Hello All, I have a few ugly marks on my CR I am looking at repairing for inaccuracy, etc..but one is a recent CA mark from 11/06 involving local county vehicle taxes that I owed for the tax year 2005. I did not realize I was even deliquent on the tax until I ran my three CRAs and saw an entry there from a CA for the amount owed. I travel frequently for work and (here comes the big word) "assumed" my wife paid my car tax when she paid hers. Bless her heart, when I talked to her about this the other night she said she told me way back when that when she paid hers we only had enough money to cover one until the following payday and asked that I handle mine then. I can picture myself just grunting "okay" or something. By the way, we paid our 2006 tax on time this past October (we do it on-line) and there was no indication of deliquesnt 2005 vehicle taxes, but I am not saying they were paid. So anyway, I begin my journey into credit repair and read numerous forums, downloaded my free CRAs and discover that National Credit Corporation has listed me on all three reports with a Collection Account for the amount owed to the county. I went to the county revenue office immediately and was able to pay them directly that day for the full amount owed, however, they did include a collection fee on top of all the other penalties. So my question goes to the credit reports - Are there any recommendations on removing this entry? It seems as if the debt was assigned to the CA and not sold, since I was able to pay the county off directly with the additional fee. That being the case, can I still dispute this entry based on the grounds that there is no debt owed to the CA? By the way, I have had no contact via telephone or lettters from the CA - again, running my reports is how I discovered the debt..or should I say rediscovered. They must be a busy CA since the reports show it was turned over to them in Nov 06 - 4 months ago. Any advise would be appreciated!!!!! Best, Ron
That being the case, can I still dispute this entry based on the grounds that there is no debt owed to the CA? No it was a valid debt your county turned for collections. The tradeline should be updated to show you've paid the amount in full, or paid collection, regardless who it was paid to.
I would dispute the CA tradelines on all your credit reports, stating "no knowledge of account or collection agency". If they never bothered to contact you, then I doubt they will bother to verify the information. You have nothing to lose by disputing.
No knowledge of account? He knows it and paid it, dont you when you dispute say the information you are disputing is to the best of your knowledge?
Thanks Guys...I might even be premature in asking. I remember back in 2003 when I went through a security clearance background check, the investigator showed me a CA entry from a local dentist and said I had to pay that off immediately or I would be denied. I ran home, paid for and printed a CR on-line and decided to call the dentist office instead of the CA...after all, this was my kids dentist, he was still seeing him and we had no idea we were past due on anything. Turns out it was some procedure not covered by dental insurance. Regardless, I paid them the amount directly and took the receipt back to the investigator and never thought about it again until now, when as part of my recent drive to review and clean up my credit, I received all three recent CRAs and there are no TL entries from the CA - gone...like it never happened. Could this happen here as well and I just need to wait to see if it clears on its own? This literally all took place within the past week. If this does not go away, could I not rely, like some here have, that the entry on my CR was made by the CA, and not the county, and since I paid the county, I now have no debt to the CA and any entry by them is now inaccurate?
No. The account was placed with the CA before you paid the county correct? Regardless of who it was paid to, if it was paid after being placed with the CA it's a valid tradeline, as long as it's being reported correctly. You may wish you contact the county and ask them to remove or strike a deal with them to have them tell the CA to remove it. If you can get the county to even verbally agree, you could dispute as, creditor agreed to remove.
I would go ahead and try to dispute it with the CRA. It might disappear right there. Also, beware of taking just one posters advice here on this board. It is usually in your best interest to look at several posters responses, and see if a consensus develops.
I agree that you should dispute the entry. You very well might get a deletion without having to try and further contact anyone. If you don't get an immediate deletion, you have lost nothing except a small amount of time. If the dispute comes back as verified, perhaps you could consider a certified letter to the county stating that no documentation was ever received by you and you are requesting that the collection be deleted on the grounds that you had no time allowed by law to dispute the validity of the debt. Persistence, persistence persistence. I'm sure some will agree and some disagree. But, if you don't get a deletion this time and a certified letter fails, try for a deletion a few months down the road and so on. Eventually, you will get your deletion. Depends on how hard you want to work for it. Remember that collections are a high impact on your credit score. PERSISTENCE!
Thanks Woops - I have been hitting the boards pretty hard and although so many people have similar issues, some seem to have some level of uniquesness as well. I certanily appreciate all of your input and valuable time!!! Ron
Reatha, Agreed - I am currently disputing 2 CC charge offs now on all three CRAs so I will be reviewing updated reports in the near future and will watch to see if it drops on its own. Do you think I should hold off on deletion attempts for a few weeks. Also, is there a preferred credit monitoring service used by members to have full and live access to CRAs and FICAs? Best, Ron
