Dispute Old Bills and Debt Collectors from Your Credit Reports
I have a charge off in 2006 for a vehicle I returned to credit union that is still on my credit report. I just bought a car recently. Any bad credit I have had was prior 2006 and I haven't bought anything until 2015.
Now I am wondering why this account is still open. I will be requesting my other 2 credit reports.
My sister bought a house for me in 2008 (until my credit situation gets better), so now I would like to refinance this house into my name. I was told if I dispute this item I can awaken it and they could probably come back after me.
I would like to know why is it still on my credit report if its 9 yrs old. I live in Arizona, Thanks.
Why old charge off debt is still on my credit report?
—Juanita
Charge off on your credit reports, such as from unpaid credit cards, will normally appear for 7 years, or 7.5 years from when you stopped payments. The concern you have with an old repossession on your credit reports is valid, when it should have fallen off after 7 years too.
What is the name of the credit union reporting this? If it is not the bank, what is the name of the debt collector reporting charge off?
If the credit union is still reporting, it is likely an error that can be quickly remedied following the steps I outline below. If it is a debt collector or debt buyer reporting, they are illegitimately reaging the charge off/repossession, which you can dispute off of your credit as well.
Disputing a Charge Off or Old Debt from Your Credit
Once you identify that an old debt (typically 7 to 7 and one half years since you last made an on time payment) is still reporting on your credit reports, you have options to dispute that off your credit reports. I encourage folks to submit written disputes (more on that below), but you can also submit your disputes on line with Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
You can, and often should, send a copy of your dispute to the offending furnisher of the information. This can be the original creditor or lender who mistakenly reaged the debt, or what is more common going to be a debt collector who may be reporting the date they got the account as the new date the credit reporting agencies use for aging negatives off your reports.
There are different reasons to submit disputes about items on your credit reports. Credit report disputes are common for items that appear that are inaccurate, incomplete, or not even yours!
Your issue is that the debt is too old to stay on your credit. And how word your dispute letter is going to be that straight forward. You could say something as brief and simple as “It has come to my attention that you are allowing a very old collection item to remain on my credit report. The account at issue is highlighted in the attached copy of your credit report that I have included for your convenience. The account is further described as follows:
Accurately describe the charge off or collection account at issue, and as it appears on your credit report.
Point out that the account was last paid to the original lender on a specific month and year. You are not certain how this account has been illegitimately reaged to continue to cause you harm, but demand that it be removed and will not reappear.
Things to Know When Disputing Collections with Credit Bureaus and Collectors
I wish you could do this type of thing and expect the obvious and correct result on the first go. Unfortunately, there are far too many examples of credit reporting agencies adapting insufficient dispute investigation policies, while overly relying on the policies for accuracy and completeness from those who send them the information you see on your credit reports, the debt collectors and collection agencies.
Here are steps I recommend you use to establish a record of your communications when you send disputes to credit bureaus and collection agencies:
- Send written disputes rather than filing them online.
- Send communication using certified mail return receipt requested through USPS.
- Keep a copy of all letters you send in a file. When the green post card size return receipt card comes back, keep it with your letters.
- Send a copy of your dispute to the collection agency or lender who is the subject of your dispute, again using certified mail return receipt.
- Include a copy of each respective credit report with the collection item at issue highlighted. You only want to send Experian a copy of their own report, TransUnion theirs, Equifax etc.
If Your Dispute Does Not Result in Deletion
I can reflect on many instances where an obvious credit report dispute should have resulted in the account being deleted, but was not. Yours is not a gray area dispute. It should result in a the item being deleted immediately upon review. Accounts too old to remain on your reports are not hard to prove using the credit bureaus own data. But the over reliance on the debt collectors can result in your dispute coming back as “information verified”, or if you have had to dispute several items, or sent multiple disputes prior to this one, you could get the “your dispute has been determined as frivolous” letter.
The patience required with credit reporting disputes can be maddening. But it is one of the main reasons you want to keep a good record of all of your efforts to get your reports corrected, and items off that should have already been deleted.
You have rights. More specifically, your right to dispute collections off your credit report, or to have inaccurate and incomplete data corrected, is found in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. And if at first you do not succeed with getting an obvious old collection deleted off your reports, I would suggest filing a credit reporting complaint with the agency regulating the credit reporting bureaus, and perhaps even the debt collectors and lenders doing the reporting. There are times where I would even start with submitting a credit reporting complaint to the CFPB, and not even bother with the sending in written disputes.
Waking Up Debt Collectors with Your Filed Dispute
Whoever told you that you could wake up a sleepy debt collector by filing credit reporting disputes did raise a legitimate concern. Just not for your situation. I generally encourage people to not fuss with debt collection and credit reporting until your states statute of limitations (SOL) to be sued in court for collection has passed. And most states have an SOL that is shorter than the 9 years it has been since there was any payment made on your debt. What state are you in?
With your account being so old, and the opportunity for a collector to file a legitimate lawsuit (unless they already had) having passed, you can tackle the credit reporting issues and dispute at will. That may wake up the debt collector, and they may reach out by phone and mail with collection notices, but you can put a stop to that with old debts, and with little risk.
I should point out that court judgments will have the affect of re-aging a debt on your credit reports legitimately. They become part of the public records section of your credit reports, and get a new shelf life of their own. Is this debt showing as a normal collection item on your credit reports?
You can post answers and additional information in the comments below. Anyone dealing with debt collectors, and other old debts that should not be on your credit reports, is welcome to 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 recently received a letter in the mail from a collections agency saying that I owe $8,000 plus. It seems to be in regards to a vehicle I got repossessed some time in 2008 0r 2009. I can’t remember exact year but it was one of those two. I have worked hard to fix my credit and I have actually brought it up 128 points within the last 3 years or so. How do I handle this letter In received on a very old debt that I have never had to deal with until now. I don’t want it to ruin my credit again.
By the way, I am in TEXAS.
Were you ever sued in court for this debt? If not, it is too old to do so now, and cannot go back on your credit. It is what some call Zombie Debt.
If it were me in this situation I would consider either doing nothing, are sending a cease communication letter certified.
If there is an existing judgment that you did not know about somehow, that will be a different story.
Thank you for the advise. I was never sued in court and it is not on my credit report at all. I was just concerned that it would appear back on it since they just sent me a letter. I will definately send a cease communication letter certified. I just watched your youtube on Zombie Debt. It was very helpful.
Thank you so much!
My credit report recently showed a Edison account from 2006 owing $888. I have no knowledge of this account. i tried to dispute it with Experian it stayed and then they added a mark on the same account 91/2 years after it was open. They did not give a complete account info. Just Edison phone number. Edison has no record of any such account. Now what can i do please?
I would file a credit reporting complaint against Experian with the CFPB.
I recently paid a medical bill with Labcorp. They told me that I had a small balance from a couple of years ago, which isn’t showing on my credit report. I paid the bill and was wondering if this will be reported on my credit again. Is there anyway I can dispute the payment as well? My identity was recently stolen so I cant afford to have this come on my credit again. Help!
What do you mean by dispute the payment?
Maybe not dispute the payment but how do i prevent it from appearing on my credit again?
At this point, I would not do anything prevention oriented. It is not on your reports now, but if it were to show back up, I would react to that then. Post an update if that happens and lets go from there.
Thanks so much!
Hi I got an apartment at 19 it was my first and only apartment at which I sgined a 13 month lease 11 months were paid and I owed two months when I left the apart Dec 2010 sometime in 2011 it went into collections flash forward going on year 6 in I’m trying to relocate back home but no one will rent to me because of this apartment in collections so I disputed it off two of my credit reports and it’s still showing on the last report would there be any reason for them to deny the dispute on the last credit report?
It can be the credit bureau that kept it on there. What was the result of their investigation into your dispute? Which credit bureau is it?
Hello Michael and thanks for your information, I have a collection that has appeared recently on my credit report , that says the account was opened on 2013 but is actually an account opened in 2004, I know it is an old debt and I requested to be removed, but what can I do if the company PORTFOLIO RECOVERY SERVICES bought the debt and they don’t want to go with the sol ir the fact that the debt ids from 2004, even though they must have bought it recently, so how can I dispute this?
I understand that the date for the SOL begin on the day the account is not paid, not when it is bought by a new company, right?
I would appreciate your feedback and help on this
Thank you
If you have already filed a credit bureau dispute, and that did not change anything, I would file a credit reporting complaint against Portfolio Recovery Services with the CFPB.
Hi Michael, I lived in Arizona at the time when this happened and let someone take over the payment’s on a car of mine, that person could no longer make the payment’s, do to loss of job. The Bank charged it off and never recovered the vehicle because the person moved away and was unable to be located. My question is that it has been 4 years now and it’s still on my credit report, what will happen if they find the vehicle at some point and the charge off has fallen off, will I get a new repo. on my credit report and it will start all over again? I don’t owe anything on it, as it was almost paid off. Thank you
You would not get a new repossession on your credit report. You could dispute anything like that if it were to happen.
I have lived in several states during my young and dumb, financially irresponsible years. In order to find the states SOL to be sued in court for collections, do I search the state I lived in at the occurrence of said debt, or the state in which the debt collector is?
It can depend, but let’s start with the state you are in now, and how long you have lived there?
I have recently had a medical debt for an ambulance ride from a collection company, Avante, added to my credit report that is not mine. I have never been inside an ambulance. The original bill from the ambulance company (which I foolishly chose to ignore since I knew it wasn’t mine) is over 2 years old. The debt originated from Rural Metro (their billing company is Professional Medical Transport), misspelled both my first and last names. How do I prove this is not my bill and how do I remove this debt from my credit report ASAP? Thank you for your assistance.
I would dispute the account as “not mine” with any credit bureau that is showing the bill. If that does not work post an update and let’s go from there.
Hi Michael,
I have a $56 collection from Titan Auto Insurance Texas. I wasn’t aware the account was in default as I felt I paid off my premiums completely. I was out of the country for a while.(almost 2 years) When I got back, I discovered a pile of mails from the company. I never missed a payment through out the period of using the insurance. I guess the $56 came as a penalty for early termination of the contract. (Not sure) I called them to find out exactly what it was all about. I did not get a concrete reason as the representative told me it just shows that I owe them $56. I was so upset. So, I made up my mind I wasn’t going to pay it because I saw no point of it since they had done damage to my credit score by reporting it for collection. Now my question is this, can I get them to remove it from my credit report or do I just ride with the wave for the next 5 years since that’s the only negative on my report? BTW I haven’t received a single letter or phone call from Titan or the debt collector since I’ve been back from my travels. (The last mail from the “pile” that was waiting for me when I was away was dated March 2014.)
What’s your take on this?
Thanks.
I moved your comment to this page about disputing collection accounts off your credit reports. I would first send a dispute about this debt being paid. Send it in writing using certified mail. The billing may have been in error, and they may not bother to verify it with the credit bureau.
That would be my first step. If you send your dispute let me know the outcome and lets go from there.
I have a timeshare that I have not paid maintenance fees for about 8 years. I have had divorce and lost job….yadda yadda yadda. On my credit report a MERIDIAN FINANCIAL is in charge of collections on this time share. What they have done is create a different acct number for every year not paid for the same time share. My credit report is showing I have 6 accts in collections when it is really just that 1 acct. / timeshare. Is this legal, I feel that is sabotage.
What Meridian Financial is reporting to the bureaus is wrong, and possibly even too old to even appear on your credit.
Has there been no payments made on the time share whatsoever for the last 8 years? If that is the case, send written disputes to the credit reporting agencies requesting all entries be deleted due to age. Send your dispute in writing using certified mail and return receipt requested. Save a copy of your letter and the green return receipt card in a safe place in case things do not go as they should (items deleted that should be).
If it were me, I would file a credit reporting complaint against Meridian Financial with the CFPB. What Meridian is doing is wrong. Whether on purpose, or by mistake, hearing from the CFPB about it should provide the motivation to fix whatever is going on with their sham credit reporting.
Post an update with any dispute and/or complaint outcome and lets go from there.