Re-aging DOLA; CRA's refusing to budge - many ?? please!

[kimberlyh]

All Accts/info below opened living in Florida; moved to AZ in 2001 & where currently living

FIRST INCIDENT

Last used a Swiss Colony & Ginny's (sister companies) charge over December 1997.

Received demand for final payment in May 1998 I believe, OR, I have my years mixed up, and the date I last used the charges were December 96, and final payment demand was in May 97. (which I understand will also effect the DOLA, and drop off from CRAs)

FORWARD TO

2002, applied for mortgage, dates for the two above on our CRAs were older, and still had the 1997 or 1998 years - the lender questioned these, but, I distinctly told them, that all the companies did was send me "final notices" - EVEN when I requested a final bill so I could pay them off (which that I do remember.. LOL).

June 2004 - got on a "clean up our credit reports kick", so I pulled all of my husband's & my CRs, and noticed that 97 or 98 dates, so I started disputing tradelines, the 20+ incorrectly spelled addresses, etc.. that were on our reports.

Fast forward to December 2, 2004 when AZ residents could get freebie reports. I pulled mine, and now the DOLA states JUNE 2004 for these two charge accounts!!!!

I am highly pissed off about it.

1. By disputing these back in 6/04 did the CRA's reage these? NOTE: I canNOT find my CRs from 2002 mortgage and the ones I printed in June 04.

2. How do *I* PROVE these are being re-aged, since I cannot find any record of them? I have every record, receipt, etc dating back 7 years, I am totally anal about record-keeping, and I hold onto everything for 7 years.. BUT, I cannot find any reference to Swiss Colony or Ginnys. Therefore, by my own logical conclusion, these accounts are older than 7 years.

3. How do I get these OFF my CR? Should I send a validation letter to Swiss Colony or Ginnys, or instead validation letter to the CRA's?

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SECOND INCIDENT

1. Husband's CRA has a collection agency balance for an old phone bill in 1998 - that was PAID to the OC - we HAD to pay it, in order for us to have the phone service; GTE was the only phone service available locally where we lived!! We PAID the OC back in 1998 - before it even went to collections. When I disputed this with the CRA's, I got nothing back - they still have it on there!

How do I get rid of this? The CRA's will not remove it!

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THIRD INCIDENT

1. How to remove old addresses? The CRA's refuse to remove all of our mispelled, old addresses from our credit reports. I've tried everything - from online disputing to letters - but they still do not remove them. The address could be one letter mispelling, however, they will NOT remove these. We have between us, probably 20 addresses! AND, they actually have a MILITARY address - and neither of us was in the Military! THIS is ridiculous!!

eg: correct: Shangri La Road

will state: Shangrila Rd, Shangre La Road, Shangri-la Road, etc...

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FOURTH INCIDENT

1. College Loans. We each have college loans, now with William D. Ford/US Dept. of Education. Paying on time, monthly, current. However, previously the CL's were with collection agencies - who now are no longer valid, as all were sold / transferred over to the WDFord Program. (due to deferrment, back in school, etc...) However, on my husband's report - he has 2 prior CA's - both say "charged off with 0 balance"; and I have 1 prior CA again, says "charged off with 0 balance". How do I get these old CA's OFF our CR, since we are current and the WDFord program is the one that has our college loan?

Thanks for reading through these questions and incidents.

If you can assist, or at least let me know where to start, much appreciated!

I am one of those who need "step by step" instructions please, it's all jumbled and very confusing.

KH

[adminppdotcom]

3. How do I get these OFF my CR? Should I send a validation letter to Swiss Colony or Ginnys, or instead validation letter to the CRA's?

Reporting issues need to be taken up with the consumer reporting agency. Dispute the accounts as "obsolete" due to the DATE OF ORIGINAL DELIQUENCY being in 1997 (or whenever it was).

1. Husband's CRA has a collection agency balance for an old phone bill in 1998 - that was PAID to the OC - we HAD to pay it, in order for us to have the phone service; GTE was the only phone service available locally where we lived!! We PAID the OC back in 1998 - before it even went to collections. When I disputed this with the CRA's, I got nothing back - they still have it on there!

CALL the collection agency. This serves 2 purposes. (1) You can ask about the account and see if it's even yours, and (2) If they try to collect on it, they are required to provide you with the notice of validation rights.

See this link for a good example of this:

http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=25128

[paw67]

As for the Swiss Colony & Ginny accounts, are they listed by the OC or a CA? DH & I had the same problem with a couple of accounts looking like they were reaged after we disputed them. The dola should not have changed with the dispute but they will change the date of status to reflect when the account was last updated.

If by the OC then you would have to request verification because an OC isn't required to validate.

If they are listed by a CA then I would definately send them a dv letter asap. Once your receive the green card back then I would once again dispute with the cra's. I would dispute with them as obsolete and if the ca verified before they send you validation then you will have them on a violation.

DH had Swiss colony on his report and sent them a letter because we had no idea what the account was for and they removed it after the first letter. Hopefully they do the same for you.

As for the GTE collection, I would NOT call the ca. That is one of the first things that I learned in straightening out my & dh's credit - stay off the phone when dealing with oc's & ca's. I would send them a dv letter right away. Again, when you get the green card back dispute with the cra's. You can dispute it as paid prior to collection or if it is coming close to the 7 year reporting period you could dispute as obsolete.

As for the old/incorrect addresses, I would call the cra's and see if you can get someone to remove them. Several people have had to call numerous times to get them removed. Supposedly you just need to keep calling until you get someone that is willing to remove them.

Good luck & keep us posted.

Patty

paw67

[tropicaljo]

Whoa there, wait a minute. The very first indisputable rule I learned on this board is to NOT initiate a call with a CA. This has been repeated to every newbie that has joined since I joined this site over a year ago. How many times have I read, "They'll get you to say something that is not in your best interest."? How many times have I read about how someone called a CA and all they got was aggrevation and double talk?

Kim, The age alone is probably enough to get that old phone bill removed. DV the CA that continues to report misinformation. Until you do that, you won't get much help from the CRA's. Because of the age, and the fact that you paid the account off implies to me that they've probably purged the file due to age, and they won't have any derrogatory info about you. BEst case scenario is that they'll probably just send you a letter saying that you have a "0" balance. Then send that to the CRA's.

[DocDon]

Calling a CA is a just a difference of opinion, tropicaljo. As with everything discussed on this board, it is up to you to decide the best route to take.

[kimberlyh]

Whew!

Okay.. I think I got all of this so far; please correct me if I am mis-understanding the advice!

1. Ginnys & Swiss Colony are both with OC's; there is no type of collection agency for either of them. So what you are telling me is that because I disputed them last June, they changed the "date of status"? That is not the same as the DOLA? Technically - these should BOTH be off my report no later than the end of this year then?? (whether 1997 or 1998)??

2. The old phone bill was incurred in April 1998, and paid the same month we had it. We had rented out our house for 5 months to relatives while we were living out of state for one of my husband's construction jobs. When we moved back in, *I* incurred the charges in March 1998 - but paid the bill in April 1998. I disputed some of the charges with phone company they shut off the phone service, so I ended up paying the full bill and got a new telephone number. (basically new service, changing it to my name). There was never any collection agency - I dealt directly with GTE.

So - I should probably dig up all of my old Utility bills from 1997 & 1998 and make copies of them... Now - send this copy directly to GTE in Florida? OR, to the Collection Agency? sorry, I'm confused!

3. How do I get a REAL person when calling the CRA's to get the addresses removed? *laugh* They want your "report number" before you even get pushed through to a live person on the other end!

4. Any advice about the college loan collection agencies? Or, are we just stuck there?

Finally.. I found something else on my husband's report...

He paid child support to Michigan 'Friend of the Court'. CS was over in August 2001. However, Michigan forwarded the funds to San Jose, CA. Now, San Jose says he still OWES them money - and Michigan, who had jurisdiction over CS, has tried for years to tell California that his account is ZERO. Letters (copies sent to us), statements, telephone calls - all reflecting the zero balance.. All San Jose does is reply "well our accounting system is different, and he still owes this amount".

Is there anything we can do about this also?

Thank you all for replying... this entire process is long, isn't it? Not to mention it can get very very confusing for us just starting out! (and I've been a lurker - coming in and reading posts, trying to get ideas and sort things out!)

Take care,

KH

[tropicaljo]

You're right Doc. If a person is as experienced as you are concerning dealing with CA's, and OC's, calling them presents no undue challenges or stress. I've read enough of your posts to know that you don't take no prisoners. However, when I was brand new to this stuff, I made the mistake of calling a CA and then came here scared and distressed about how rude the woman was and how mad she'd made me. Swede spanked me for initiating the phone call, telling me to never, never do that again. I think before it was over with, I pi$$ed her off cause she's never responded to another of my questions or issues. Anyway, I was just repeating what I've been advised about that made perfect sense to me, for what that's worth.

[DocDon]

Plus, a paper trail, I've found is quite helpful in nailing them with violations - something that is often lost with telephone calls (unless those calls are being recorded according to your state requirements).

And, LOL, thanks for the 'compliment' - it's not so much having to do with confidence or not taking prisoners. I just don't feel like wasting valuable phone funds only to go around in circles with an abusive CA. Just personal preference. My thinking is "whatever you have to say to me, put it in writing. Anything else will be recorded by my answering machine".