How would you go about trying to get a negative report from a credit union removed? What are my chances?
Is the late accurate? Is the late in any way connected with, say, billing errors by the credit union, such as by failing to correctly process a change of address that was made by you in a timely fashion, followed by sending of bills and statements to an old address?
yes they were sending statements to an old address, but i dont know how "timely" my change of address was the report is accurate, as far as i can tell, i'm wondering if a goodwill removal works with credit unions like it does with CC companies.
"Timely", regarding address changes, is defined in the Fair Credit Billing Act. Here is a summary: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fcb.htm "... The FCBA settlement procedures apply only to disputes about "billing errors." For example: unauthorized charges. Federal law limits your responsibility for unauthorized charges to $50; charges that list the wrong date or amount; charges for goods and services you didn't accept or weren't delivered as agreed; math errors; failure to post payments and other credits, such as returns; failure to send bills to your current address - provided the creditor receives your change of address, in writing, at least 20 days before the billing period ends; and charges for which you ask for an explanation or written proof of purchase along with a claimed error or request for clarification. ..." Also: "... ...the creditor fails to follow the procedure? Any creditor who fails to follow the settlement procedure may not collect the amount in dispute, or any related finance charges, up to $50, even if the bill turns out to be correct. For example, if a creditor acknowledges your complaint in 45 days - 15 days too late - or takes more than two billing cycles to resolve a dispute, the penalty applies. The penalty also applies if a creditor threatens to report - or improperly reports - your failure to pay to anyone during the dispute period. ..." And: "... Other billing rights Businesses that offer "open end" credit also must: give you a written notice when you open a new account - and at certain other times - that describes your right to dispute billing errors; provide a statement for each billing period in which you owe - or they owe you - more than one dollar; send your bill at least 14 days before the payment is due - if you have a period within which to pay the bill without incurring additional charges; ..."
In other words, if you notified them of your new address (in writing) at least 20 days before the end of the billing statement, they must send that statement to your new address at least 14 days before any due date after which interest or penalties would be assessed. They would also be violating FCBA if, for example, they were sending your statements to your correct address, and they screwed up and started sending them to an erroneous address, such as an old address. "Goodwill" is particularly appropriate with credit unions, and especially if they may have made an error that contributed to the problem. As a member, you are a part owner. For example, although under FCBA, you would have to notify them of your new address timely, and in writing, many people call creditors and notify them by phone. If the CU screws up, you might only know a month or so later, when you realize you haven't gotten your next statement. It is entirely reasonable to expect that they should have processed your address change, you have acted in good faith to contact them to find out what is wrong and pay the bill, and you should expect them to waive late fees associated with their error, and to not report it as late since it was due to their error. Without regard to whether you could sue them under FCBA, a reasonable bank or credit union, interested in maintaining the quality of their customer service, would do so. You shouldn't tolerate less.
That all makes sense, after reading a lot of other posts on this forum it seems that most people think goodwill letters won't work with any line that has already been fully paid though, which is why I ask if i should use the nutcase letter instead.
Depends who you are dealing with. If it is a CA, you are not talking about "goodwill" anyway, only negotiation. It is a one-off transaction. If you are dealing with the OC, in the business of providing something you may continue to buy (credit, phone service, medical care, whatever), you have a value as an on-going customer, which is what "goodwill" is to them. My only point above is that a "goodwill" request has a stronger chance if there is an error on the part of the other party, regardless of whether you could, or would, sue over it. It overcomes the knee-jerk objection you sometimes find of "For whatever reason, it was late, so I have to report that.", with your reply of "You made the mistake, and you may have broken federal law. What are you going to do to fix it?". The simplest solution is to agree it never happened. People do have basic concepts of right, wrong, fairness, etc, and like to believe that they are acting fairly. When you run into the low level clerk who just says "Yup. We screwed up, but you were late, so too bad.", you go over their head, or to the top, where customer perception still counts. This is most effective where the other party already believes their policy is to "do the right thing", typically banks, hospitals and medical providers, etc. where part of the value they sell to you is that they are trustworthy and reliable, or where you provide substantial business making it in their interest to accomodate you.
