Best way to handle 'mistakes' reported to credit bureau by credit card company?
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Posted by CA_Mom
(63.201.201.146) on July 19, 2004 at 16:08:12:
Hello--
I could really use your help. I'm a newly divorced mom and have never handled this type of stuff before and am looking for the best way to hoprfully resolve my situation. I live in California. My husband decided he wanted to divorce last summer (2003). We sold our house and split the profits. At that time (spetember 2003) I paid off all the debts that I could. One account was a Providian credit card. In September 2003, my balance was $850. I sent the $850 and didn't think anything else about it. I contacted them in November 2003 just to make sure the account was closed and to give them my new mailing address just in case (I thought I might re-open an account with them in the future.). In November I was told that the account was closed and that I didn't owe them anything and they would record my new address. I did not hear or receive anything from them until April 2004, when they called my cell phone (that number remained constant despite my move.) They told me that I owed them $22, which was interest from September 2003. I paid the balance of $850 in the middle of September so they said I had interest accrued for the first 2 weeks of septemeber and that was $22. I paid the $22 over the phone and asked if any of this had been reported to the credit bureau. I was told that it had not. Well, big surprise, I'm trying to obtain a loan and found out that Providian reported late payments to the credit bureaus regarding my account starting in October and then every month until I paid the $22 in April-- 7 hits to the report of 30, 60, 90, 120 days, etc. late payments. I've called Providian, explained the situation, and of course, they want me to write to their credit department to dispute. The people I'm trying to get a mortgage with said they need a letter from Providian, which says that it is OK with Providian for these late payments to be removed from my credit report. I'm assuming that Providian will say no because technically I owed them the $22, BUT.... I called in November and they told me I didn't owe them anything. I changed my address with them and never received anything from them. They didn't call me until April-- 7 months after I paid off the bill, to let me know that I still owed them interest (this part I find most interesting since companies usually call as soon as your 45 or 60 days late-- what took them 7 months?) They told me in April that nothing had been reported to the credit agency. So... I guess I need to send this information to the Providian credit department and see if I can get them to say it's ok to clear my credit report. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to approach this? Or is there someone else I should deal with instead of the credit department at Providian? I don't know what the best thing to do is-- can someone help? Thanks in advance.
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