A collection agency has never attempted to reach me, but dings my credit report?

Question

Six years ago an alarm company claimed I owed them money. I disputed it, tried to negociate and then chose not to pay it. The collection agency involved "re-upped" the debt and dinged my credit report but has never made an attempt to reach me. I'm not going to pay it, but was curious if anyone else has ever dealt with this. Will this go on forever or can I get this off my report after seven years?

Answer 1

why aren't you going to pay it? its your bill and if its not, you should have disputed it 6 years ago.

it will go on forever. there is no such thing as it getting off your credit report after 7 years, 7 years is when they can SUE you.

Contact them and pay it

Answer 2

Derogatory items age off your credit file 7-1/2 years from the date of first deficiency.  This is per the FCRA and nothing can restart the clock.

Chances are the collection agency purchased a porfolio of bad debt and decided yours wasn't worth the effort or lack enough info to find you.  They just put it on your credit file in the hopes that you'd contact them to pay it.

Answer 3

When you say "dinged" does this mean they just now inserted a tradeline on your credit report, or did they update a tradeline that had previously been inserted?

If they just inserted the tradeline and you have never been in contact with this collection agency, you can dispute directly with the credit bureaus. If it comes back verified you would want to send a demand to validate/unknown debt letter to the collection agency. You can use the same method if this is an older tradeline, but the collection agency will likely try to argue that your demand to validate was not timely.

Either way, this WILL fall off at the 7 year mark (not 7 1/2) so you won't have to worry about it much longer. I assume this is a security system you had installed, meaning that the UCC statute of limitations of 4 years would apply here, so you would have an affirmative defense against any lawsuits they might file.

In the meantime, the best thing you can do is learn your rights under the FCRA, FDCPA and any state laws. Creditinfocenter.com and Creditboards.com are two excellent resources.  

Answer 4

It only goes off if they close the account.   They can keep it open as long as they want.   They have one more year to try and sue you over it, which would help them get paid by liening your other assets.