Hello everyone!
I have a question regarding an item on my credit report. I have an account that was sent to collections some time ago. I eventually paid the balance in February of 2009, however the collector continued to report the account as "Collection/Chargeoff" until May 2009. I went in person to speak with them regarding this and they said there was nothing they could do about it. I also inquired as to having the status changed to "paid in full" rather than "Collection/Chargeoff". The notes from all 3 bureaus still reflect it as a loss, and do not indicate that it has been repaid.
I would like to know if I have any recourse to dispute those 3 months as being illegally reported and have the entire line removed from my report. I do not know also if having the status changed from "Collection/Chargeoff" to "Paid in Full" would help my credit report, but I do know that it would re-age the account and start my 7 year clock over again.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
-Tony
federal court have no small claims. it costs $350 to file a civil suit. So consider that. they could claim that it was an error that was corrected.
collection paid off
Hi TBova,
Can you tell me whether or not you have ever tried to dispute this with the credit bureaus? Do you have the payment receipts?
Thanks,
Aaron
I have tried to dispute this to the bureaus yes, but not with any letters, only with their online dispute forms. The money was paid through two separate collection agencies over the course of a year or two. None ever sent me any receipts, even though I asked. They said they were not required to do so.
Neither of those agencies ever "owned" the debt however, it was always owned by the University.
collection paid off
Hi TBova,
You can try disputing this with the credit bureaus by sending them a dispute letter. However, can you tell in what mode did you make the payments? Aren't there any kind of proofs that you can use to dispute this item?
You will get a sample dispute letter with this community which you can use to write one of your own.
Thanks,
Aaron
All of the payments were done over the phone with two different collection agencies. They never sent me any reciepts, however I do have all of my banking statements that show when each was sent and for how much.
collection paid off
Hi TBova,
Then you can use these banking statements to solve this problem. Attach copies of these statements with the dispute letters.
Thanks,
Aaron
you're fight is kind of moot. you're splitting hairs over something that has no positive outcome for you anyway. why? the correct status is "paid collection", which DOES NOT improve your score at all. that said, what are you going to gain by having them reflect the accurate status? The worse thing is that by paying you restarted the 7 year clock, so now that negative mark (whether its Collection or Paid Collection) can now stay there for another 7 years.