I was just reading a thread about the whole 7 years + 180 days controversy -- I have a question about foreclosures and I didn't want to hijack the thread. When does the 7-year reporting period begin for foreclosures? When the Notice of Default is filed, or when the Notice of Trustee's Sale is filed, or when they actually sell the house, or what? Would foreclosure be considered a "similar action" to a charge off or collection account? If so, then would you count 180 days after the first missed payment that lead to the foreclosure, and the 7-year period starts there? Here is what happened: Consumer (my customer) stops making payments on his rental condo because tenant moved out and he couldn't get it rented again. Notice of Default is filed in July 1996, Notice of Trustee's Sale is filed November 1996, condo is sold in April 1997. Part of the problem is that in 2000, Washington Mutual apparently bought the company who had held the loan at the time of the foreclosure. Now Washington Mutual is reporting a foreclosure as of May 2000. I disputed with CRAs for him, everybody but Experian deleted. I got a letter from WAMU (they are so screwed up, they might as well be a CRA themselves) that said the foreclosure was started in May 1996, and the property was sold in April 1997. Sent copy of letter to Experian, came back verified again. Sent screaming letter to Experian with another copy of letter from WAMU, came back verified AGAIN. If they go by the date of sale, it's not 7 years old yet. But it seems to me that this is the kind of case Congress was thinking of when they amended the FCRA. If they start a foreclosure in July and don't get around to selling the property until April of the following year, they shouldn't be able to report it for 7 years from the date of sale, should they? Wouldn't you go back to the first missed payment to calculate the date it should come off his credit report? I don't really know, I am just thinking out loud here. Of course, Experian isn't telling me why they aren't deleting it, so I don't really know if it has anything to do with any of what I just said. I have disputed this with Experian at least four times, and they won't delete it, so I told my customer his next move is to file suit. I just want to have all my ducks lined up before I go shooting my big mouth off. Can I get some opinions from the learned members of the board, please?
Date of Last Activity - DOLA I would argue that the date of last activity was the date that the LAST payment was made. The 7 year clock would start to run 180 days from DOLA. Certainly, the DOLA is not in 2000. If you are a deed of trust state the foreclosure sale extingushes the loan. If Washington Mutual continues to verify this account then you might want to contact an attorney for FCRA violations.
Date of Last Activity - DOLA The 7 year reporting period starts from the date of last payment on the loan after which the loan was never brought current.. The forclosure has nothing to do with it just as a charge off collection or BK don't have anything to do with the 7 year reporting period..
Date of Last Activity - DOLA This is precisely what I was concerned about. People inadvertently adding 180 days to the 7 year reporting period. Whomever fails to ask about it, may be stuck with an additional 180 beyond the appropriate time. When did it first appear on the CR? ??? Whether a gov't guaranteed home loan has different ramifications I don't know, but I don't think so. Traditionally with respect to an ordinary TL, justify your thinking. Reconcile your thinking to the following provision; § 605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports [15 U.S.C. § 1681c] The following is NOT to appear! (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years. If your thinking is "off", you don't have it right. Every account has a point at which it became delinquent. It has been eloquently defined thusly: The day after the due date of the first payment you failed to make, and never brought current, which resulted in a negative action. (immediately preceding the negative action) The date you made your last pmt. is NOT the date of delinquency. If your payment is due on Jan. 1st, (and you fail to make it), your account became delinquent Feb. 2nd. (Assuming pmts are due monthly. Some are due weekly, or whatever) Here's a detailed treatment of the issue, complete with arguments; http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49575&highlight=7.5 .
