 2005. This has been in collection since my first born was 2 or 3 years old. He’s 10 and half now. This account needs to be deleted. The original date placed for collection is a lie. They will also not work with me to pay off the debt of $608. I have tried to ask for payment plan and they were rude, very rude and cold. I do want to pay this off. But they just need to be honest.
Also, most of my bad collections are either paid off and are since 20o8 or 2009. When will they be gone? Other two are judgement. One paid in full and the other still open says till 02/2015.
[edited to remove collection account details]
Responsibility: Joint Account
Account Type: Open Account
Loan Type: COLLECTION
AGENCY/ATTORNEY
Balance: $608
Date Updated: 02/05/2014
Original Amount: $469
Original Creditor: [edited to remove collection agency]
CO (Utilities)
Past Due: >$608In CollectionPLACED FOR COLLECTION<
Estimated month and year that this item will be removed: 06/2017
Thank you, Michael for your reply. I was unable to get a hold of Equifax, so I am going to have to wait until Monday. I was very stressed out by the letter from Dynamic Recovery Solutions because they had stated that if I send them a letter will not make the debt go away if I owe it, they will not contact me again however, they will take a specific action against me. They expect a payment from me by July 12th, if I dispute the validity of this debt they will assume that this debt is valid. I really believed, and thought that if it was more than 8 years, they would write it off. Also, they also stated that if I don’t pay, they will impact a negative report on my credit score, which upset me because I came this far to reestablish my credit. If I recall correctly, I did stop paying them over 20 years, but to be certain, it was fairly over 17 years.
You suggest that I send them a letter to cease communication, can Dynamic really impact negative report on my current score? That is what scares me, as I mentioned that I have came this far to reestablish my credit, starting over. It would be very unfair for them to do this to me, especially when I already had negative score for so long. Is it possible for us to get negative report again for same debt from years ago? Thanks so very much in advance. I will keep you updated on the identity theft. I won’t know until I get a copy from Equifax.
Sassene – I am at a disadvantage without being able to read the letter you refer to. What you say it says would suggest to me that their are collection violations in that letter. But they are so blatant that I would want to review that.
Post the name of a nearby larger city and I can email you contact details to an attorney close by with the experience you need. Call and consult with them about the letter.
Thank you Michael, I live in Los Angeles county, so I would say Los Angeles, California. I reside in Compton, CA 90650. I was able to get a hold of Equifax through VRS (Video Relay Service, sign language service) so they told me that I will be receiving the report letter within 7 to 10 business days. I appreciate your input, and thanks once again.
Hi Michael,
I reside in California, I came from a very abusive background, I was a very naive, and vulnerable young adult at that time. I did not know any better, I acquired credit cards to help my family. My parents who abused me, have used my credit cards, and when I decided to stand up on my feet to cut them off from using my cards. They refused to continue to pay their debts which resulted me in not being able to pay for them. So I sort of ignored the creditors, now it has been over 22 years, I just finally started to rebuild my credit last year or so, then my 20 plus years debt showed up today which threw me off guard. According to this letter that I received, it threatened to impact my current credit report with negative report if I fail to repay. It was from the bill collector, I don’t know what to do at this point. I was told that it would go off my credit report after 7 plus years. Now this letter, how can they give me negative on my current report after I already had negative report for so many years? What should I do? Should I dispute or write them a letter to tell them to leave me alone? Thanks for your help.
If I were certain that the debt is one from that far back, or otherwise know it has been more than 7 and half years since a payment was sent in, I would send a letter demanding they cease communicating with me (send certified mail return receipt). If anything did show up on my credit report, I would consult immediately with an attorney experienced in collection violations, and fair credit reporting. In fact, if the letter you have is making a direct reference to harm your credit, and you have not read more into what is being stated, I would talk with an attorney about the letter now, and before sending a cease communication, or any other letter.
What is the name of the collection company?
DYNAMIC RECOVERY SOLUTIONS, I am not quite sure if you would receive my in depth reply via email, but I replied. I had to Google the original creditor to see what credit card it was regarding to. It went back that many years, because I have not used that for years. It was bought off by another owner so is it then now not valid debt?
I did get your email. I am going to respond to that here in the comments. Please keep everything in the comments on the site so other people can follow along and pick up anything useful they may use for themselves.
Equifax asking you to match up credit information it has in its file as a security question, and that process failing to get you access, does not necessarily mean someone has used your identity, or that the Target credit card you have is part of the data breach that was highly publicized, etc. You need to get a copy of the Equifax credit report and verify the auto loan taken out in your name in 2008, and the mortgage from last year. It could be a mixed file issue, or something glitchy with the web security structure, or something else. You may find that your identity was stolen. But until you get that sorted out, there is little to file in a police report. And you need the details from their file in order to dispute what could clearly be inaccurate credit reporting.
As for Dynamic Recovery Solutions appearing as an inquiry on your credit report, that is normal. Debt collectors can continue to collect on legitimate debts long after the debt fell off your credit files. The debt collector will often make credit report inquiries to judge whether you are someone who is now worth trying to collect from because the report shows evidence that your finances have improved (you have new cards you are paying on since 2010 etc). DRS is not reporting a collection account, that is the main concern I had.
You can still send them the cease communication letter. The verbiage you shared in the email you sent to me does not suggest DRS threatened negative credit reporting if you did not pay them. If there was something threatening like this referenced in the letter that you did not share in your email to me, please post that here. But there is nothing to dispute on your credit reports regarding Dynamic Recovery Solutions reporting a collection account, based on what you shared with me.
Send the cease communication letter to Dynamic if you like. It will stop the letters, and any phone calls they might make to collect. And this far along, where you cannot be legitimately sued for collection, and the collections cannot show on your credit reports, there is no risk. Be sure to keep a copy of any collection letters you get, or letters that you may send. Use certified mail return receipt requested when sending letters to debt collectors, or credit reporting agencies for that matter.
You can write to Equifax and request a copy of your credit report from them. You do not have to rely on the web site.
If you do find evidence of identity theft, post an update and lets go from there.
Hello
Date Filed or First Reported is that the very first time that a debt was reported or just reported through this collection agency?
I had a cellphone that I called and told Sprint i was moving to mexico and there was no service there. Apperantly they didnt cancel my service and now im stuck with 230.00 debt. But this was way back in 2007 im back in the states now and i seen on my credit report that they filed a collection with CONVERGENT OUTSOURCING Date Filed or First Reported 01/2012. Why did they wait nearly 5years to report this had they did it in 07-08 it would of be falling off this year or next. So my 7 years start after 01/2012?
thanks in advance
First reported would be specific to the furnisher, in this case the debt collector for Sprint. The 7 year reporting limit for Convergent Outsourcing is the same for the Sprint entry.
Continue to watch your credit reports. And keep copies that you have in your hands now. When it comes time for the Sprint entry to fall off your credit, make sure the Convergent item disappears too. If it does not, post an update and lets go from there.
Hello,
I received a huge medical bill from giving birth to my son and the collection agency is calling me telling me that I need to pay it in one lump sum and I just do not have that kind of money. I explained this to them and they are making it sound like even if I get put on a payment plan through them that this can still show up on my Credit Report. How can I avoid this showing up on my Report w/out having to stress about paying the entire thing at once?
How long ago was it that your son was born?
Have you talked about payment options with the medical billing company for the hospital or doctor office?
Ideally you want to work with the service provider or their billing company when setting up affordable payments. Some hospitals are required to write off a certain portion of services to patients that qualify based on low income parameters. Do you know if your bills qualify? You can ask the service provider directly.
Working with the original lender and coming to an agreement, before any medical debts show up on your credit report, can often mean they never will.
We are trying to buy a house and they pulled our credit report, we have sonething on our credit that is supposed to come off our report this month…(we didn’t know that)…my husband had contacted the company to see how much we owe, because we had to file taxes on it and we thought hat we paid it off, but apparently it was just the taxes that we had to not come off our claim…with us contacting that company will it not come off our credit report this month now
If a debt collection account is set to fall off your credit reports, calling the collector that is the source of the information will not change the date it comes off of your report. Even paying an old bill cannot cause it to stay on your credit reports longer.
Hi, I had a contract with T-Mobile in 2010 i cancelled the contract before the end so had the termination fee which I disputed the amount with them but got no where and so apparently T-mobile sold the debt and it is obviously not close enough to the 7.5 year mark to fall off. My issue is that the original creditor (T-Mobile) is not showing on any of my three reports but there are two collections agency’s showing up with two different dates, same amount but with two of them the debt shows to be over 4,000 what should I do about this?
Kris – Are both collection accounts showing an amount due and owing as of right now?
Who are both companies reporting?
What was the balance owed immediately after cancelling with T-Mobile?
I have been paying the hospital for services I received during 2012 and 2013. The bill is about $1,500 and I have been paying $15 per month. Can the hospital turn me over to a collection agency or report anything negative on my credit report? They recently sent me a letter saying to contact them before they sent it to collections. I thought as long as I am making an effort it could not go on to collections or on my report. I will contact them but want to know if they can actually do that while I am making payments.
Thank you!
Cheri – It is common for debts that are only receiving partial/smaller payments to still get sent to collections. If you do not have an agreement to pay less than the minimum due, or some other payment arrangement, lenders and businesses will follow often treat those accounts just like they do when they are being paid nothing.
Call them and see what you can work out. Post an update with the outcome.
Stafford loans, judgment or not have no SOL. They probably didnt sue on it for about 10 years and then could have renewed the judgment. You will not get a house until it is paid in full.
I’m trying to get a loan for a home. The loan institution has gathered my credit report. They have found that I have a judgment against me from a Stafford Student loan. My youngest child is 23 years old, I believe I had this loan when she was around 1-2 years old. I did not pay this loan off, but with it being 21-22 years later should this still be showing on my credit report? I’m thinking the loan was with another company many years ago. Unfortunately I do not have any of the paperwork. Thank you!
What is the date the original judgment was granted in the court? What state are you in?
Your consumer credit report may not be how the loan officer found the old collection account. Judgments are a matter of public record, and underwriting can access that information other than from the major credit bureaus.
Hello Michael, thank you for your response the other day! I have another question. Originally I only had my transunion report but I decided to pull the other 2. Low and behold I have other accts in collections that were reported to the other 2 and not transunion. One in particular is total bs and I would like to know what should I write in my dispute letter. The acct is owned by quality something something and they are saying I owe them 3400. Here’s where its from. In 2009 I moved into an apt called Highland Woods in GA my lease was from Jan 2009 until Jan 2010. The apts were so crime infected (my car was broken into) that I moved Jan 1 2010, not staying that last month or paying that last mths rent because I used it to move. I figured they would just take my deposit. I paid my rent that whole entire year, except for the last mth. My rent was $600 and my deposit was 600. There is no way I owe 3400 from 600! I talked to a credit counselor and she asked did I give 30 day notice to leave and I’m not sure. If I didn’t give a written noticed I know I voiced that I was leaving because my car was broken into etc etc. but they are definitely janky and it my word against theirs. She said they could have automatically rolled me over another 6mths knowing I left and charged me even though I wasn’t physically living there. She said they have to have records of my lease and payment info so to call them. When I looked them up to call today, they changed the name, then I found a article that in 2010 the owner Miles properties filled for chapter 11 bankruptcy owing 21 million! Now I see why they may have screwed me! Now I can bet my last dollar that they don’t have my lease info or paper work to prove I owe them that amount! Should I call the collection agency that now owns the debt or just bypass them and write the credit bureau with a dispute letter? When I write the CB should I say, the acct shown here xyz does not belong to me, please verify this acct and that I owe this debt of 3400. I would like this debt to be removed from my report. Thank you. Any info helpful! Thanks guys
If you are going to go with an “account not mine” strategy, I would not elaborate in any way at all if it were me. I would just say this account is not mine. I would copy the credit reporting agency and the information furnisher.
Hi Michael
I just received a call from a collection company trying to collect a debt from years ago. The debt was originally from American General and then sold to Springleaf. I have not received anything reguarding this debt for many years up until recently I received a letter from LVN funding and that’s who is trying to collect but I received a call from a different company saying they were going to report back to LVN. I did not agree to owning the debt or anything concerning the debt, I told him I have not received anything about the debt for at least 6 years. The loan was taken out while I was living in PA and now reside in VA not sure how the SOL’s work for these states? Also he said the last payment was Dec 06. At one point LVN funding showed on my report but according to CreditKarma there is nothing bad and I currently have a 746. What should I do? and What can I do?
Archie – It sounds like the debt is too old to show on your credit reports any longer. And with a last payment date of December 2006, is passed the SOL in both Pennsylvania and Virginia to sue you for.
There is literally no legitimate leverage left for a debt collector to use in order to illicit a payment from you at this point. That does not mean the debt goes away, it is still legitimately collectable. What is your goal with this account?
I would like it to go away, I just pulled my transunion report and it shows as normal account opened 1/30/2006, balance $0 with a high balance of 3500. I know different reports show different things. Creditkarma had it listed a few months ago with LVN as the collection company but now there is nothing there as well. There was no collection account and no missed payments but I do know that its a delinquent account after the moving to and from I totally forgot about it and now its so long ago and they are trying to collect 5k or so on debt that was not for that amount. Just looking for the best advice all traces should be off my report or a least coming off correct? What would be the best thing to do with it? I have worked hard to get my credit to where it is now and want to keep it there and not have anything bump it as my wife and I might be looking to put a addition on our house and I am currently not on the mortgage.
It has been longer than 7.5 years since the last payment than all credit reports should have already removed any entry regarding this collection account.
If it were me, I would send a written dispute letter to all credit reporting agencies indicating this trade line is too old to appear on your credit reports. Send a copy of your dispute to any creditor or debt collection company who is giving the dated info to the credit bureaus. Use certified mail return receipt to send your letters. Keep a copy of your letter, and the green return receipt cards organized and in a safe place. If the out of date credit information is not removed on the first go, post an update and lets go from there.
Hi Michael!
First, I want to say how wonderful it is that you take your time helping people with their questions and problems. I am very thankful to have come across your website and would truly appreciate your advice. I pulled my credit report from Credit Karma today, and I discovered that I have one account in collections. I would have paid this if I had known about it but no one has EVER reached out to me about it. I asked my parents if they had ever been contacted because I was in college out of state when it happened. My home address was the same as theirs and they never were contacted.
Here is the information:
Current and original balance: $160- I can pay this now with no problem
Collectors: Merchants Credit Assoc.
State: I lived in Illinois all my life but moved to Missouri a few months ago. The account is in IL
Date Opened: March 3, 2010
Date Reported: June 10, 2010
This is an old medical bill that I honestly do not even remember. I have always had health insurance and have never had any major medical problems- just typical check ups so there is a possibility it was a mistake, I guess. I am not certain either way.
What I am asking is for next steps. My credit is fine and this is the one problem but any improvement is going to be helpful. Should I pay it? Or will it go away within a certain time? Is there a chance that if I don’t pay it, the collectors could report it again so it will be new and never fall off my report? If I pay it, it won’t help my report any, right?
Also I took a look at my accounts and there are two credit cards I don’t recognize. They say CB/EXPRESS and CB/ BUCKLE. I know those are two clothing stores, but I rarely if ever shop at either. Buckle I have been to once in my life and I would never have opened a store credit card. They were both opened in 2008. Everything is listed as $0 under these accounts- I owe nothing and have never spent anything, etc. I also don’t have the physical cards, so again, I am not sure how these were opened. However, I was young so I could have overlooked something, unknowingly. Does this hurt my credit?
Any advice is appreciated.
Please let me know if you need anymore information and thank you so much again.
Because you are fuzzy on the details of the medical bill, I would first want to know more about the debt, the dates incurred, services rendered, etc. This may be an error of some sort, and if it is, the result of correcting the medical billing error may be the removal of the collection on your credit reports.
Start by calling Merchants Credit Associates, or the service provider, and get to the bottom of this. Post more details as you learn them.
On the Department store cards you see on your credit reports… close um if they are truly yours, and you do not have any intention of using them. It could be one of those things where you walked in and bought something and were asked if you wanted to save 25% on your purchase today by opening an account, followed by data entry errors from there. But it could be an issue where the credit reporting agencies are mixing files with someone who has a similar name, or other identifiers.
Have you only checked one credit report to verify these entries?
Have you access your 1 free credit report every 12 months directly from the 3 majors?
Hello Michael! Thank you for responding. I currently live in Columbia SC. I moved back here (born and raised) from Atlanta GA Oct of 2013.
Thanks. I do not think you are at much risk of being sued at this point. And because the bulk of these debts are set to fall off your credit reports shortly, if it were me, I would wait for most to drop off, rather than shell out a good amount of money for little credit recovery.
It is not clear to me that LVNV is reporting a newer date causing their entry to start its 7 year count down from 2013. That may be when LVNV got your account from some other debt buyer. If the LVNV, or any other debt collector now reporting, does not fall off from your credit reports at the same time the original creditor charge Goff’s do, that will be a quick fix, and a quick credit reporting complaint to the CFPB if your original efforts do not yield the correct result.
The incorrect balance reporting by LVNV on the other account is, in the overall messy credit report picture you have, not hurting you. But include this dispute if you like when disputing any of the other incorrect collections.
I would dispute the smaller balances if you find anything wrong with them, an not just because they exist. If any smaller collection accounts,or bigger ones for that matter, are set to stay on your credit reports for more than, say 18 months, I would consider negotiating a lower pay off and settling them (unless you plan on purchasing a home in that time frame). Small balance accounts do not often settle for any significant savings. You can read more about that here: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/credit-card-debt-to-include-in-settlement-plan/
Negotiate settlements for the best savings wherever possible. Any expectations for, or getting hung up on, a pay for delete strategy will not yield much of anything, and even if you were able to get a debt collector to agree, it is not likely to help your overall situation because of how much is going on.
Here is my thinking on working with or hiring Lexington Law for credit repair: Only do that if you are not going to do this yourself, or you know that you have a tendency to start projects and lose interest quickly. This is something you can do for yourself, but the letter writing, tracking, and responses, will be a project. But tracking things to the point you have already has been one too, so you know that.
Lexington Law is one of the only places I would send people to for credit repair. They are not overly expensive, and fill a niche in the credit recovery market place when people cannot or will not do this for themselves. Just know that they are probably not going to get all this stuff off, and that you should negotiated and settle the debts you want to first before sending in credit reporting disputes.
I would get the secured credit card to start to build that account history as soon as you have settled the collection accounts you are going to. Debt collection companies can often see what is going on with your credit real time. New stuff makes it look like you are more collectable.
Hello Michael I have a couple questions for you. I’m 27 yrs old and yesterday I was denied a apartment application which in tun was my 1st steps in rebuilding my credit. I was in the military at a young age and did alot of stupid things (taking out loans for other people, not paying cellphone bills or credit cards). I did the free report from creditkarma and they pull my report and score from transunion. My score is a poor 536. I have 11 collections. I have roughly 11k in school loans from Sallie Mae (payments start in June, I want to make sure they don’t default) and about 2300 left for my car loan (originally 20k starting back in 2006 ). I have no credit cards.
1st question. 2 of my collection accts are from LVNV funding. First one is from Equity One. This loan was made in 2006 for 6,500 from American General. I took out 4k in Nov/Dec 2006 (the stupid mistake for someone else) and another 1500 like in Sept 2007 totaling 6500. I have not made a payment to this account since 2007 because the person who i took the loan out for stop paying. The younger me refused to pay for something I didn’t use, but I took it out and it’s affecting me so I have to take care of it regardless. LVNV is reporting that I owe them 7500 with a date opend of June 2013! That is totally false. It says the orginal balance (i’m guessing from Equity One, i think they bought American General) is 6725. My question is can they do that??? It seems they are re-setting my SOL 7 yrs clock. Shouldn’t that collection fall off 2015 regardless of them saying newer dates? The 2nd collection LVNV has is from my original debtor Credit One Bank for a credit card. The amount I owed is 603 and was from 2007 but LVNV says the balance is 1135 with a opened date of 2009! Totally false again. Should I dispute this with the CRAs or just wait until 2015 after the SOL and dispute it then for them to take them off?
2nd question. These are the collection accts and amounts…474 medical bill, 7500 LVNV funding, 113 Uhaul bill, 1135 LVNV funding, 420 medical bill, 405 storage unit bill, 2081 Broke a apt lease, 557 capital one cc, 363 medical bill, 93 progressive ins, 74 library books. Some of these are really low that I could pay them off (113, 93, 74). The other amounts are low enough that I can pay then with my tax refund. 3 of them should fall off soon due to the 7yrs (7500, 1135, 557). Should I go with a company like Lexington Law first to try to get some of these disputed and taken off? Should I pay the full amounts or try to ask for a settlement? Does it even matter with collection accts if they are paid in full or settled in terms of my score? I understand even when i pay them, they will still show as a negative mark. Can I ask them to remove it in good faith (yeah I know i’m really ambitious)? Are there any ways to get these collection accounts off my report other than waiting the 7yrs?
Last question…Will getting a secured credit card right now be beneficial for me, even without paying those collection accts off as of yet? I don’t want to wait until next march for my tax refund to start being proactive. Although I can’t pay the bigger amounts now, will getting a secured card help me (my score) anyway? Also when my car is paid off, will that help? Thank you so much for taking the time out to help me out!!
Ashley – Before I go into more detailed feedback it would help to know what state you are in, and if you have been there for more than a year?
I need help.
My husband has an unpaid phone bill from at&t. It went into collections May 2008, so it has already been on hjs credit report before. We just checked his credit and now they are showing the collection account date changed to March 2014 which caused his credit score to go down again. What do we do to fix this? I know they arent suppose to do that right? Thanks.
Dispute the delinquency date with the credit reporting agency that the collection is appearing on. Send your written dispute via certified mail return receipt requested. Post an update with the result of that, and if necessary, lets go from there.
I have a debt from a cable company that is 9 years old but the date on the credit report shows 6 years old. What can I do about it? I’m in Arkansas.
What is the name of the cable company reporting it, or is it a debt collector showing? Is this showing on all 3 credit reports? Have you disputed the credit entry in writing with the bureaus that have it? How about with the cable company (or debt collector if that is the case)?
So we got scammed in a timeshare in March of 2009, I tried to get them to cancel but they wouldn’t, I told them I would never pay them another dime until they recitifed the situation which they never did. BUT they did stop sending us bills, we have never received another bill since 2009. But of course it’s on our credit report as serious delinquency. I was told that at some point I can get it off my report…when would that be? I am in the state of WA. We will not ever pay them, I told them I would file for bankruptcy before I ever paid them another dime. We lost $5,000 when we signed up and I told them that was all they would get. We got screwed. But they have never tried to collect again on it.
The time share loan delinquency on your credit report should age off after 7 to 7.5 years from the date you first missed payments… similar to how a credit card would fall off your credit reports were you to stop paying. That could change if you were sued for collection and a judgment entered in the court. That would breath new credit damage into this situation. But like you said, no one has made any efforts to collect, and that does happen. If anyone does contact you for collections, post an update, and lets go from there.
Curious… what was it the time share company did to screw you over?
Actually it says it will fall off in 2/2016. But it says updated 5/05/2014. What is updated? They don’t send me bills. It does say account info disputed by consumer. So do I just wait till 2016? Or is there anything I can do?
If you do not want to pursue the issue more than you already have, just wait for the time share to fall off of your credit reports.
You have already disputed with the credit bureaus. You may be able to escalate this if there were false, misleading, or deceptive angles to pursue. I am curious about that.
There were false, misleading and deceptive angles, first was, my mom had a time share with them too, and they were going to roll hers into ours so she wouldn’t have to pay on hers anymore. They didn’t do that. Then they don’t give your paperwork, they give you a CD and by the time you get home to read the fine print the time to cancel has expired, I think it was like 5 days, but we were there 7. So in Mexico, you have no documents to go over. They completely lied to us. But how do I prove that?
Oh and I did not dispute with credit bureaus, I only did with the resort recovery solutions, I sent them a certified letter, told them it was fraud what El Cid had done to us and we were not going to pay another dime. So should I dispute with credit bureaus, or will that reopen the case. A part of me just wants to lay low and have this whole, horrible, stupid mistake on our part just go away.
So it was not a financial transaction with a US based company?
One path to follow would be to file complaints with the CFPB. I could view your situation as part of a credit reporting complaint, but if not a US based transaction, would file a dispute with the credit bureaus that have this on your reports. If the situation is not resolved, then file with the CFPB.
I hear you on letting this lay fora couple years until it is over. Many of us would choose to do just that. And if you have no major financing goals until this collection falls off of your credit, it will not be a big deal.