I am currently trying to purchase a home. My credit has several "bad" things on it from my past. my student loans went to a collection but i rehabilitated those about 8 months ago so I think they will be ok on my report in 4 more months. But it looks like my student loans we put on the report over and over again. The total amounts are 4 or 5 times as much as the actual total. What can i do about this? I also has a repossession almost 6 years ago. My credit report says I owe $1,000. I called to make a settlement and they said that it is really $8,600. I told them that my credit report said only $1,000 and she said they would change that. Can they do that? Can i dispute or settle this? Also, i have a few unpaid debts from 6 12 years ago. These are for only a few hundred a piece. Should i settle these or just wait for the 7 years. I have been told that the 7 year rule is not true and that the bed debts will stay on your credit until you settle them. Please help me. Thanks
Regarding the repo, they can report whatever the truth is, legally. Do you actually owe $1,000 or do you actually owe $8,600? Either way, once the date of last activity is 7 years ago, they can't keep reporting. If you have unpaid debts from 6-12 years ago, I'd personally advise you to simply let them age off your report. After 7 years, these unpaid debts will in fact drop off your report. If they DON'T drop off, then you can just dispute them as "obsolete". I'm thinking you'd be best just letting all of these debts age off, and THEN purchasing a house.
when you say 7 years from last activity, what exactly does that mean? is it 7 years from when the debt went to collection or 7 years from the last time they reported it. Example, if they make this correction, does my 7 years start over again? as for the $1,000 and $8,600 dispute..... the $8,600 is correct but not what my report said. I didnt know if i could dispute the difference. So, you are saying that after 7 years, i can request that account be removed?
It's supposed to be 7 years from the date the account went delinquent. It is supposed to come off automatically, but you have to monitor it because sometimes they don't remove it. A strategy that seems to work good is when it's 6 years and 9 months start disputing and lots of times they will just delete it. You can repair it earlier than that if you study this website.
I have been told that the 7 year rule is not true and that the bed debts will stay on your credit until you settle them. TIGER2626 Who told you such garbage? Sounds like some thing a CA or a OC would say. skinderflirt
The date of last activity is the date upon which your debt became delinquent. If you made a car payment due on January 1, 1997, but then missed the February 1, 1997 payment, and have never *ever* either paid that debt, nor "re-affirmed" the debt, then your "DLA" or date of last activity would be February 1, 1997. Them correcting your account will not restart the clock. You paying them $1.99 on this debt *will* restart the clock. Regarding disputing them reporting $8,600 when you in fact owe them $8,600, well.. you can dispute it, but technically they *could* verify and keep it on there. I'm not saying I wouldn't dispute, but I'd think very carefully about how to treat an $8,600 debt which is not past the DLA. I would be hesitant to antagonize such a creditor if I did not have to, especially if I had assets which they could seize in a court action. Tread carefully with this creditor. Learn your state laws about what someone can and can't do to collect. Learn what level of property is exempted from collection. After 7 years, you can in fact request that an item be removed from your credit. Except for certain debts, mostly things you owe the government or the mother of your children, or things you owe as a result of a judgement.
Making a $1.99 payment would not change the DLA and restart the clock for the 7 year reporting period. That is for the SOL.
What state are you in? In most states a debt 6 years or older is not collectible. Each state has a statute of limitation on how long a debt can be collected after which it cannot. Let us know what state you live in and what state this debt was incurred in and maybe there is nothing for you to worry about. As far as your reports, I'd simply let it drop off if the date of last activity is over 6 years ago. Let us know more details.
