Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by John

Posted by John on July 08, 2001 at 23:05:47:

Ronald, thank you for the advice. I didn’t even know stuff like that could be done. I will give it a shot.

John.

Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by John

Posted by John on July 08, 2001 at 19:24:50:

Is there a time limit a creditor has to report bad info on a person? The reason I ask this is because I recently pulled my credit report and noticed that there was an item from five years ago that looks like it was just recorded 7 months ago!

Does this mean that this item will be removed from my credit report in 2 years or 6 years and 5 months?

John.

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by Ronald * Starr

Posted by Ronald * Starr on July 08, 2001 at 20:16:51:

John------

You could request that the creditor remove the item from your credit file. Ask that it be removed from all three major credit reporting services.

If the creditor does not want to remove it, maybe you could get them to upgrade the code on it as a compromise.

I would ask before paying them. And I would point out to them that I wanted to pay them. “But, it would make my wife happier if we conld get it removed from the report, so she would agree to paying it all off right away.” Or, if you are not married, it would make it a lot more palatable for you to pay up … .

Good Investing****Ron Starr********

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by jeff

Posted by jeff on July 08, 2001 at 19:44:08:

Hey what you do is Have the credit reporting agency Verify the debt…if the debtor cant do it in 30 days they have to remove it.
I got two small collections on my credit reported by writing a a letter saying that i paid it off on time!

Doesnt hurt to try

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by Mark-NC

Posted by Mark-NC on July 08, 2001 at 19:30:53:

John,
Most items will stay on your report for 7 years. However what can happen in some cases is, if it is a bad debt or collection they may sell that debt to another collection agency and it can start all over again from that point.

Mark

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by John

Posted by John on July 08, 2001 at 20:55:48:

Upgrade the code?

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by Tom (GA)

Posted by Tom (GA) on July 12, 2001 at 09:32:28:

Actually, the item can legally stay on your credit report for no more than 7 years.(With some exceptions --bankruptcy, etc) This is normally calculated from the date of last activity.
An account being sold from collection agency to collection agency has no bearing on the longevity of the account. At least not legally.

Beware that some financial institutions have been buying old collection accounts and contacting the debtors with an offer of new credit cards. The old debt is rolled into the new account which changes the date of last activity on the old account, thereby allowing the old debt to remain on the credit report longer.

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by John

Posted by John on July 08, 2001 at 19:52:30:

Mark, thank you for your answer. What would be the best way to get this off my credit report? Will paying it off in full get it erased? I know these are stupid questions, but I would like to learn as much as possible. Any good books on credit repair? Thanks.

John.

Re: Credit Question and Legal Rights. - Posted by Ronald * Starr

Posted by Ronald * Starr on July 08, 2001 at 22:25:52:

John-------------

Yes. Change it from a charge-off to a 2 months late or something like that. There are 9 grades I believe. Try to get it removed. If not, try to get it upgraded to a lower digit. 1 is pays as agreed. 9 is charge-off, I believe.

Good InvestingRon Starr******

Payments could be the worst thing… - Posted by JT - IN

Posted by JT - IN on July 09, 2001 at 24:15:51:

John:

Making payments can prolong negative credit reporting, in some cases. eg. Say you have a charge-off acct, (or about to be), and lets say that it has been dormant for 3 years. Now all of a sudden, you get motivated to clear up the acct by beginning to make payments, then the 7 year period, as previously stated, starts all over again. It is 7 years from the last activity, before it drops off. So even if you paid off a bad account in full, then it will be 7 years from that point, in which the posting of the negative activity can be removed.

I have heard of exceptions, but most credit repair services are predicated upon challenging the reported information, repeatedly, until the creditor fails to respond within the 30 days of any disputed reporting. The integrity of the reporting system is in question, when disputes are filed, so most creditors will repeatedly respond to disputes, which will result in the perpetuation of the negative credit reporting. Whew; that was a mouthful!

JT - IN