Hello, everyone. I'm still a newbie, still reading lots and still learning. I'm trying to put together a plan on how to clean up my credit reports, and so I'm gathering some information before I dive into it. My question is (as you can tell from the title) -- how hard is it to dispute an old account with Providian as "not mine"? I have a negative TL, which was a secured Providian Visa card, that dates back to 1999. It was a paid charge-off. I paid everything they said I owed on the account back then, so I don't think I have to worry about waking any "sleeping giants." The date of last activity is March 1999, and the date they last reported the account, according to my Equifax report, was April 1999. So...since it's been five years, is it likely that it would fall off if I disputed the TL? Or is Providian good at keeping records and reporting old negative accounts back to the credit bureaus as "verified?" Has anyone else tried to clean a Providian account off their credit records? If so, how much success did you have? Thanks in advance for your input, Sisko
I am fighting Providian as we speak - so far they are non-responsive - I'm hoping the certified letters I sent last Friday to office of general counsel and the Board members may generate some sort of acknowledgement - I have them on an FCRA violation on a settled acct of my husbands - if nothing else, I will be as persistant as they like to be------
Well, the account is now 5 years, you may be able to dispute it off, but some CRA's may only give you one shot at it, so make it a good one. In writing, dispute whether or not the account is yours, and demand to see proof that it is your account. In your written dispute to the CRA's you want to demand that the data furnisher CONCLUSIVELY verify in accordance with Johnson v. MBNA, and you'll want to quote that part of the appeals court ruling in your dispute letter. Chances are they won't pass the dispute letter, or even the conclusive demand to the data furnisher. But remember, as was shown by Johnson v. MBNA, usually 5 years after the account was opened, the paperwork for it go in the shredder. The joys of DRPs (Document Retension Policies). Therefore, if the proof that they need to conclusively verify the account has been shredded, it can't be conclusively verified.
Just for info purposes; Providian is one of the hardest to deal with, and get removed. I have been going after them for almost a year. I still can't get it to budge. But try it, you may get lucky. Do your first dispute as "Not Mine", and make sure you retain all documentation. Good Luck.....
Providian was my first derog to go after I found this board, and my story was similar to yours...account from 1999, etc...mine had gone to NCO and they sold it to someone else, I forget who. I disputed it as "not mine" and it fell right off all three. Maybe I was lucky. That was last May. I never contacted the CA or Providian. The funny thing is, they were sooo nasty to me when I fell apart financially in 1999, constant harassing phone calls, etc...that it was ironic it was deleted without a struggle!
