I have an old AMEX chargeoff for $2496. appearing on reports from all 3 cra's. My question concerns the reporting dates. TU lists the account as "opened 12/1997" and "closed 5/1998". EX list the account as "opened 12/1997" and "closed 3/1997" (huh? how do you close an account 9 months BEFORE it's opened???) EQ doesn't have an opening date, but they report the dola as 3/1997, which is CORRECT. Should I challenge the TU and EX entries, or just let it sit and wait the whole process out? Also, how does an old entry like this affect my scores? Any information is most appreciated. You're all "prime" in my eyes! Thanks! (btw, this is my first post, after having been a member for a month or so. This site deserves a Nobel Prize!!!)
Derogatory info such as collections, charge offs, etc, can stay for 7 years from the date of last activity. In your case til 3/04. I would dispute with the cra's as not mine. You'd rather get it deleted than updated. If that doesn't work, then you can always redispute it as having wrong dates. The older it gets, the less of an effect it has on your scores. It is already 5 1/2 years old, so the effect on your scores at this point is probably not great, although it will still have some negative impact. If you dispute as not mine, being it is so old, you have a fairly good chance they won't even respond and thus it will be deleted/ You can dispute online at the cra's sites, or by certified mail, return receipt. If you do it online, make sure you print out any confirmation of dispute they give you as it may be needed later to prove you did actually dispute online. Good luck.
Thanks, LKH. I didn't want to open a can of worms - especially with AMEX. What I've read so far leads me to believe that they ALWAYS verify any validations. Also, this was a corporate card - I was an au on the company's account. Don't know if that helps...
That may make a big difference. I'm not positive about this, but, being an AU you are not responsible for the debt. I would write the cra's and say I neither had nor have any responsiblity for this card as I was only an authorized user. Please delete it immediately. Some of the others here know more about authorized users than I do, but i do know you aren't responsible.
