California Credit Law Blog

The Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibits credit bureaus from reporting most debts more than seven years old. The seven year clock starts ticking from the date of first delinquency.

Confusion about the date arises when the consumer brings a delinquent account current and then the account becomes delinquent a second or third time. The account will then have more than one date of first delinquency. The report of the first delinquency will remain 7 years and then fall off the reports. The report of the second and third delinquencies will run 7 years after those events. Most accounts become delinquent and stay that way.

If the account is sold to a debt buyer, the 7 year calculation does not change. Some debt buyers illegally re-age accounts to keep it on the consumer's credit reports. Victims of this practice have a valid claim for damages if their dispute letters to the credit bureaus do not get results.

Frequently people ask me how they can get the credit bureaus to correct inaccurate information on their credit reports. I always tell them to dispute inaccurate credit reports via letter sent Certified Mail, Return Receipt. Why do that, you ask, when I can dispute on-line or by phone? If you look at their websites, you know the credit bureaus encourage consumers to phone or email. It is almost impossible to find an address to mail a written dispute letter to.

There are COMPELLING REASONS to do your disputes in WRITING, Certified Mail, Return Receipt. If you have put it in writing and kept a copy and obtained a receipt you can prove exactly what information you provided and that they received it.

You want to provide the credit bureau with as much information as possible so it can conduct a thorough investigation. If you have names and phone numbers of people they should contact, provide them. If you have documents that prove your claims, enclose copies.

Sending a written dispute letter does not guarantee that they will fix your report, but if they don't you at least have solid evidence to support your lawsuit. Phone conversations and emails are hard to prove. You don't have as good a record and the credit bureaus can dispute what you said. Emails get lost. You don't get any proof that they received them.

Please keep copies of everything you sent with the dispute letter, including all enclosures and a copy of your signed letter. (Sometimes it is important for them to have your signature so they can compare it to the signature on the fraudulent account you are disputing.) Your file copy of the dispute letter should be an exact duplicate of what you placed in the envelope to the credit reporting agency.

If Experian, Equifax or TransUnion are reporting accounts that are not yours -- either mixed files or fraudulent accounts -- and they will not correct it, give me a call. Those are good cases.

WikiHow, a how-to-manual that you can edit, has excellent advice on dealing with zombie debt-old debts that cannot legally be collected through lawsuits. Companies buy the debt for pennies on the dollar and then use nefarious tactics to get consumers to pay. Tactics include harassing calls, threats to sue, and re-aging the debt (faking the date of last activity on the account) so as to report the debt on the consumer's credit reports.

WikiHow outlines steps to take and not take. For example, don't acknowledge the debt, do not make a payment on the debt, ask for proof the debt collector was assigned the debt (they may not have any proof), and ascertain if the statute of limitations has run. In California, the consumer has a defense if it has been more than four (4) years since there was activity on the account.