Thoughts on letter re:re-aging

I just drafted the following letter to send to a contact I was able to attain from a Creditor who re-aged a paid chargeoff on my CR. In my first email looking for this contact, I stressed the fact that if this couldn't be resolved to my satisfaction I would file complaints to the BBB, FTC, AG, and if that failed, file suit. When I reply to that email, including this letter, the "threat" will still be in the original email thread at the bottom. So I didn't put it in my letter. I didn't want to overkill.

I'd appreciate any thoughts, comments, or criticism.
Thanks

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Thank you for responding. I have been going round and round with a paid charge off being reported from your company, [Creditor], on my credit report. The tradeline was incorrect and I disputed it with the credit bureaus. The information was allegedly verified by the credit bureaus and remained.

I requested from the credit bureaus a "description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information" and was given an address for [Creditor].

I sent a letter to that [Creditor] address provided by the credit bureaus asking for validation of the account. I did not receive the validation that I asked for, but received a Fraud form to fill out. This was not what I requested.

Sometime after this request, [Creditor] pulled a hard inquiry on one of my credit reports. I did not apply for anything from [Creditor]. I authorized no such action and there was no permissible purpose. This is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. § 1681b] section 604.

Also in this timeframe, the tradeline was re-aged by [Creditor]. This is a violation of United States Code 1681c [Fair Credit Reporting Act] Sections 605 (a) and 605 (c). The tradeline was due to be deleted per the FCRA 7 year rule on 11/2001, as reported by Experian. The re-aging now shows the tradeline charge off date as 7/2001. Meaning it shows as a CURRENT charge off, not due to be deleted in 7/2008. This is totally unacceptable, as well as, illegal.

I disputed the fact that the account was re-aged with Experian and [Creditor] verified this information as accurate. How is this possible?

The account in question is only partially identified by the bureaus. Experian has the account listed as #####...

If you find it necessary, I have all the documentation proving the above statements and the details of each infraction of the FCRA.

This has been going on for over 6 months and as I said in my prior email. I would prefer to handle this amicably. I'm tired of dealing with this. This tradeline should have dropped off of my credit report in 11/2001.

What I would like you to do to resolve this:

Send a letter with the required information to have this tradeline permanently removed from my credit file to Equifax, Experian, Trans Union and Innovis.

DO NOT under any circumstance pull my credit report causing a hard inquiry on any of my credit files, as I stated above I have the documentation including my credit files from multiple dates if you find it necessary to resolve this issue.

I would like to keep our correspondence in writing, and for the sake of time through email. If you find you can resolve this as I have asked, please send me a copy of the correspondence that will be sent to the bureaus, for my records.

Thank you,

Name & Address

 

Thanks KHM!

I figured I state the facts and give them the opportunity to do whats right on their 3rd try.

I'm hoping this does the job, so I don't have to sue.
I just want the damn thing gone! (Last major derog

But if it doesn't work, I'll probably go after EX because I know they'll trade the deletion for dropping the case.

 

Thanks breeze & George.

I was chomping at the bit to send this. But what the heck, it's not like anybody is going to see it tonight. I think I'll sleep on it and read it again tomorrow at the office, before I send it.

And of course, check creditnet for any last minute adjustments

 

Got Response... BUMMED!

I got my response, not exactly what I was hoping for.
I need some more help, Pleeease

They basically responded that they updated the 3 major CRAs with the original dates. Which I still think will be incorrect. I believe they are refering to the date they charged off and not the 180 days from first delinquency that caused the chgoff.

But any update other than deletion sucks, especially because I already have it off of TU.

So my questions are:

Does "fixing" the tradeline make the re-aging infraction go away? (I'm guessing not!)

They pulled the inquiry when I sent them the validation letter, would this be considered permissable purpose? (I'm hoping not!)

Should I tell them they that perhaps I wasn't clear enough. That I wasn't asking them to fix it, but rather to delete it, as a sort of pre-settlement so that I would not have to file suit.

At this point if I file suit it would be for the FCRA infractions and my settlement would be for deletion. But if they refuse to delete it, I could probably win the $2k in court, but I'd still have the derog.

Any ideas? I'm really bummed!

 

Re: Got Response... BUMMED!

Bobbi,
I'll be interested to hear what happens.

I did the dispute letter to EX first, they ignored the proof and verified.

That's why I was trying the above letter to the creditor. In the letter I pointed out that Experian had the drop off date as 11-2001.

In reality, the chgoff was somewhere around late 96 or early 97, so by them updating, it will now be on all 3 until 2004. I was using the Experian drop off date as a bit of a bluff. It backfired

 

Re: Got Response... BUMMED!

Bobbi,
Thanks for your support, I appreciate it.
I've been drafting my response for the past 2 hours, probably at least one more hour to finish. I'll post it here when it's finished for a critique

 

My response, what do you think?

{EDIT}
Bobbi,
I posted before I saw your reply. EXCELLENT! I'm very happy for you. Hopefully I'm right behind you
{END EDIT}


Alright, I didn't get my questions answered above, but I believe that there is some definate merit to this letter.

If anybody want's to take the time to read through this thread and/or the following letter and offer advice, I would much appreciate it

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Dear Mr. {Creditor guy},

Thank you for responding. I believe we might have a bit of a misunderstanding or perhaps I wasnâ??t clear enough in my last email. There are a couple of points I would like to address.

First, the date to be reported is not the date you â??wrote offâ? the account and most definitely not the date the account was paid off. According to the FCRA in Section 605(a)(4): Section 605(c) and in accordance with the staff opinion letter referred to as Amason (02-15-00):

In enacting the new provisions discussed above, Congress intended to establish a date certain -- 180 days after the start of the delinquency that led to the chargeoff -- to begin the obsolescence period. It did so to correct the often-lengthy extension of the period that resulted from later events under the original FCRA.

Secondly, I did not ask for you to update all 3 credit bureaus with a date. I fear I wasnâ??t clear enough. {Creditor} did violate the FCRA on at least 2 points causing 3 or more infractions. Updating the date does not rescind these violations. My recourse for the violations can be complaints to the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the New Jersey and Ohio Attorney Generals. My final recourse will be a small clams lawsuit seeking damages in the amount allowed by the FCRA based on:

§ 616. Civil liability for willful noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681n]
§ 617. Civil liability for negligent noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681o]

{Creditor} re-aged the date of the above account as a punitive action.
{Creditor} pulled a hard inquiry without permissible purpose.
{Creditor} verified the re-aged date as correct when contacted by Experian during their dispute resolution.

My offer was for you to remove this account was, for lack of better terms, a pre-settlement offer. I am not threatening, nor am I bluffing. As I said before, I would be happy to provide you with the documented proof. Also, as I said before, I would like to handle this amicably. This however, will be my final offer.

 

Re: My response, what do you think?

Thanks LizardKing!
I really appreciate you taking the time to look them over and comment.