“Dear Steve,
I am trying to clear up my husband’s and my credit. However we have one old debt, CitiBank credit card that is giving me problems. We opened this account when we lived in California so sometime between 1997-2001. I don’t remember when I just remember that we lived in California. We also still lived there when we made our last payment to them. So atleast 9yrs has passed. However when I look on our credit report the bill is still there. The open date has changed numerous times and it has yet to fall off. We have made no arrangements to pay and do not speak with the collection agencies because of their rudeness. We just let it go to voicemail or tell them they have the wrong number. I thought that this was called re-aging or something like that and was illegal. If it is how do I get it taken care of. I know these debts are my responsibility but I am trying to pay the ones that actually are still collectible so that my credit score can go up and we can finally buy our first home.
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I also tried to dispute this bill with the one of the credit reporting agencies, I think it was experian, listing that the open date had been changed numerous times. But my dispute was denied.
Shelley”
Dear Shelley,
It is possible that the account was reported again by a collection agency with a new start date. That is relatively easy to fix. Rather than “dispute” the debt what you need to do is contact all three major credit bureaus and bring their attention to the date the account was first delinquent. The clock should start running from that time for 7.5 years. It’s not the debt you are disputing, just the default date. I can see how if you sent a letter disputing the debt they may say it’s a valid debt and move on.
If you don’t have a copy of your consolidated credit report showing all three credit bureaus, I’d suggest getting a consolidated report. It just makes it so much easier to deal with when all the information is all in one place.
Now, just because it may no longer show on the consumer credit report has nothing to do with getting collection calls. You may still get collection calls and depending on the statute of limitations in your state you may still be sued to collect on this debt. Even after the statute of limitations has expired to sue you collections can continue forever.
