Credit demons.....?

Question

I have some very bad things on my credit report. The first step I have learned is to opt-out using creditboards.com. The second step is have my correct information on my credit report including my new married name. I have some accounts almost in obsolete categories. I am afraid to change information as the correct address is on my credit report and the collection agencies will then possibly relist or renew a debt that would have fallen off.

I was also told that I could dispute the debts on the report as they are listed under an incorrect address or name. How can I do this without "giving away" another seven years wait time if the collection agencies pull my credit again.

Thanks for you help.

OC 1999,

There are several times on my credit report where the debts appear to be reaged or listed 4 times. I don't want to get into any trouble by asking here, but can you offer any personal assistance to me as you seem to know alot about cleaning up credit...

Answer 1

Creditors are not allowed to "Re-Age" debts. The date starts from the date of your last delinquency, no matter how many times the account is sold to collection agencies. The only time a debt can be re-aged is if you make a payment and stop paying again, thus making a new delinquency date. In some cases the debt can be re-aged if you acknowedge the debt, such as you agree to a payment plan to settle the debt. If the creditor was going to try to re-age the debt it does not matter to them if the information is correct or not. But if they do re-age the debt you must dispute that with the Credit Reporting Agencies(TransUnion, Equifax, Experian).

Debts on your report do not list the individual address or name associated with each individual account so there would really be no way to dispute any debt on these reasons. The only way you could dispute something like this is if it was not your account at all.

If you were thinking to dispute the debt because it has your maiden name and not your married name or some minor misspelling, that won't work at all because it is still you. There is also a separate section that lists ANY address that has ever been reported. If any of those are incorrect you have a right to dispute them and have them corrected.

Answer 2

If you are disputing the items through Transunion, Equifax, and other credit reporting agencies, they don't renew accounts. If you supply the information to the collecting agency, (Bob's Find n Fine or whoever) they will dun you under the new name, so avoid them. I would contact Transunion, Equifax, etc. and ask for copies of your credit report, and then dispute any that are not you or your debt. (If it is you and the "incorrect name" is your maiden name, and the "incorrect address" is your former address, don't bother--they will catch on and restore it.) Good luck.