breathing_easier Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Need the help of my comrades in credit repair. Anyone have any ideas of something I could try that I haven't already tried to get my open, active Marshall Field's account back on my CRs?? Here are the details: My 10-year-old, never late, still open, active Marshall Field's account with a good debt-to-credit limit percentage was first reported as "closed" on all three CRAs by Bank of Ohio (services The May Company) after The May Company purchased Marshall Field's from Target in August 2004. Before that it had been reported correctly by Retailers National Bank for more than 10 years. I called Bank of Ohio and asked that they correct their reporting of my account with the CRAs. They said they would and sent me a letter confirming same.The next month (October 2004) I check my CRAs and *poof*, my Marshall Field's account has disappeared from all three CRAs. FICO scores go down by 10-15 points across the three CRAs (because it threw off the balance of my revolving, installment, mortgage, auto lease accounts as well as my debt-to-credit limit percentage). I call the CRAs, they say that Bank of Ohio/Marshall Field's requested that they delete the tradeline. I call Bank of Ohio again. Tell them that my account is still active and I still use it each month (I don't tell them that I am mainly using it for its FICO value). They say yes, they can see that the account is still open and in good standing. That was November 2004.Fast forward to May 2005. Five letters from Bank of Ohio/Marshall Field's and numerous phone calls to the CRAs later and the TL is still not reporting. I think the problem is that Marshall Field's letters say that they are requesting the CRAs to update the TL (which is now non-existent), when they need to be requesting that the CRAs reinsert the TL. Think I'm going to have to finally elevate my discussions above the CSR supervisory level because they refuse to give me the number to the mysterious "Credit Bureau Department" to which they keep referring. I give the CSR rep my phone number, fax number and e-mail address and ask him or her to forward it on to their Credit Bureau Department so that I can speak with them in person to clear up the confusion. They emphatically promise they will, and I never hear from the Credit Bureau Department. Of course, I then once again get a letter on Marshall Field's letterhead stating that they are advising the CRAs to correctly update the TL.I call the CRAs again and they ask me to forward them all of Marshall Field's letters to me re the missing TL. I decide to overnight the letters to speed up the process. I promptly receive letters from the CRAs saying that they can't use the documentation/evidence I sent (What the...?? So glad I spent all that $$$ on overnight mail!) and they will need to hear directly from Marshall Field's.And round and round and round we go. Unfortunately, there is no law saying an OC must report to the CRAs and so I'm at their mercy. However, I do know that if I were to stop paying on this account that Marshall Field's would reinsert a negative TL in a heartbeat. Help? Any suggestions?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit-nightmare Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 I have no idea...mabey a three way call between the three of you , so the lady from Marshall Fields can tell the a$$ at the CRA to reinstate the TL and they can have you on the line for questions ? I dunno . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahntara Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 You DO have a nightmare. And you have been handling things properly.Have you tried a PR with the CRA's?Have you tried a literal FACTA dispute with the DF?That ole "we cannot accept your documentation" is standard, form-letter stuff. Don't let that rattle your cage.Perhaps now is the time to try the standard GW tactics to get the TL re-inserted...Luck to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 I have no idea...mabey a three way call between the three of you , so the lady from Marshall Fields can tell the a$$ at the CRA to reinstate the TL and they can have you on the line for questions ? I dunno .Actually, it's Marshall Field's (Bank of Ohio) who has dropped the ball on this one. I think the CRAs would be happy to reinsert but the only notations they have in their records is when MF/BofO requested that they delete the TL. Nothing after that.Have you tried a PR with the CRA's?A procedural request wouldn't apply here because there is no dispute. Can't dispute a non-existent TL. No law that says an OC must report to the CRAs.Have you tried a literal FACTA dispute with the DF?DF? What's a DF?That ole "we cannot accept your documentation" is standard, form-letter stuff. Don't let that rattle your cage.Nah, I wasn't surprised. I got the same "can't use your documentation" response from EQ on a TL that was reporting incorrectly. I had a letter from the OC with the correct information. EQ said "Please send it." I did. Received a swift reply from EQ saying "can't use your documentation." I had told them exactly what I would be sending, so why didn't they tell me then that they couldn't accept it? Why go through the charade of making me send it? The OC was finally able to get the TL updated correctly so all ended okay, but it still was frustrating.Perhaps now is the time to try the standard GW tactics to get the TL re-inserted...In November 2004, after two months of trying to get the TL reinserted, I did send a goodwill letter to the CEO of The May Company. He, in turn, sent it to Bank of Ohio's Customer Service Department, so I was back to Square One. Thanks for reminding me, though, as I'll now send a goodwill letter to the head of Bank of Ohio.Thanks for the replies, both of you. I thought perhaps someone would have experienced a similar situation and could let me know what worked for them. Ah well, I've had a few negative TLs disappear from my accounts with no explanation, so maybe this is karma for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Hi breathing_easier,I don't mean to be pedantic, could you be the victim of cost cutting? I am told (and have read,) that it costs money to report accounts to the bureaus... It almost sounds like some middle management type is saving money on his budget by switching to a policy of reporting only bad accounts. I would imagine on a company wide scale the savings could be rather large (on a quarterly/yearly basis. )Could your goodwill letter to the CEO mention something along the lines of :... in addition to the great stuff I buy (worded better) as an astute consumer I look for additional benefits in my business relationships. For instance using your Charge/Credit Card increases my credit score if it is reported to the CRAs.Unfortunately since the merger/takeover this account is no longer reported to the CRAs nor is it a part of my credit report and score. I have written you before and unfortuantely you gave it to the three stooges to correct so of course it is still SNAFU'd.(- worded better.) Is there any chance that you could ask someone with an IQ over 45 or 46 to correct this situation ? (That is, of course, assuming that you have in your employ someone who has an IQ over 45...) Anyways just a thought...(Forgive me if this hard to follow, I took a pain killer earlier and I sometimes I get a little loopy - yet I can't sleep because it causes me insomnia.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 I am told (and have read,) that it costs money to report accounts to the bureaus... It almost sounds like some middle management type is saving money on his budget by switching to a policy of reporting only bad accounts.Thanks, Radio. I did ask Bank of Ohio about that and they said no, they were reporting all accounts. I thought to ask because my open, active, eight-year-old Verizon Wireless TL *poofed* last summer across all three CRAs (another nice little ding to the ol' FICO). Called about it and was told that they were now only reporting delinquent accounts. I like my Verizon service and so I'll just have to live with their not reporting. I realize that closed, positive TLs probably will drop off at some point, but it's killer when the open and active, positive TLs start disappearing. Got a chuckle out of your "frst draft" letter. Hey, nothing else has worked so far...who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit-nightmare Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Miss a payment , then it will show back up ....just kidding. Mabey you can have them transfer that account ( like it had been a stolen card) and open it under a differnt account # , or would that cause you to lose the postive and long history ? I don't know . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Mabey you can have them transfer that account ( like it had been a stolen card) and open it under a differnt account # , or would that cause you to lose the postive and long history ? I don't know .Nah, don't want them to open a new account. Really need the 10+-year history. Bank of Ohio did suggest that early on after they'd inadvertently deleted the TL with all three CRAs. I said no to that suggestion, especially since I know OCs reinsert TLs all the time and they should be able to figure this out. If I'm going to have a new revolving account on my reports I want it to be a regular cc with a decent credit limit. I opened a Hudson's charge years and years ago, but canceled it as I found I just wasn't using it that much. More convenient just to use a regular credit card. (That was long before anyone had ever even heard the word FICO, so it was no big deal to close a card. Would love to now have that 25-year history!) I opened another Hudson's account in 1994 when they were offering 25% off any purchase that day if you opened an account. Glad I'm not falling for those offers anymore! So nah, if they don't reinsert the TL I'll keep the account open, but with a $0 balance and just not use it until and if they ever do reinsert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit-nightmare Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Yeah , I see your point. That has got to be frusterating ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 I did once lose a credit card and when they issued a new card with a new number they did transfer all of the old account info. My reports do now show two TLs, one for the "Closed, Credit Card Lost or Stolen" account and one for the open, active account. If I could be certain that Bank of Ohio would transfer the old info, I might consider it in this case, but ... call me paranoid ... I have a sneaking suspicion that that is not what would happen. Just a hunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blel0906 Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 This is comical....and proves a valid point....CRA's/creditors say they can't legally removed information unless incorrect because its supposed to be a valid predictor of a debtors ability to pay....but Creditors don't report anything but negative to save money or they only update a few times a year...what BS....Reading on the collectors board about pay for delete and they say that they can lose their ability to report if it was reported properly in the first place....then creidtor a only reports to one cra etc etc etc....what a bogus system this is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Hi blel0906Reading on the collectors board about pay for delete and they say that they can lose their ability to report if it was reported properly in the first place....That is bull pucky ....Having been a creditor I know better. What they are talking about is the fact that the CRA's will suspend their reporting priveledges if they have too many changes based on Errors. There is a legal precedent as well as UCC section covering this type of failure to protect the intregrity of the banking system by allowing anyone to report erroneous data.I would imagine that if 60% of all the creditors in America would update 25% of their reportings in one month because of PFDs, the CRA's would go berserk. They would research why this happened and then kick some a$$.This isn't happening nor is it about to happen... The CRAs get paid to report the info the creditors give them. This is called the golden rule of credit reporting. He who has the gold makes the rules and is never wrong.These people on the collector site are children who are fed lines of "interesting thoughts" (BS) by their superiors who want to justify their actions and the fact that they are accomplishes to the greatest fraud perpetrated on middle America for the last 20 years... Credit Reporting and Scoring Scam of Corporate America..The shame is that us citizen employees don't or can't stand up and say this is wrong.. if we do we'll lose our jobs. Or maybe we just are too self-centered to stop something that we see as wrong. Me - I left the Banking Industry because I couldn't make a difference and I couldn't take the hypocrosy...Two weeks ago I had a conversation with one of the nice young ladies who is a clerk at my Insurance Agent's Office. I just switched my Homeonwers Policy to the same company that insures my cars for a multiple policy discount. I was challanging the company about of the miniscule discount I received and I mentioned that I know about the credit scoring and insurances rates thing- I told her that I thought this wasn't rightShe confirmed to me that my auto policy was based in part on my credit score obtained in December 2004 at the time of my last renewal. She said that if there had been a change in my credit rating that they would be happy to pull my credit (a hard pull mind you!) and re-evaluate it. I said "I'll do that later" and she then informed me that they had statistics that clearly show that:People who have low credit scores are more likely to file frivilous or small nuisance claims driving up the cost of insurance.(She didn't DARE say fraudulent claims but I could her hear almost say it out loud, she caught herself before she went to far...)I believe her -I suspect that a large percentage of the people who file frivious claims or small claims (or even fraudlant claims,) have low credit scores. That doesn't mean that everyone with low scores will file these type of claims... and more importantly, That is not what credit reporting is for ...Insurance is NOT the extenson of credit - period. This justification to charge above normal rates for a huge percentage of our citizens (to catch a few bad apples,) and make a decent profit doing it. This is called conspiracy to overcharge, (price gouge.) I told her about some of my experiences with credit reports being grossly inaccurate and that this is bad business. This nice young lady then proceeded to tell me how her credit is messed up and her live in boyfriend's credit is screwed up and they want to buy a house and they can't yet and how many problems this has caused them etc. etc. etc...To quote a funny movieline...Hello - "McFly" are there any brains in your head? What were you thinking... You're part of your own problem... you are quoting this policy based on statistics to me when you are a victim of the same flawed thinking...They say America needs to fix some of these problems... Maybe it starts with us at our jobs everyday...Sorry, I said too much... I am just so tired of hearing about what the statistics say I'm going to do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blel0906 Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Radio Guy,What a joke...ha ha ha....so they will look at my credit score to determine I am going to make frivilous law suits...never mind you that I have been a driver for 18 years and have never filed a law suit...give me a break....I can come up with a bunch of phoney statistics as well if they would like... As for the pay for delete thing what other choice does a person have...your damned if you do or damned if you don't its not like they give you anything positive for making the effort....oh besided a warm fuzzy feeling inside because you took care of the matter...so you get punished for a mistake you made 5 years ago for 7!!! Wheres the incentive...plus if it was such a perfect predictor why all the loop holes and inconsistancies in the system? A collection account that is 5 years old regardless if every other account you have reflects a perfect history kills ya creditors will turn you away just for that one thing....those that don't make you take it up the rear in interest rates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Hey ble0906What a joke...ha ha ha...Please don't misunderstand...I wasn't kidding or trying make light of your situation... I think the Insurance cos are a bunch of rip off artists.I was just venting about the injustice of it all...On the PFD s - This really is a conspiracy to bump up people's interest rates and keep them in the endless loop of semi-slavery paying all the time and never getting ahead...Well it's a game alright and I decided that from now on I will always win...Best credit history, Best credit scores, best rates and availability from now on...and I am going to help everyone I can do the same thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blel0906 Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I did not take it you making light of my situation...which honestly is not as bad as what others have....The more involved I get in this process the more frustrated I get and yeah venting helps...so vent away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Good news! It's taken nine long months, but I saw the first of my three erroneously deleted Marshall Field's TLs reappear today on EQ. Hurrah! Hoping TU and EX will soon follow suit. The CL for the EQ TL is reporting as $0, so need to get that updated ASAP, but other than that everything looks great. The woman I've been working with at the May National Bank of Ohio (MBNO) has been great in keeping me posted on her dealings with the CRAs. She insists that it wasn't MBNO that requested that the TLs be deleted so guess that will remain a mystery. At one point the CRA reps were telling her that they couldn't reinsert a deleted TL. Yeah, since when? I faxed her a copy of Sec. 611 of the FCRA to pass along to the CRAs. Anyway, happy to finally see the first of the three TLs reappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Awesome !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Thanks, Radio. My EQ FICO actually took a slight hit of a few points because the CL is not reporting and there is a small balance reporting (which could be interpreted by FICO as my CL being maxed out), but I think that is easily fixable. Then again, I thought getting the TL reinserted would be an easy fix! It's been an eye opener, though, as to how at least some CRA reps don't know the FCRA. For them to tell the Credit Bureau Department at MBNO that they couldn't reinsert a deleted TL was mind boggling. The Credit Bureau Department at MBNO really has been great about trying to get this problem fixed, but I was a little puzzled as to why they didn't have a copy of Sec. 611 of the FCRA handy to send to the CRAs. I was happy to fax it to them, but ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghacorp Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Isn't it funny how credit bureaus spur consumers into charging up their credit cards by rewarding consumers with a favorable tradeline? Drop the tradeline and they no longer shop at Marshall Fields! Go figure. Maybe Capital One or someone will come up with a new "FICO booster" credit card for a low annual fee of just $500 a year! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Drop the tradeline and they no longer shop at Marshall Fields!Doesn't apply to me...I kept shopping at Marshall Field's even after my TL was deleted. I've shopped there since I was a kid (back then it was known as J.L. Hudson's in this area) and so part of the reason is nostalgia and part of the reason is it's an anchor store in most of the big malls in this area. Another reason is that I have one right across the street from my office and so it's very convenient. But yeah, since I do give them a lot of business and I've been a customer for so long and have a very positive payment history I do want them to report a TL. As with all my other revolving accounts I make sure a small balance is on the account at the time they report to the CRAs, then I pay the account in full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 but I was a little puzzled as to why they didn't have a copy of Sec. 611 of the FCRA handy to send to the CRAs. Been there - Done that... and Don't need to do it again...Having come from a banking background, I can tell you a bunch of reasons why they don't have operations manuals and legal docs available to employees...Suffice it to say the employee are (most likely,) keeping their heads down (to keep from having their heads shot off,) and working their hardest in whatever circumstances they are given... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Suffice it to say the employee are (most likely,) keeping their heads down (to keep from having their heads shot off,) and working their hardest in whatever circumstances they are given...I'm sure most are hard workers. However, I still can't imagine why the CRAs wouldn't want their employees to have the information and knowledge to do their jobs. To have them say, "Once a TL is deleted it can't be reinserted" is in direct contradiction to the FCRA and just makes them look foolish. Ah well, at least all's well that end's well (at least partially...still waiting on EX and TU). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted October 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 More good news...one year after deletion my Marshall Field's tradeline has finally reappeared on my Experian report. So now just waiting on Trans Union. However, Experian is reporting a CL of less than what it really is (my contact at May National Bank of Ohio doesn't understand this as she has her records of what she reported to them). Also, when the MF's account reappeared on my EX report so did Retailer's National Bank's reporting of the TL of the account when Marshall Field's was still owned by Target. Unfortunately, the the Retailer's National Bank TL is listed under the "Potentially Negative Items" category because it's status reads as "Account Sold or Transferred." So, even though I never paid the account late it still could be perceived as a negative TL. It took me a year to get the Marshall Field's TL by the May National Bank of Ohio reinstated. Therefore, I'm concerned that if I attempt to delete Retailer's National Bank's TL as a duplicate it may take the May National Bank of Ohio's tradeline with it. Would like to hear your thoughts as to what you would do??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breathing_easier Posted November 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Good news! It's taken nine long months, but I saw the first of my three erroneously deleted Marshall Field's TLs reappear today on EQ. Hurrah! Hoping TU and EX will soon follow suit.*SIGH* I just don't know what it is with this Marshall Field's TL but it doesn't seem to be able to remain on a credit report for any length of time...at least not since Target sold Marshall Field's to The May Company last year. As of 11/10 my MF's TL was reporting exactly correct on EQ as it had been since July after a long battle to get it back on my EQ report. Checked EQ today...MF's is gone again. The May National Bank rep (they took over the handling of MF's accounts from Retailer's National Bank) has been great to work with for the past year. She has busted her hump to get my MF's TL back on all three reports. Just left a voicemail for her and know she's going to be saying as she listens to it, "Oh no, not her again!" Soooooo frustrating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I've got the same problem. Capital One inexplicably deleted my two active accounts from TU (but not EX and EQ). They deny having done it and insist they're reporting properly. TU says uh-uh, they deleted the TLs and aren't reporting them at all. Meanwhile, I have lost two positive, open TLs and apparently I have no right to know how, why or when they were deleted.It's truly unbelievable how little control you have over your own information. They act like my own financial details are none of my business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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