I AM A NEWBIE TO THIS BOARD. I AM CURRENTLY TRYING TO CLEAN UP MY CREDIT REPORT. MY FICO SCORES ARE 647 EXPERIAN, 649 EQUIFAX AND 660 TRANSUNION. I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT WHAT IS REALLY KILLING MY SCORES ARE ENTRIES SURROUNDING SOME OLD STUDENT LOANS. THERE ARE TEN OF THEM. I HAVE PAID ALL OF THEM IN FULL AND DID SO IN 2001. THESE LOANS WERE TAKEN OUT FROM 1984-1987. INITIALLY I MADE SPORADIC PAYMENTS, BUT WAS UNABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THEM. THESE LOANS WERE TRANSFERRED TWO AND THREE TIMES EACH TO DIFFERENT LOAN SERVICING GROUPS. FINALLY, THEY WERE SENT TO COLLECTIONS. I ENTERED INTO A REPAYMENT PLAN AND EVENTIALLY PAID ALL OF THEM IN FULL. THEY APPEAR ON MY CREDIT REPORT MULTIPLE TIMES SOMETIMES AS CHARGE OFFS AND ULTIMATELY SHOWN AS PAID COLLECTIONS. HOW DO I GET THESE OFF OF MY CREDIT REPORT?
If I'm correct (if not, someone here will correct me!) your restarted the clock on the loans once you started paying. Since the date of last activity is 2001, you have three more years to go before they are cleared. Can you talk to the CAs to see if they can mark the loans as paid as agreed? Sometimes that can help your credit standing.
When did they initially go delinquent? If after that they were at sometime brought current and paid off, or even never paid off, that initial delinquecy date still determines the start of the 7 year period for reporting on your credit reports.
THEY WENT DELINQUENT BACK IN THE EARLY 90'S. I KEPT TRYING TO PAY THEM BY MAKING PAY BACK ARRANGEMENTS, GETTING FOREBEARANCES, ETC. ETC. BUT EVENTUALLY THEY ALL ENDED UP IN COLLECTION, WITH ME PAYING THEM OFF ENTIRELY (FULL BALANCE OWED) EVENTUALLY. DOES THE 7 YEAR PERIOD RUN FROM THE VERY FIRST TIME I GOT INTO TROUBLE OR DOES IT RESTART EVERY TIME I MAKE A NEW PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT? I WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN MORE ABOUT ALL THIS AT THE TIME, BUT I WAS EARNESTLY TRYING TO STAY OUT OF HOT WATER AND PROMISED MORE THAN I COULD CONSISTENTLY KEEP UP WITH. I DID EVENTUALLY GET THEM PAID, BUT THEY ARE NOW TOTALLY RUINING MY CREDIT.
The 7 year period restarts whenever you bring the account current, and then go delinquent again. If after you are first delinquent, you never bring it current, or you finally bring it current and pay it off, then the 7 year period is from when it first went delinquent. If that was over 7 years ago, it should be off your reports.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm#606 "... �§ 605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports [15 U.S.C. �§ 1681c] (a) Information excluded from consumer reports. Except as authorized under subsection (b) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information: (1) Cases under title 11 [United States Code] or under the Bankruptcy Act that, from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication, as the case may be, antedate the report by more than 10 years. (2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period. (3) Paid tax liens which, from date of payment, antedate the report by more than seven years. (4) Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years.(1) (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years.1 (b) Exempted cases. The provisions of subsection (a) of this section are not applicable in the case of any consumer credit report to be used in connection with (1) a credit transaction involving, or which may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount of $150,000 or more; (2) the underwriting of life insurance involving, or which may reasonably be expected to involve, a face amount of $150,000 or more; or (3) the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more. (c) Running of reporting period. (1) In general. The 7-year period referred to in paragraphs (4) and (6)(2) of subsection (a) shall begin, with respect to any delinquent account that is placed for collection (internally or by referral to a third party, whichever is earlier), charged to profit and loss, or subjected to any similar action, upon the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the commencement of the delinquency which immediately preceded the collection activity, charge to profit and loss, or similar action. (2) Effective date. Paragraph (1) shall apply only to items of information added to the file of a consumer on or after the date that is 455 days after the date of enactment of the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996. ..."
I CHECKED MY CREDIT REPORTS AGAIN AND IT SEEMS THAT THE LOANS SHOW UP WITH A DATE OF LAST ACTIVITY OF 6/1999. THEY WERE SENT TO COLLECTION 1/2000. I AM NOT SURE WHETHER AS OF 6/1999 THEY WERE FULLY CURRENT OR NOT. I HAVE DISPUTED THE ENTRIES WITH THE CRAS AND ALSO WITH SALLIE MAE. I REALLY NEED AN ACCOUNTING TO CHECK THE DATES. ALSO, THESE LOANS WERE TAKEN OUT DURING THE YEARS OF 1983-1987, I'M NOT SURE ANY OF THE ORIGINAL PAPERWORK WILL EXIST OR WHETHER THEY WILL BE ABLE TO VALIDATE, GIVEN THIS WAS REALLY BEFORE A LOT OF ALL OF THIS COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS AS TO WHAT TO LOOK FOR IF AND WHEN THERE IS VALIDATION SO I CAN CHALLENGE THE DATE OF FIRST DELINQUENCY? WILL THEY HAVE TO SEND ME DETAILED PRINT-OUT OF THE ACCOUNT HISTORY? THANKS A MILLION FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!
Within 90 days of posting a negative TL on your report, the OC or CA, whichever is reporting, is required to notify the CRA of the original date of delinquency. That is how the CRA knows when to delete. Ask the CRA what original date of delinquency is being reported, or when their records show it is due to come off. Cross check those dates across the CRAs reporting. If it went to collection in 2000, or went delinquent in mid 1999, it should come off in 2007, in a little over a year.
