THis takes the cake. Or maybe I am just new at this. You be the judge. Two items disputed on my credit file with EQ. One, an installment loan with MBNA. I sent them the letter I received from MBNA which states clearly, and I QUOTE: "You recently questioned the information on the above account, which was established xx,xx, AND IS CURRENTLY UP TO DATE." EQ is showing my acount 120+ days past due. They updated their incorrect number of late payments, but said that the wording was TOO VAGUE???!!! WTF? What else can the account is currently up to date possibly mean? And they acknowledged receipt of the letter! Then, on my mortgage, I sent them the letter I received which states, and I QUOTE: "Loan current as of 7/02, with no late payments." EQ decided that this meant that they should delete the late payment, but continue to list it as 30 days past due. And refuse to change it!!!! I asked to speak with a supervisor and they refused. What does everyone think? Am I wrong? It seems crystal clear to me. What could I get in a lawsuit?
OK. There are a couple of problems with the way you are going about this. Fist you are making the mistake of treating the Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) like you are their customer. You are not. Their customer is the lender. Occasionally I try to get minor things done on the phone but a 120 day late being incorrectly reported is an issue that you may end up in court over so you must do it by mail. The other problem is a lot of times when you dispute is that all that happens is that the computer at the CRA pings the computer at the lender. If the data in the lenders computer is incorrect the account at the CRA just get verified. I would send a letter to the CRA stating that the account is being reported incorrectly. An example is listed below. Please feel free to modify it to fit the actual facts you are disputing. Make sure that you send the letter certified mail/return recite requested and make a actual photocopy of the letter before you send it. Also make sure to sign your letter. ------------------------------------------------------------ Joe Q. Consumer 1902 Howser ST Watertown MA 27523-1526 September, 23 2004 Equifax Credit Information Services P. O. Box 105518 Atlanta, GA 30348-5518 Dear Consumer Relations: I am requesting that you investigate the items listed below. I am hopping to purchase a house soon and the following error/errors is/are hurting my chances of doing so. MBNA, account number XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. This item is being listed as 120 days late. This account is up to date. Texas big bank, account number XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. This account is currently being listed as past due. That is incorrect the account should be listed as open, paid as agreed, with no late payments. Please correct the information and have these items reported correctly on my credit history. I am disputing both of these items. Please send me a copy of my updated credit report after you have completed this request. Thank you for your time and effort. Sincerely, your name ------------------------------------------------------------ Good luck and remember that things like this tend to take time.
I don't think it's wise to let them know you are getting ready to purchase a house. Just my 2 cents. Calmest_LA
The reason for putting that line in is that it gives you legal grounds to sue the CRA for damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Thanks. I am writing as well--just sending via fax, and prodding over the phone. It's been going on since April when I did my first round of disputes. Finally, I got the creditor to send me letters, whch I had assumed were the only things I would need.
I wouldn't leave the OC out of this. Remeber Nelson v Chase Manahattan. That OC is liabel for what they are saying about you on your CR's. This doesn't sound all that different from what I had going on with Cap1. If anything you're in a better position becasue the OC is acknowledging your "Never Late" status. In my case, I freeely acknowledge that account had been late but Capital1 couldn't seem to get the tradeline to reflect that the current status is paid/current. Try as they might, and they did, every time I would go online and check my reports, there it was: Balance: $0; Status: 120 Days past due. That's hard to do, be 120 days late on a zero balance on an account that has been closed for three years. Anyway, we tried nice for quite some time, but I gradually started raising the heat, mentioning Nelson as often as possible. It worked. Twelve deletes. I went into a little more depth here. I did it all by phone, BTW. Good Luck!
I agree with Quixote. I would put this directly in the lap of the OC and stop relying on the CRA to fix it. If you don't have results with the OC, then you can name both the OC and the CRA in the lawsuit. Furnishers of information are responsible for what is being reported. If it is incorrect, they are responsible for correcting it. L
Interesting. Today, my EQ CR shows the MBNA account as PAYS AS AGREED. But now they have gone back to the wrong number of late payments, AFTER they already updated this part. Bizarre. And, they finally noted the item as under dispute. The mortgage, however, still shows a late pay, and a pays 31-60 days status. I will talk to them again in the morning and see what is going on. The good news, I guess, is that they are now showing my score as 700! I know this is due to all the items under dispute, but as i understand it, this is the score that lenders see, or something close to it. That gives me a 652 on EXP, a bogus 700 on EQ, and a fake TU score of 620 (the fico score I pulled without knowing it would result in a hard inq. was a 579). But there are still a number of items TU has confirmed are removed, but won't show up until the investigation on my tax lien is completed.
