Can this be removed from my credit report? If so, how?

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by steversimo, May 29, 2015.

  1. steversimo

    steversimo New Member

    I graduated from college in December of 2008, and I moved out of my (campus) apartment in February 2009. My roommate was moving in a few months, so I decided to be nice and (foolishly) let him keep my Reliant electric account, since I was moving in with my parents anyway. Well, a couple of years ago, I was running my credit to buy a house and discovered that I owed $280! At the time, I was told that letting it age out of my credit report was the best solution, and that bringing it back up would be bad. Well, it turns out that a collections agency is after me. I can pay the $280, but my question is â?? should I? I can probably prove that I moved out before the charges were incurred, if that would make any sort of difference, but since the delinquency is current, there is clearly no reason to not deal with it. Does anyone have any ideas?
     
  2. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    Proving you moved won't make a difference, unless your intent is to show the account is fraud, which it doesn't appear to be.

    If your roommate moved in May 2009, the DOFD is likely at the 6YR mark at this point.

    Are you past your states SOL?

    Paying the account will NOT reset the reporting period, FYI.
     
  3. steversimo

    steversimo New Member

    The collections agency shows the "Opened date" as 2/11. Will it be 7 years from then, or 7 years from when the Reliant account FIRST went delinquent?
     
  4. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    Opened date means nothing. The debt can be sold (again) to assigned elsewhere and the opened date would then be 06/15. Reporting time goes from DOFD, not open date.

    The latter, as you wrote, is correct.
     
  5. Akronguy

    Akronguy New Member

    I wouldn't pay it. Unless they remove the negative posts paying it won't help your credit score.
     
  6. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    First, what is the SOL for your state. Since the debt appears to be six years old, SOL is a key factor to consider. If the DoFD is around the 6 year mark, then there is a good chance that it is close to SOL in a lot of jurisdictions, you just want to verify that before making a decision.

    Here's why, it's called waking the sleeping dragon, although the amount is fairly low, if SOL is still in play, they could take legal action to collect the debt. If SOL is over and done with, then I would tell the CA that I am not responsible for the debt past February 2009; they can try to track down the ex-roommate, but the debt is beyond the SOL, so they can pound sand.

    Read this thread which has an in-depth discussion of SOL & reporting http://consumers.creditnet.com/Discussions/showthread.php?t=59797
     
  7. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    I know this post was from last year, but it caught my eye when I was researching another thread about unpaid utility bills and collection agencies.

    To the OP steversimo, would you be willing to come back and give us an update on how you decided to work with the collection agency and what happened?

    I'm really curious how things played out for you, and of course would be happy to help if you still have other questions regarding the matter. Hope to hear from you soon!
     
  8. mijd

    mijd Well-Known Member

    Jam If you still frequent this forum... you mentioned that if the OP's debt is past his states SOL, the creditor can pound sand. I was under the impression that no matter what the SOL is, the OD or a CA can go for a judgment in court. I also read that the OD or CA can successfully be granted a judgment unless the debtor shows up for the court date and pleads the SOL rule. If successful the judgment can then be put on his/her CR regardless of whether the OD or CA collects any money for the debt. Once the judgment is granted, I've read that in some or all states(?) the judgment can be renewed every 20 years. Any insight into this? Anyone?
     
  9. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    It's not uncommon to hear about someone getting sued by a CA for a time-barred debt. If you are sued, you would just need to respond and raise the expired SOL in defense, essentially telling them to go pound sand. If you fail to respond, the CA could obtain a judgment though. You're absolutely correct.

    I'm sure jam might like to jump in and expand more on this.
     
  10. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    Anyone can always file a suit (if they are represented by council, and sue willfully and knowingly on a debt that's time-barred - the attorney can be in trouble themselves - if the company would file suit themselves, they may be able to argue that as a lay plaintiff, they didn't know that it was time-barred).

    You would want to respond to the suit, following your regions policies and procedures. Your defense would be that the account is time-barred by the statutes of limitations. Personally, I would also file a Federal Court lawsuit in my district for violating the FDCPA for threatening an action that can not legally be taken. This puts me in the position of being in a place to lose nothing, and gain $1,000.00... and if they know the suit is filed against them, they may have an incentive to pound sand just a little bit harder and faster. :)

    BTW: If I wasn't at a conference all last week, I would have noticed the thread earlier. ;)
     
  11. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    YOWSERS!!! Has it really been 12 years since I published the treatise on Why Time Barred = Delete? :)
     
  12. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    Apparently so. Glad you're still around sharing your expertise after all those years!
     
  13. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    I'm getting too old and crotchety... :)

    Last night, I got an auto-dialer for a scam company that allegedly does business funding...

    I spent more than a half hour constantly bombarding them with calls back to get their contact information, just because I needed to do something during my drive home from work. :)

    Not surprisingly, they have an "F" rating from the BBB. :)
     
  14. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    Sounds like you had an enjoyable drive home from work :) What's the name of the scam company that was providing you with so much excitement?
     

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