An old debt

[cscott]

Hi all,

I'm trying to help my girlfriend clean up her credit and she has a $399 debt from a phone company that is listed as Key Derogatory. In looking at her report there are two things that strike me as being odd. One: She is listed with a different middle name under "also known as". Two: It says the account was opened in 2007, which wouldn't make sense because we've been on the same phone account under my name since 2003. She's had her own phone before 2003...but I want to make sure that this is actually her debt. Three: It's only been reported to Experian. She has a pretty good score on TransUnion and Equifax.

So, at the moment she has the money to pay it off and I'm looking on how to instruct her to do it in a way that will not further bring her score down. So a few questions:

1. How do we find out if this bill is actually hers? I'm thinking call the company and request documentation...but I hear it must be done in a specific manner.

2. If the bill is hers, is there a way to pay the debt with a guarantee that the blemish will be removed from her credit report.

Any insight is appreciated.

[khorrell]

I would dispute this charge through Experian, stating the same facts that you stated here. Experian will refer the dispute back to the reporting company, who is supposed to verify the information that they are reporting. Also in your favor, they have a limited amount of time to do the verification or Experian must automatically remove the derogatory information from her account due to non-confirmation. Directions for disputing the charge should be listed on the credit report, or at the Experian website.

You might also contact the creditor directly and dispute the charge through them. I would suggest keeping copies of everything and sending things with a level of security (your choice, but delivery confirmation, signature required, or registered.)

I'm assuming that your girlfriend doesn't know what this is about, right? I consider myself an honest and responsible person, but when it comes to credit reports, my motto is, "When in doubt, dispute." Now, if I know that I paid a bill 30 days late 3 years ago, I'm not going to try to get that removed. But if I'm unsure what something is, or it seems fishy, I get it off my report. It is amazing how many errors I find every time I check my report.

Good luck!

[cscott]

Thank you for your response, khorrell.

As for the honesty question my girlfriend thinks it's her bill, but because she has a history of several bad debts in the past she assumes it hers. She can really only account for a few big ones. And seeing that she has the cash, she just wants to pay it.

I was the one who started to question the charge after I saw her name with a different middle name. Unfortunately, she has sisters who have put utilities in her name without her knowledge. Once you discover that, you're always on guard.

[purplefdu]

Even if her sisters have put things in her name, if she has not given them permission to do so she needs to dispute it. There's no need to throw money at a shoddy utility company for allowing poor practices just because she has the money.

[tannerc]

If the debt is such a small amount, it may be worth paying. The amount of time you spend running around trying to find out whether or not it's her bill is more time for her credit to become ruined.

Pay it off, then do your research. If it turns out there was an error with the company and the phone bill was not hers, you can always get a refund, right?

As for "removing the blemish from her credit report", that's not how credit works, credit can only be improved, not erased. So paying the debt means her credit stays where it is at, but if you want to improve her credit you will have to invest in other sources.

[Mary Webber]

Wow, while I don't doubt you'll get this current situation untangled and corrected, I'd be more concerned looking ahead. A poor credit rating could really jack up financing costs on a lot of future purchases such as a car or a house. It sounds as though managing her money is challenging, so maybe this would be a good time for your girlfriend to learn to spend more carefully. And get those sisters in line! I'll cross my fingers for her that the time is right and she that can do it!

[cscott]

Thank you all for your responses. We have contacted the credit reporting agency and disputed the charge. Additionally, we pulled a credit report under her assumed alias listed on the original credit report. All of the charges are the same, but this report lists three addresses she's never lived at or heard of.

In terms of getting control of her finances I've been working with her on that for the past seven years. Starting with smart shopping at the grocery store to planning for the future. I'm happy to say that she's starting to show progress. In the past 3 years her credit score went from a 560 to 710. Unfortunately though, Experian is still reporting her credit as 560 because of this rouge charge.

[happiegrrrl]

I just rented the film "Maxed Out" which is about consumer credit. It's an excellent documentary, if anyone is interested.

In it, the quote a guy who worked with credit reporting agencies(I don't recall his exact title/company) and one of the things he said was that MOST people's files have erroneous information that adversely affects their credit score.

He went on to explain how the collect data and link it to files. The system was rife with inaccuracies. If data comes in on a John Smith from Anytown, USA - ALL John Smith's from Anytown USA(or even any town in the same state!) will sometimes get that tacked to their credit file. That was just one example, and it's not much, but the film did a great job of explaining this.

Why would they not want to have accurate info? Watch the film and find out.


To anyone having trouble managing their money to a point where it is affecting their lives, Debtor's Anonymous is an excellent program. There is even a branch off called Business Owners Debtor's Anonymous.

I can tell you one thing they would never suggest is to simply assume a bill was yours and pay it because it was the easy way out! hahahah. Besides(as has been pointed out in this thread), paying off a bill that has gone to collections isn't going to erase that information from the credit file. If you are LUCKY, the biller will report that you "finally settled the bill," but more likely it will never get noted at all. The exception would be if you write to the credit reporting agency and follow their procedures on documenting payment AND follow up to make sure they added the info!

[cscott]

Hi all,

We just heard back from Experian. Their findings were inconclusive so they removed the charge from her credit report.

Thanks!