Hi, Today I received back the results of my Equifax dispute. My husband and I have 2 old repos. One from 1997 with Americredit and one from Credit Acceptance from DOLA 3/98. First I disputed the Americredit because it was repo'd in 1997 along with a couple of accounts that were not ours. TU and EX deleted Americredit with NO problem. Equifax said they updated it. They put the high balance at $0. Huh???? Their DOLA is showing 4/99. I am so frustrated. So my question is (actually, I have several, PLEASE be patient with me, I am new at this) WHAT DO I DO ABOUT EQUIFAX??? In addition, there is about 7 months left until Credit Acceptance should fall off. Can I dispute it now or should I wait? Also, we have several old negative accounts 4-5 years since DOLA, a couple have gone on to CA (evil, wicked Sherman & Midland). These are time-barred in FL where we live. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM? Also, I manage to get $7000 of debt deleted from my husband's CRAs. I pulled his FICO scores this morning. EX went up 61 points, TU and EQ stayed the same. It's so confusing and infuriating!!! I am only a couple of months into the process and I am already so obsessed, frustrated, and overwhelmed that I am ready to just throw in the towel. I don't know if I am doing this process right or just screwing up more. PLEASE, PLEASE SOMEONE THROW ME A BONE OF HOPE!!
Hey mommy, I'm not a FDCPA expert (yet, lol) but here's my 2 cents worth. The date certain is the last date you made a regularly scheduled payment before it went delinquent and eventually became a repo. The credit bureaus must delete after 7 1/2 years (If I understand that right--7 years after the 180 day delinquency ends in reposession). calculate 7 1/2 years from the date you went delinquent on the Americredit account. That is when it should have fallen off of the report. It looks like they reaged the debt so that it wouldn't fall off your report until 2006-ish. You can 1) Send a letter to Americredit demanding that they remove their tradeline from your report as it is reporting a) beyond the 7 year period b) has been illegaly reaged to damage your credit c) is time barred in your state and is uncollectible. Send them an ITS letter if they don't correct this. Additionally send the dispute to Equifax stating that it was reaged and obsolete information that should have been removed on the date you calculated above. 2) As far as Credit Acceptance, you can either wait OR dispute it if you want. Disputing with the CRA might eventually cause it to be reaged as well, but you should be able to give the creditor hell. 3) The other debts which are time barred should be able to be removed. I'm not that familiar with it but follow this thread...it seems to be really helpful and well thought out..... http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=428600#post428600 Hope this helps
Its always a good idea to dispute before the account is 'obsolete', because just because it falls off the consumer & general reports, it would still be on the EXEMPTED (high insurance, job, or credit-line) reports, unless it has actually been deleted. Don't just look at the DOLA on Equifax. The key is what is being reported in the following section of the trade line "Date First Maj Del First Reported", DOLA can actually change, the delinquency date can't, and that is what is used to determine the 7 year period.
Just hang in there... Any deletion (of a negative tradeline) for the most part, is a good thing. Just because it didn't directly affect your scores, yet, doesn't mean you should give up. There are a few exceptions to the any deletion is a good thing rule, but those are mainly for situations when the negative trade line was your oldest trade line, then you lose the negative information, but you also lose some of the points for having an older account. Don't bite off too much too chew at any one time. With the CA's that are time-barred, I would suggest going to WhyChat's site (you can get there from the link in the thread in my signature), and look for the legal cite for your states SOL. Send that to any time-barred CA, just changing the account information, and then dispute with all three CRAs. The CRAs and CAs want to make the process overwhelming, that way the consumers will give up, and they win. You don't want them to win. It takes time, but you'll get there... Just try to focus on one or two accounts at a time (unless there are a number of accounts in the same situation), and feel free to take small breaks between them, if you need to catch your breath (or re-strategize).
Thanks, jam and rondaben, You have both been very helpful. I feel much better. I'm going to slow down some and TRY to quit being completely obsessed!!!! The WHYCHAT info is superb. I'm going to look up the ITS letter to use against Americredit. Does anyone happen to know the thread offhand? Thanks again!
