I hope someone can help me. I have a credit card charge-off that was charged off in fall 1997 and paid off in full in the summer of 1998. Experian reported the date of the charge off correctly (fall 1997) but they reported the date to "fall off the report" as 7 years from summer 1998. I know that the FCRA states that a charge off falls off 7 years from the first delinqunecy that led to thecharge off (in my case, spring 1997), so I disputed the "fall off" date with Experian, being very clear about when the charge off happened. Well, Experian updated the report and made it worse. The charge off date was changed from fall 1997 to fall 1998 in order to keep the "fall off" date the same. I know this seriously lowers my FICO score by making the charge-off more recent than it truly is. And to make matters worse, the fact that I disputed this entry is showing up on Equifax (and I suspect Transunion when I get it), with whom I did NOT dispute at all. I'm at a loss on what to do. I want to send Experian a letter from the credit card company proving the right date of the charge off to have their error reversed (hopefully raising my FICO score a bit), but I know in doing so, I'll also be validating the debt. And, I had planned to use Junum or Lexington to dispute this entry on Equifax and Transunion, but now I don't think I can, since apparently the company updated the dispute with one CRA to the other two. Does anybody have any suggestions? Should I let time pass without a validating letter from the creditor and then get Junum/Lexington to dispute it off the report due to inaccuracy or should I get Experian to change the date now to salvage my FICO score? Should I try to dispute with Equifax/Transunion, even though the entry reads "account disputed by consumer"? Does that notation on these credit reports disqualify me from any future dispute attempts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
RE: Please - Can anyone advise Since you paid your debt (charge off) in 1998 and it was reported paid in 1998, not 1997, this bad credit will remain on your credit report from 1998 when it was reported. If you had not paid any on this debt, the time period would have been from 1997. Your disputes are not valid and this bad credit entry will not drop off till fall of 2005. But if you need postiive credit on your Experian Credit Report to help counter the bad credit entries, go to: http://acu4credit.com and read all about credit.
That is incorrect Setember 27, 1997 the FCRA revised their guidelines any default that occured AFTER this date is to be reported for 7.5 years from the FIRST day of delinquency not the last day of acitivity. Debts prior to the revisement however seem to be reported as 7 years from last day of activity. So if your charge off occured after Sept 27 1997, then it should fall off 7.5 years from your first day of deliquency.
RE: That is incorrect Mom, this guy is just spouting off every chance he gets so he can spam his site. If you noticed, every post he writes, he promotes his acu4credit site. He acts like he is a client of theirs but obviously he has something to do with it.
RE: That is incorrect Thanks, Mom! I knew the first poster was way wrong. I just needed some advice on how to proceed legally. shulamite
RE: Please - Can anyone advise First of all, he's wrong. It's either 7.0 years (prior to 9/97) or 7.5 years (after 9/97) from the ORIGINAL DELINQUENCY DATE or CHARGE OFF DATE, which ever is later. Secondly, he's a scam artist trying to scam money on his web site. He claims to "add 24-60 months of seasonsed history" for a fee. He also sells "a new credit file". These activities are highly illegal. Do not be scammed by acu4credit.com!
RE: That is incorrect He's even posting on other boards as "happy customer Jane Alexander", claiming a 43 point increase is his "score". What a scam.
