My mom is applying for a student loan in order to go back to school. She was denied due to a charge off on her account. She has proof that the account is paid in full even though it was delinquent for a period of time but the credit company says that she can pay a debt in full and still have it labeled a charge off. This is a debt from her divorce, four years ago and hasn't come up on other student loans, car loans or mortgage loans. She's trying to go through Equifax to dispute this but she's being told to call a phone number that she isn't given in any emails she's recieving from them. Does anyone have any experience dealing with a credit report error or Equifax in general and can give us any suggestions for how to fix this?

By Jjandmom on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 09:03 pm:

When I applied for a fashion bug charge I was not able to get one I had called and they told me cause I had a old phone bill I said it was paid off they told me when they are paid off they stay on your credit for 5 years so I was ticked off. I told them I would never shop there anymore needless to say about a month later I took my daughter in there for school clothes and they told me to fill one I out I said why I couldn't get it the last time well within 2 weeks I did have a card. And needless to say I do shop there for my daughter and never use the card anyway.

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 09:29 pm:

First, don't try to handle it by telephone or e-mail. This is a situation where you must - must - do it by hardcopy snail-mail. Here are the addresses of the big three credit reporting agencies:

• Equifax: 800-525-6285; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
• Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
• TransUnion: 800-680-7289; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Your mom should write to Equifax with a copy to the Federal Trade Commission. Here's a link for a list of the FTC's regional offices: FTC.

Your mother should first get copies of her credit reports from all three agencies. She can get them for free. Then, for this particular debt, if it was reported to Equifax as a "charge off", she needs to write to the creditor (again, with a copy to the FTC), and tell them that she demands that they immediately correct their report to Equifax in that the debt was paid in full (although late), and was not a "charge off". She should say that because of their inaccurate report she is wrongly being denied credit and that if they do not immediately correct the inaccurate report she will file a complaint under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Yes, late payments can stay on your record for 5 - 7 years, but there is a big difference between late payments but paying the debt off in full, and a charge off.

This is why financial advisors so strongly recommend that you get a free copy of your credit report. You are entitled to one free report a year from each of the credit reporting agencies, so if you do one every 4 months, you can keep fairly close tabs on your credit reports.

By Crystal915 on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 10:19 pm:

Ginny gave great advice. When you dispute with the credit reporting agencies, the creditor has 30 days to respond, and either validate or change the report. If they do not respond, it is wiped off the report. I disagree to an extent about needing to do it via snail mail, I have had things corrected by simply filling out the online dispute form at the site for the reporting agency, and waiting. They send you an update no matter what after the 30 days.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - 06:39 am:

Crystal is probably right. The thing is to keep a record, which you can't do with telephone calls. If you do it by the online dispute form, try to print it out before you "send" it.

By Anonymous on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - 09:10 am:

I filed bankruptcy last year,mostly medical bills. I got my credit report this year to see how it looked now and almost everything still said "chagre off" with me still owing instead of "included in bankruptcy". I filed a dispute online. It was pretty easy, they had things to choose from as to what it should say. Equifax sent me an email saying they were looking into it and mailed me a hard copy of the corrections.