Hello all, I have 2 entries on my credit reports from Discover: One is a charge-off from college, the other an authorized user from my gf. I recently called about the authorized user account, and they pulled up the old charge-off instead. The woman told me that the account had been sold to another lender, and asked if I wanted their number. Since I have never heard from these people, I didn't take the number. The date of last activity for the charge-off was in 4/1999. What is the best way to deal with this? I could easily pay the debt now ($1000). It was a college credit card, after my grades slipped, I stopped working to make the grade...you can figure out the rest. Should I send a letter to Discover, or try to contact the CA? I went to college in New York, and now I live in California. It's possible that the CA tried sending collection notices to my old college address (doubtful it would be forwarded). My address is current on all the CRA reports, so I'd assume they could have gotten a correct address from there. So, why have I never heard from them? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you may guess, I have little experience or knowledge with this. I'd really like to clean up my credit. Thanks!
SK: Paying off the debt will likely get you nowhere with Discover because they will most likely not list the account positively since it did go into charge off. Did you try disputing?
Is that really the date of last activity? You probably could dispute incorrect date. Could you dispute the Au as not mine? If you do, make sure you get in WRITING, that they will delete for payment. Some people on this board state that you should never call a creditor, or the collection agencies. I wish I could offer you more. Keep reading, and it will come.
Actually, it seems that the date of last activity and date of charge-off status is different in every report. So at least two of these must be wrong. However, I do not have any idea what the true date is for anything; date account went unpaid 30 days, date it was determined a charge-off, etc. So, I have no documentation to support a dispute of the date, except maybe other CRA reports. Also, what is the justification for removal based on an incorrect date? At best, I would think I could get the date pushed back (the earliest charge-off report is in 1998). Discover hasn't reported since 12/99, so maybe the easiest thing to do is to dispute as not-mine? They obviously have me on file (as determined in my telephone call), but since they have sold the account to someone, maybe they wouldn't verify? Any more thoughts? Thanks!
Yes, I can easily get rid of the AU account since this one definately is not mine. Or, have my ex remove me as an authorized user. This account is up to date, with few late payments. The only thing is she's (my ex-gf) in debt management, so it says: "Canceled by creditor" in the tradelines. I am going to remove the AU account anyway, because my ex is probably about to declare bankrupcy, and I REALLY do not want this showing up on my report.
I think you can dispute anything that is not matching on each report. I do not know how exactly. Sorry. I think you can dispute it by incorrect date. The one thing I have picked up on this board is that you can dispute anything, any type of way. (I hope I said that correctly). Sit down, continue to read this board, and it will come.
Ok, I'm on shaky ground here as a newbie, so you may want to verify this info with others, but here is what I would consider doing: 1. Get off the AU account ASAP, as you were planning to do. Just to avoid getting tangled up in stuff. Besides...as you said, it's not yours. It's your ex's account. That should be easy. 2. Dispute as 'not mine' to the CRAs and see if they can verify with Discover or whoever was reporting it. If it comes back verified, they will give you the address to send your validation letter to the OC or CA (request the method of verification, so you have the contact info...). Use the letter templates posted in the letter forum or search this forum for specific customized letters, but be sure to tailor it well for yourself. Dispute it, at that point, as 'not mine' to Discover or whatever CA, and require them to supply you with ample information about the account, such as the relevant dates, etc. (BTW, your private rationale could be: you know it is 'not yours' as it now stands simply because of the inaccuracy of the dates listed. You cannot accept that listing as your account because it doesn't correctly list the specifics of the account that belonged to you; therefore, it is not yours until you realize that it is (the listing becomes accurate somehow). The burden of proof is on them to show that it is yours. You then are shown (or not) that it is yours, beyond all doubt, and you can negotiate settlement for deletion or it will be disputed off because they have no real binding info to prove your ownership. Post a question, perhaps, to the board about what a true validation would supply: ie., original signed contract AND past bills, cancelled checks, etc.--I'm not clear on this part, having not gotten to that part, myself, but perhaps someone can advise you more directly. I know it has to be more than the original contract... Hope I haven't led you in the wrong direction. I've been reading posts for a while now, but I don't know it all enough to be properly strategic or thorough. (Just a disclaimer.) And, hey, if you haven't already, you could search on charge offs to see other instances perhaps similar to yours, too. Best wishes...
My husband had an old Discover account chargeoff. The thing dated back to 1995 when I started fixing the report four months ago. The collection agency was NCO before I knew any better I called them on the phone. None the less they were very surprised to hear from me. I inquired about this account and they told me that the amount was not 5,600 anymore, due to all their interest the amount was now 13,700. LOL. I negotiated a settlement for a paid status with them for 3,000. They never did report to Discover to mark the account as paid on the reports. They never issued me a receipt for the 3,000, that worries me somewhat as who knows down the road they might crawl back from under the rock and say we still owe them. My husband was never really bothered by phone calls from collection agencies, he used to get the collection letters and throw them away. (I honestly didn't even know he had this problem) He didn't want to involve me as his debts were from his first marriage. He was never sued by Discover and like I said the amount was 5,600. He was lucky, I did pay the settlement and quite regret it now. I didn't know any better when I did this. Oh well chalk it up to experience, what ever you do don't pay NCO, they are liars and crooks. The only problem I have is I couldn't get Experian to delete it, the account is scheduled for deletion 09/02 and they are really making me wait until then. Trans Union and Equifax deleted it off two months ago, mind you the dates for scheduled deletion was for July on those reports. I tried disputing that also with Experian and got no place. They came back to me and verified this account. (I don't believe them that they even contacted anyone) When they say they verified they usually mean their own records, its a joke.
Dispute with CRA that Belongs to primary acct. holder, please delete. I have gotten 10 deleted this way.
