Incorrect "Last Payment Date" on credit report: How to verify/fix?

[AZGuy23]

Combing over my credit reports, I found an account that is showing incorrect information.

The particular creditor is Chase and it says the "Date of First Delinquency" was 02/2006 but then says "Date of Last Payment" was 12/2007 in the amount of $855. The account also shows it was "Charged Off" and now LVNV Funding has it in collections.

What makes this really odd is that I have collection letters from FMA Alliance dated 03/2007 and 07/2007 saying they now own the debt and I owe money to them. Then, I have a collection letter from Tate & Kirlin Assoc. dated 09/2007 and 01/2008. Finally I have letters from Arrow Financial on 06/2008, 08/2008 & 04/2009.

How could the last payment be made to Chase on 12/2007 if they had already sold the account to FMA Alliance prior to 03/2007?

It seems like there has to be a mistake and Chase is incorrectly stating that they received a payment. If Chase has already purged their records, how can I prove that I made no payment? Can any harm (like resetting the SOL) be done if I call Chase and inquire about this?

[LadyInTheRed]

What resets the SOL varies by state, but calling Chase to ask for verification of what appears on your credit report would not reset the SOL. What makes you think their records have been purged? A "charge off" is not a purge of records. It's an accounting mechanism that allows them to take a loss on a debt they've decided is uncollectable.

Are you sure the 3/07 and 7/07 letters say that they own the debt and not that they have been hired to collect on it? Even if they do say they own the debt, that is not necessarily evidence that you did not pay Chase after they sold the debt. Are you certain you did not pay Chase in 12/2007?

The easiest way to dispute the debt is to file a dispute with the credit reporting agency. If Chase's records really are purged, they may let what you dispute be removed. But, if they said you paid $855, I'm not sure you'd really want to dispute it. I don't think having the payment on your credit report hurts your rating. And what the creditor reports on your credit report probably is not evidence that the SOL has expired. If it were, creditors could easily create false evidence to refute the expiration of the SOL.

[df04527]

FMA Alliance is or was part of the Chase umbrella for collecting. Date of first delinquency IS the date that matters. The credit bureau reporting clock of 7 years starts ticking from that field. You don't want it changed to 3/2007. And yes companies never purge their records. They do lose them but they don't intentionally purge them.

I have the dates wrong but you get the point. The older the DOFD the better.

[AZGuy23]

I assumed it's been purged from the records because of how much time has passed and because the debt was originally with Washington Mututal which was bought by Chase I believe, but it's just a guess.

As for the letter from 03/2007, it says: "This account has been placed with our office for collection." But then I just looked at the bottom and it says "Send payments to Washington Mutual Processing Services" so it does look like they still had the debt and just hired this collection agency to try and collect.

Honestly I can't say 100% that I didn't make a payment, but I don't remember it (have pretty bad memory)...and why would I make a $855 payment out of the blue on a $16,000 debt? Doesn't make sense (I stopped paying on all my other cards around Feb. 2006 and don't recall making a payment to any of them ever since).

I guess the question here is (aside from finding out if a payment really was made or not) how do you prove when the SOL countdown starts? If I get sued by LVNV (who now owns the debt) and they say "Well, your credit report says you made a payment on 12/2007 so the SOL is not expired", how do I go about proving that the SOL really is expired?

[AZGuy23]

FMA Alliance is or was part of the Chase umbrella for collecting. Date of first delinquency IS the date that matters. The credit bureau reporting clock of 7 years starts ticking from that field. You don't want it changed to 3/2007. And yes companies never purge their records. They do lose them but they don't intentionally purge them.

I have the dates wrong but you get the point. The older the DOFD the better.

Yes, the credit report actually says "Date this item is due to fall off: 02/2013". I'm not too concerned about what the credit report shows but more about the SOL. From what I understand, the SOL clock starts on the day of your last payment, so if that was 02/2006 as I think, then the 6 year SOL has passed. If it was reset by a payment 12/2007, then there is still over a year left where they could sue me.

[LadyInTheRed]

I guess the question here is (aside from finding out if a payment really was made or not) how do you prove when the SOL countdown starts? If I get sued by LVNV (who now owns the debt) and they say "Well, your credit report says you made a payment on 12/2007 so the SOL is not expired", how do I go about proving that the SOL really is expired?

Old account statements. In a lawsuit, you would ask the bank for those during discovery if you don't have copies. I'm not sure who has the burden of proof if you assert the SOL as an affirmative defense.

"This account has been placed with our office for collection" does not mean they bought the debt.

[AZGuy23]

Yes it looks like Washington Mutual still owned the account as they are listed as the name/address of where the payment should be sent to.

I just don't remember making a payment...I don't remember it and it doesn't make sense. At the same time, I don't see how they could show a $855 payment applied to the account.

[keepsmiling]

Any chance you are packrat enough to have those old statements on file somewhere? Maybe in a shoebox/file cabinet/whatever? Old check register, maybe with the taxes? I save all of those.

[AZGuy23]

Unfortunately I do not. Thinking about contacting Chase to see if they can send me a copy of the statement.

[bcohen]

The $855 payment is probably what the JDB paid for your account!

[df04527]

Do you think you could call the bank for bank statements?

I believe, now this I'm not sure of, you have the burden of proof to prove when your last payment was and thinking about it some more further proof would be the statements. i do know the paperwork and history SHOULD follow the debt each time it is sold so you can also see if the collection agent has it and if not i would try chase. I have honestly seen, may lightning strike if i'm lying, American Express send back statements that went back more than 6 years! Target is another one. OMG there was at least 400 pages and came in a box! No kidding...

[AZGuy23]

That is most likely what I have to do. If I did make a payment and I don't remember it, I need to know before I get hit with a lawsuit and try to defend it with SOL only to find out during the process that the SOL is not in effect.

[GoingDown]

I assumed it's been purged from the records because of how much time has passed and because the debt was originally with Washington Mututal which was bought by Chase I believe, but it's just a guess.

As for the letter from 03/2007, it says: "This account has been placed with our office for collection." But then I just looked at the bottom and it says "Send payments to Washington Mutual Processing Services" so it does look like they still had the debt and just hired this collection agency to try and collect.

Honestly I can't say 100% that I didn't make a payment, but I don't remember it (have pretty bad memory)...and why would I make a $855 payment out of the blue on a $16,000 debt? Doesn't make sense (I stopped paying on all my other cards around Feb. 2006 and don't recall making a payment to any of them ever since).

I guess the question here is (aside from finding out if a payment really was made or not) how do you prove when the SOL countdown starts? If I get sued by LVNV (who now owns the debt) and they say "Well, your credit report says you made a payment on 12/2007 so the SOL is not expired", how do I go about proving that the SOL really is expired?

This is why it is important to save old paper credit reports which the original date of last payment. One of my old ones showed a date of last payment of 12/2005, but when LVNV purchased the debt from Providian, it suddenly changed to 7/2006 on my credit report. Fortunately, I disputed the validity during the 30 day window with LVNV, and they sent me a letter stating the date of last payment of 12/2005, and that they purchased the debt in 7/2006, so I could show that to a judge if they ever sued me.

I also kept the old carbon copies of the checks used to make my final payments on my credit cards, and in many cases I kept the paper copies of the last statements showing my last payments and then the subsequent missed payment the next month. I doubt I'll ever need this info, but it's nice to know it's there just in case.

Interestingly, Equifax seems to be the most reliable when it comes to date of last payment. Their date of last payment for LVNV still says 12/2005. So, check your Equifax report and see what it says for the date of last payment.

[GoingDown]

Do you think you could call the bank for bank statements?

I believe, now this I'm not sure of, you have the burden of proof to prove when your last payment was and thinking about it some more further proof would be the statements. i do know the paperwork and history SHOULD follow the debt each time it is sold so you can also see if the collection agent has it and if not i would try chase. I have honestly seen, may lightning strike if i'm lying, American Express send back statements that went back more than 6 years! Target is another one. OMG there was at least 400 pages and came in a box! No kidding...

It's nice when they voluntarily cooperate like that.

I know Chase Visa did the same thing for me. They sent me a huge envelop with every paper statement from when I first opened the account to when I stopped making payments, all the way up to when they charged off my Visa account.

And in the unlikely event that they ever did sue you, once you filed a written answer to the lawsuit, you could make a motion for discovery and subpoena the information from them, if necessary.

[GoingDown]

The $855 payment is probably what the JDB paid for your account!

Yes, this is exactly the way it happened to me on my credit report with LVNV. So, this is their tactic.