Why is a disputed collection account still on my credit report?

Reader Alesia writes, “I disputed a collection account from 2016 on my credit report with all three bureaus. Two of them deleted the account. However, Experian did not and the creditor has updated the date of collection to November 2020. Does this mean it will now stay on my report until 2027? And why did the two delete it and not the other? I still dispute the account. What can be done in these situations?”

When you don’t pay your credit card bill or loan payment on time, the creditor eventually declares it delinquent. And typically six months after the time you first stopped paying your dues, it will either write it off or send it to collections. If it’s the latter course of action, the delinquent account becomes a collection account.

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Each credit bureau has its own processes

Alesia, the three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – are all independent of each other and have their own processes. That’s why you rightly disputed the collection account with all three of them individually.

Equifax, one of the three credit bureaus, advises in online commentary, “It’s important to remember that disputing information with one credit bureau may not impact information on credit reports from the other two bureaus. Also, dispute procedures may not be the same at all bureaus, so be sure to follow the procedure with the bureau where you’re filing a dispute.”

When you file a dispute with a credit bureau, the bureau will contact the creditor and ask it to look into the information and check its records. The creditor then has a 30-day time frame to respond to the credit bureau with accurate information. If the creditor does not respond by this deadline, the credit bureau can then act on any information the consumer has provided to update the account or remove it.

It may be that the creditor did not get back to Experian in time with the relevant information, and the credit bureau did not make any changes on your account. Or it may not have responded to all three of them in time, and each then acted on its own information (each has its own input on your credit history) and processes in dealing with the account. It could also be that the lender did not provide the same input to all three credit bureaus, for whatever reason.

Also note that the coronavirus pandemic has upset these dispute investigation timelines, and the CFPB has even said it will be lenient in allowing the stretching of this time frame somewhat for lenders and credit bureaus that are looking into disputes.

See related: A collection agency is pursuing me for an old debt I don’t recognize. What to do?

Date of first delinquency is what’s important

Alesia, you report that the creditor updated the date of collection on the account with Experian to November 2020, whereas this collection account goes back to 2016. One important date related to delinquent accounts and collection accounts is the date of first delinquency.

This is the date on which the debt first went delinquent. The debt will be reported on your credit report for seven years after this date. In the case of a collection account, it will be on your credit report for seven years after it went into collection, which is typically six months after the date of first delinquency.

This means it will show on your credit report for up to seven-and-a-half years following the date of first delinquency. The creditor’s updating of the date of collection to November 2020 would mean there is a change to the date of last activity on the account. It does not change the actual date of first delinquency. So the debt will be reported through 2023 and not 2027.

See related: What should I do if my debt’s date of first delinquency is incorrectly reported?

You could initiate another dispute

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows you to initiate a dispute with the credit reporting agency or the creditor that furnished the information to an agency if you don’t agree with what’s in your credit report. Alesia, you have gone through this process with all the credit bureaus, but you don’t agree with the result provided by one credit bureau.

You should contact the collection agency that provided the input to Experian to find out how this happened and see if you can sort out the issue. If there is a mistake it agrees to rectify with the credit bureau, don’t forget to get written input about the resolution for your records.

If that doesn’t work, you have the option of filing another dispute with Experian, and also with the furnisher of the information. Make sure to provide any additional and relevant information that could boost your case, such as updated credit reports from the other two credit bureaus.

If you don’t agree with the dispute resolution, you could also have a statement added to your credit report providing your account of the dispute.

Another course of action is to file a complaint with the CFPB, using its consumer complaint database. In case you don’t get a desirable outcome after all this, you  could even talk to a lawyer specializing in FCRA matters to get more detailed assistance on your particular situation.

Alesia, I hope the matter is ultimately resolved to your satisfaction!