When and how does my "7" yrs. of neg. status start

[marc]

Hi ! I'm new to the site-wanted to say thanks for all the gr8 info. I'm trying to start cleaning up my credit and look forward to using your insights. I intend to challenge the many inaccuracies in my report as I know that the original debts "went into bad standing" well over seven years ago. However my reports state that "date of last activity" was 1999 or 2000 etc. this is not the case as I was still in college (1995-96) and remember well when I fell behind and ulitmately defaulted or occured charge offs and simply never paid them again.

How do I contest this and request that the charge offs /negative info be deleted. (i.e using 7yr rule) . These accounts are so old I don't even have any paperwork from them. But I know I haven't made a payment to any creditors or had any"activity" with them in 7 yrs.-- and even if I did(paymt) I thought that was irrelevent as the time frame(clock) started from date of late standing.. As such I assumed by now it would have been deleted. Apparnetly not. Any tips?? Thanks..M.

[DocDon]

The clock starts from the date that lead to the derrogatory information. A 30 day late in April, 1996 would drop April, 2003.

In the case of a charge-off, 7 years plus 180 days is the general rule of thumb. Say you missed your last payment in April, 1996. You would go 30-60-90 days late which would bring you to July, 1996. The account becomes charged off in October, 1996. The end of your 7 year period would be October, 2003.

If it has extended past 7 years, it may very well be that the account is being re-aged, which cannot be done. Post your dates of your accounts in question, and we'll set you on the right path.

[kb9tbq]

Have to remember the 1997 rule of no pre charge off formula; just went by the date the creditor provided for charge off.

I can't find this source; my search skills are lacking - especially since the FTC site changed their web page. Terrible; can't find anything any more.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/kosmerl.htm

Ok, finally - opionion letter, that covers the pre 1997 charge off accounts.

[DocDon]

Hey kb,

I remember a discussion about this a while back. I read the opinion, and it doesn't say what it means to have a charge off prior to 1997.

Am I correct in assuming the new law simply mandates the 180 day + 7 years? And that charge offs prior to 1997 will simply have to expire 7 years after the charge off date on the report?

[Swede]

Hi and welcome to the board

How do I contest this and request that the charge offs /negative info be deleted. (i.e using 7yr rule)

You don't do your first dispute using the 7 year reporting rule. You always start out disputing negative items as "not mine". This is because if it's verified, you'll have more chances to dispute things within the listing such as 7 year, balance, open date, etc. If you start out using the 7 year rule and it's verified, you can't really go back and say "oh this ain't mine"

Am I correct in assuming the new law simply mandates the 180 day + 7 years? And that charge offs prior to 1997 will simply have to expire 7 years after the charge off date on the report?

Yes that is correct, the amended 7 year reporting rule applies to accounts that were place after Decmeber 97. Before that, it goes by the time the creditor actually charged off the account. HOWEVER, this is a mute point because a) CRA's go by the new rule for all accounts anyways and Federal Banking Laws require creditors to charge off account NO LATER than 180 days of non-payment (120 for closed ended account). So this means that the timeline is pretty much the same. The only difference would be if the creditor would charge off the account prior to 180 days, then it would fall off earlier but I doubt they would actually provide you with proof of that since they're trying to re-age it.

So bottom line- don't get too caught up in pre vs. post 97 reporting requirements because it's pretty much the same timelines anyways. Here's the 3 opinion letters talking about 7 year reporting rule.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/johnson.htm

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/kosmerl.htm

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/amason.htm

[DocDon]

Thanks much for that clarification.

[Swede]

Thanks much for that clarification.

Love that image of yours.....soooo appropriate

[marc]

Hey thank you all for the great info. I intend to start the process asap. I'll be in touch. Thanks again. ....Marc

[abennett]

In 1999, I got a cell phone and ending up owing 2k. (Crazy situation) Well I never paid them and they never reported it to any of the credit bureaus. EVER..............Well December of 2004, I get an alert showing me that Portfolio checked my credit and that I had the account on my credit report showing 120+ days past due with a balance of almost $3500. I never recieved a letter from them. Well now the SOL has passed and the 7 years will be up. But how can they put something on my credit from 99 that has never been up there before. And if the last day of activity was 3/99 on my credit, when is the 7 years up, cause I thought it would be 3/06 but i keep reading about these additional 180 days. Help a sista out. I already sent them a certified DV letter and I am waiting for their response.