Negative Item
by Kristin Vargas
1. Account number
1.1. Sites may or may not report the full account number BUT if the account number is entirely incorrect, it's disputeable
2. credit limit
2.1. is your limit reporting? Certain companies (such as Capital One) do NOT report the limit and instead state in the comments that the high balance is the limit. ALL accounts need to show the credit limit. What if your limit is $2500 but your high balance is only $200 because you're keeping your utilitzation low? Use the indirect dispute technique: Run-up and Pay off to fix this
3. term
3.1. check that #1 term is correct; #2 bureaus are reporting consistent information
4. status
4.1. current account status correct? If not, dispute it.
5. high balance
5.1. is high balance higher than balance? How is this mathematically possible? violation
6. date of last payment
6.1. this date will change when the account will be removed; make sure it's reported accurately
7. monthly payment
7.1. monthly payment on closed account? violation
8. date of last activity
8.1. oldest date is normally the accurate one: newer dates mean the account has been re-aged; this is a violation.
9. date closed
9.1. are there are late payments after the close date? is the close date accurate? is the account even closed?
10. responsibility (individual/join, AU)
10.1. if an AU, easy to remove because it's not your account
11. payment status
11.1. 30 days late even though you're paid on time?
12. creditor name
12.1. correct creditor name listed?
13. filing date
13.1. filing dates consistent? if not: violation
14. court name
14.1. court name should be legal name of court with city and state
15. date opened
15.1. Experian normally reports the 1st of the month while the other 2 may show a different date
16. frequency of payments
16.1. (how often do you pay?)
17. balance
17.1. obvious, but: is the balance correct? should there be one at all? did you settle? pay partially?
18. past due balance
18.1. correct amount? Did you recently pay it off but the account isn't updated yet?
19. payment amount
19.1. you can be denied credit based off inaccurate payment amounts.
20. date of first delinquency
20.1. date accurate? in the case of student loans, some creditors reported starting at 90 days late. Where's 30 or 60 days late?
21. charge-off amount
21.1. who is reporting it? amount correct?
22. type
22.1. installment even though credit card listed?
23. sold-to/transferred
23.1. if sold-to notice is missing, violation. if balance is present on sold/transferred account, violation
24. payment status details
24.1. consumer deceased? collection even though paid? etc.
25. notice of dispute
25.1. required within 30 days of receipt of first dispute under section 623 FCRA and 806(b) FDCPA
26. late payments
26.1. late payments on collection? collection is closed-ended account and cannot have late payments. violation
