Now, the credit reporting can get complicated because they could be reporting a $0 current balance and still have the charge off notation, but it should be a PAID chargeoff.

Without seeing the exact reporting and the disputes I can’t really make any recommendations, but for Experian you should submit a WRITTEN dispute like this:

“The account was paid in full and no amount was written off.” If that doesn’t fix it, you might want to talk to a lawyer. And of course update here.

They can report the derogatory charged off and PAID account up to 7 years from the charge-off date, but it’s most important that the balance is $0.

After repeated attempts to correct this by phone, WebBank/DFS (Dell Financial Services) refuses to remove derogatory information from my credit report, even after my paycheck was garnished for $800 per month for four months and paid in full (via judgment) on April 27, 2012. All three credit reporting agencies show an unpaid balance of $2713 owed to WebBank/DFS (Dell), which they incorrectly reported as a charge off that was written off. For example, the Experian report reads, Status: Account charged off. $2,713 written off. This is not an outstanding debt! I paid Dell back every penny owed (via garnishment) plus attorney fees, and they refuse to honor my repeated requested to remove this damaging information from my credit reports.

This item is inaccurate because the full amount was sent to collections, I was sued, wages were garnished and fully collected and paid in full on April 27, 2012. I have been battling this issue for over a year now!

P.S. The amount for which I was sued was mostly finance charges and late fees accumulated during a time I had requested financial hardship assistance while battling cancer. These people are heartless!

Apparently Dell and their attorneys think that the Dell horrible business practices and repeated lies are perfectly acceptable.

If this matter isn’t resolved to my client’s satisfaction within a week or so, I’ll be drafting my client’s complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and whatever other regulators could possibly have an interest in Dell’s bizarre business practices.

I’ll start a new blog for Dell as for notorious debt buyer Asset Acceptance and my client’s complaint to the NM AG:

http://liarsandcheats.info/debt-buyer-asset-acceptance-incorrect-credit-reporting-and-collection-inquiry/

Notably, it appears that my complaints and publications about Asset Acceptance resulted in ALL debt buyers now reporting collections correctly to credit bureau Experian as “collections” instead of installment loans.

And I’ll be contacting consumer attorneys. I don’t know anything about Indiana law, but I sure hope that Dell’s providing FALSE information is violating some Indiana consumer protection law.

I also recently found out that my client’s wife has a Dell chargeoff and it’s the exact same situation. Dell transferred me to Resurgent and Resurgent told me that the account was returned to Dell on 4/20/10.

Clearly, my client’s ordeal is not an isolated incident as his wife has the exact same situation and you also experienced this extraordinary incompetence.

If I have to draft regulatory complaints, I’d like to hear from you. Make sure you record the phone calls and keep a CALL LOG, take names and employee ID numbers, etc.

I’ll update here.

Did they change the “date opened?

“On top of that, there is one account for which DOFD was sometime in 2004, however they are reporting this as a new opened account.”

It is very confusing how Equifax reports the various delinquency dates. It’s best to use the myFICO report’s “date of last activity” to determine when an account will be deleted (add 7 years). Obviously, an account that became permanently delinquent in 2004 SHOULD have been deleted in 2011. So what happened there?

You are comparing the date of last activity to the date opened and I really have NO idea what’s going on as these two pieces of data are not at all related. That’s why I spend many HOURS when I prepare a credit analysis and I really can’t give any credit advice without seeing the actual reporting. If you want to post a screenshot of the reporting before and after the dispute, I can tell you a LOT more.

thank you for the response. The old derogs are from collections that were on my report but were paid 3 years ago. In disputing some erroneous information, they marked both paid collections as new COs. On top of that, there is one account for which DOFD was sometime in 2004, however they are reporting this as a new opened account. My score took a few dinges because of this and i even got denied credit based on the falsely reported “new” COs.

“they are reporting old derogs as newly charged off accounts”

If an account is assigned for collection or sold to a debt buyer it is reported as NEW account. That’s why NEW collections are so devastating to FICO scores even if they are for 6 year old chargeoffs and they should be settled BEFORE they are reported if FICO scores are important.

In my client’s case we know the balance was incorrect and he even provided Experian with the Chase 1099. If your disputes were FACTUAL and you can prove that the reporting is incorrect, I’d suggest you sue.

I have been disputing incorrect info on my reports too since December. No luck with Experian especially. I sent a follow up dispute but they won’t budge. Should i sue them now? They won’t remove zombie debt from my report and they are reporting old derogs as newly charged off accounts. Very annoying and a waste of my time. Thanks.

“IMPORTANT UPDATE: On August 12, 2011, a notice was filed with the Court to appeal the Order Approving the Settlement and orders regarding the Motions for Attorneys’ Fees for Monetary and Injunctive Relief. Appellants filed their opening briefs with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Appellees must file their answering brief(s) by June 21, 2012.”

It looks like they might still be waiting for a ruling from the appeals court. The PLAINTIFFS and OBJECTORS filed the appeal and I’d get the documents from PACER if I had more time and it wasn’t so aggravating to read those briefs.

And I don’t know whether any money has been put into a trust and it doesn’t matter as the credit bureaus are unlikely to go bankrupt. The judges decide how much of the settlement goes to legal fees and how much goes to the class members.