Any correspondence that you have with either Equifax or TransUnion regarding an incorrect date on a Credit Report or a Consumer Disclosure Report will be totally ignored, even if you present documented proof. To change an incorrect date, that information will have to come directly from Bell Aliant who reported the incorrect date initially.

Contact Bell Aliant and send them a copy of your current Consumer Disclosure Report pointing out the incorrect date that they reported for you and request that they contact both Equifax and TransUnion with the correct information re: "date of last activity", with confirmation to you. Send this information by registered mail so that Bell Aliant cannot say that they did not receive your request. Faxes and emails sometimes get lost with all the other messages that are being received. At least with a registered letter, you can nail down the date, time and the person who signed for it. Registered letters tend to get treated more carefully because the recipient knows that the sender can prove that the letter was received and by whom.

If Bell Aliant refuses to cooperate and report the correct information, report back on this website. If Bell Aliant confirms that the changes have been made, request another Consumer Disclosure Report to make sure that in fact these changes have been made.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

Aliant told me that the date on that is not correct. I wrote a letter to equifax and faxed it yesterday. This was the letter:

To whom it may concern,
I am writing Equifax to dispute an error present on my credit report.
There is a past due account with Bell Mobility, Reference #51****351 showing on my credit report where the first date of delinquency occurs on 2010/01/14, for the amount of $502. I have spoken with Aliant and they have confirmed that this date is inaccurate. I activated the phone on December 15th 2007 and no payment was subsequently made on the account. I had made payments to an Aliant account which I believed was the account in question, but I later realized it was not mine. The date of last activity/delinquency should read as December 15th 2007, not January 14th, 2010.

With the reference number I provided you, Aliant will confirm that the date on my credit report is incorrect.

I wish to have this rectified immediately so I can settle this past due account with the collection agency who is handling it. D&A collections file # 1332*****

Thank you,
Maria ****
_________________________________.

Yeah, I checked my bank info and I was paying someone elses account. No wonder the bill was so high when I stopped paying.

So what now?

What you have reported is the information from a Consumer Disclosure Report issued by Equifax. This information is being reported as a "Tradeline" and not as a "Collection Account". You previously reported that no further payments have been made to Bell Aliant since May 2008. However, the Consumer Disclosure Report states that the account was first delinquent on 2010/01/14. These 2 dates conflict. If Equifax is treating this date as the "date of last activity", then this date is in error. I would suggest that you download a Credit Report from their website to verify that this date is shown as the "date of last activity" If that in fact is the case, I would suggest that you contact Bell Aliant and request that this date be changed to May 2008 and that change be reported to Equifax with confirmation to you. Otherwise, this account will purge 6 years from January 2010 instead of 6 years from May 2008. While you are reviewing your Credit Report, verify that this account does NOT appear as a "Collection Account". It has just been sold to D & A Collections and they have just contacted you about this account. It is too soon for this account to be shown as a "Collection Account" and that's the way you want it.

If Bell Aliant refuses to make the change as per your request, please report back on this website.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

It says Bell mobility last reported to us in 2010/10/14 rating your open account as an 09, MEANING A BAD DEBT, COLLECTION ACCOUNT OR UNABLE TO LOCATE. This account is in your name only. At the time the reported balance of your account was 501. Your account number is ______________. The account was opened in 2007/12/12 (I opened that account in DEC of 2006!!!). The account was first delinquent on 2010/01/14. The highest credit amount on the account to date is $501. Your account is past due in the amount of $502. Additional comments: Bad debt.

(stuff about the account has been 2 payments past due 0 times, etc etc).
From 2009/12/01 to 2010/01/14 there has been 11 reporting for the open account with a monthly payment frequency and was reported delinquent 11 times as follows: (enter a bunch of dates)
All other reporting were paid as agreed.

I have NO idea what this means.

And why is it showing delinquent for 2010/01/14? I haven't used that cell phone since it cracked in may of 08. I stopped paying when my phone broke (stupid, I know)

I want to state - again - that I do not wish to run from my debt....but I dont want 6 or 7 years bad credit again

This Bell Aliant bill was defaulted on in May 2008. I don't believe that Bell Aliant reports to either Equifax or TransUnion as a "Tradeline". When a customer defaults on a telephone bill, the usual procedure is to assign it to a collection agency to collect. Check your Credit Reports to see if is shown under "Tradelines" or " Collection Accounts" and what dates are listed and what it says after the date. Please report back to this website with your findings.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

EXACTLY!!!!

However, it will look much better on your credit report to have a $0 balance, even if it's R9 (or so I've been told).

You're right, it does not make one whit of sense to me either.

I don't understand. So this debt is 3 years old. If I pay this bill and they update my report to *$0 balance it will be on my credit for 7 more years. However, if I don't pay this bill, it will be expunged from my report in 3 years. Why on earth would I pay this bill if it's going to be on my bill longer than if I wait it out for SOL? The creditor gave me a choice, right? Pay or have bad credit for 7 years. I don't see the point in paying for bad credit. That doesn't make sense.

If it does, someone explain it to me...

Maybe in theory the collection agency couldn't remove it but, in practice, they can change whatever reporting info they want about an account. The credit bureau doesn't care as long as they get their user fees.

However, the agency would have have to be pretty darn stupid to offer the debtor a bribe letter - which could be used against them later on - to solicit a payment. That's something they could actually lose their scavenger license over. Noboby would be stupid enough to fall for that.

Believe me, she is telling you the truth. As I explained to you in a private message, once a collection account appears on your Credit Report, it CANNOT be removed by making a payment on this account. Even if the collection agency was to request the credit bureaus to remove the account, the credit bureaus would refuse.

HERE'S WHY

First, under the various Credit Reporting Acts in the provinces/territories, there is no legal requirement to do so. And second. the members of the credit bureaus who "pay the freight" i.e. banks, credit card issuers, loan companies, etc. want to see the credit history of an applicant for credit and if this includes consumers defaulting on their financial obligations, they want to know that because it may influence their decision whether or not to grant credit.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

I've been speaking with a woman from D&A collections, who seems fairly friendly but told me she cannot offer me a pay for delete letter. I had an Aliant cell phone bill that went delinquent in middle of 2008; the bill was $501.

This was our conversation (we communicate through email)

ME:
"I already mentioned that I am currently paying another collector...with whom I made a deal shortly before christmas. I will be paying that debt on March the 10th (it was more than the debt I had with aliant).

The only thing I request before I pay the bill is a letter from your office (written agreement) stating that D&A collections will remove this debt from my credit reports (equifax, transunion, etc) (not marked as paid with a $0 balance) and that you will not sell this debt to another agency.

After I receive the letter, I can offer to clear the debt with half on March the 22nd or the full amount on April 29th. These are the absolute earliest times I can afford to commit to payment (I am on a budget and can provide prove if you need)

Thanks"
_______________________________

HER (collection agent):

the problem is that you cant remove things from the credit bureaus the only thing I can offer you once the account is paid is a release letter which will be faxed to Equifax and transunion - which would state that the account is paid

** if you have no intention of returning with Bell Aliant I can offer you a settlement offer of 260$ to close the account with a release proposition sent to you before you make the payment

let me know what you decide to do

thank you

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Is she telling me the truth? And if shes not, how do I negotiate?