Who has the authority to delete an account from a credit report?
koreanqt81 asked:
Okay, the story. Company ABC sends a delinquent account (if value matters, then less than $250) over to collections. The customer pays the debt through the collections bureau. Customer requests that the account be deleted from credit report because this account is listed as a negative item, even after payed in full. When the customer makes this request to the collections bureau, they say ABC has the authority to delete it, not them. When customer calls ABC, he is told once the account goes to collections there is nothing they can do, hence collections has the power to authorize this deletion. After a boring game of phone tag with these companies, customer is FRUSTRATED!
Okay, the story. Company ABC sends a delinquent account (if value matters, then less than $250) over to collections. The customer pays the debt through the collections bureau. Customer requests that the account be deleted from credit report because this account is listed as a negative item, even after payed in full. When the customer makes this request to the collections bureau, they say ABC has the authority to delete it, not them. When customer calls ABC, he is told once the account goes to collections there is nothing they can do, hence collections has the power to authorize this deletion. After a boring game of phone tag with these companies, customer is FRUSTRATED!
So who has the authority to delete this account from a credit report? And is there an “exact” phrasing to get the said company to accept this authorization and get it deleted?
Jared
July 12th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Ella
Check one of your free credit reports (Experian, Transunion, or Equifax) and file a complaint under the term that you paid off. It should be removed that way. It make take a couple weeks. Good luck.
July 15th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Brian
Only the company who reported the item can remove what they report. If this debt is something regularly reported to the credit bureau like a credit card, ABC would have reported it as a charge off. The collection agency would report that they have the account in collections. Both would show on your credit file.
If it’s a single entry item like utility or medical bills, then the collection agency is the one who reported it and only they can remove it.
In any case, there is nothing you can do to force them to remove the derogatory item. Paying does not get the item removed. Even if you had a written pay for delete agreement, there’s nothing you can do to make them remove the item. It will remain on your credit report for the balance of the 7 year reporting period.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Beth
The credit bureaus and the person/company who reports the account are the only ones who can actually remove the accounts.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Darryl
This is a common misconception among consumers. If an account is credit reported by a creditor or a collection agency, and the consumer pays the account once it’s reported, the data furnisher does not have to remove the trade line from the credit file. The data furnisher does have to report the account as paid though. A lot of people think that once it’s paid, it’s gone…not the case.
Unfortunately, you can not authorize the data furnisher to remove the negative trade line from your credit file. The are certain criteria that must be met for a trade line to be removed and payment of the account is not one of them. You could dispute the debt, but the agency will only have to send you verification of the debt from the creditor.
I’m sorry that this isn’t the news you were looking for, but it’s pretty accurate.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Shannon
The company reporting the account to the credit reporting agencies have the ability to delete an account from your credit report and the credit reporting agencies have the right to delete items from your credit report. I would try disputing it with the credit reporting agency, sometimes that will get it knocked off. With the collections agency you should have had the agree in writing to a pay for deletion agreement. It would mean that you would pay them only if they agreed to deleted the account from you credit report. I don’t know what to tell you though about the collections agency.
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 am
Connie
?redit repair work?d fine to fix my credit. They disputed and removed lots of bad items from my credit report. I used this service - freecreditreport.hotusa.org