I have a negative tradeline on my CR from a company that briefly held my student loan. It includes a string of 120 day lates and ends with a 150 day late. This tradeline has not been updated since April of 2002.

I am looking to buy a house in the next six months and I am in the process of credit repair. If I send a DV letter to this company and they verify the information, will that add time on to this TL before it might drop off? I am thinking it should be coming off in April of 2008 unless I am missing something on the student loan laws.

Since its over four years old at this point is it even having a major impact on my scores?


Any thoughts?

They WILL be able to verify, and they WILL do it. It will not add time to the reporting SOL.

Have you taken care of this default? If not, you should do something about it before you do anything else. If you're still in default, a DV can trigger a garnishment order. If you're not in default, you won't receive a response, most likely, but they can certainly provide all of the info.

I always recommend caution when contemplating DVs on SLs.

A DV to any data furnisher or collector will not add time to the reporting period. The reporting period for a trade line from the original lender, SL or otherwise, is mandated by law (FCRA) to run seven years from the date of the commencement of delinquency.

If the loan has defaulted and a claim has been paid by the guarantor, the guarantor may or may not be subject to the FDCPA, depending upon whether it is a state or govt agency. The name of the guarantor is no indication whether it is a state/govt agency. For example, Tx Guar Std Ln Agency (TGSLC) is not a state agency. It is a non-profit agency and is governed by the FDCPA. On the other hand, NYHESC is a govt agency. All private collection agencies employed by guarantors or original lenders are subject to the FDCPA.

Guarantors often begin their reporting period with the claim paid date. More research would be needed to determine if this is in compliance with federal law. I won't comment on that but be aware that you may not be calculating the reporting period in the same manner as the data furnisher, depending on who is doing the reporting.

I have successfully DVed SL data furnishers, but I read on the boards that it is risky bec they sometimes appear to react vindictively/harshly against a consumer that wishes to know if the SL reporting on their CR is or is not legitimate and if it is or is not reporting correctly. Getting a guarantor that is subject to FDCPA to provide validation pursuant to the FDCPA can be quite an undertaking (as it is with most collectors) and you should be ready for that, if you choose to pursue it. If you are serious abt wanting to know if the trade line is legitimate, even if it is a guarantor reporting, you might have more luck going back to the OC (original lender) yourself, even tho the law stipulates that the data furnisher is obligated to do that.

In my case, it took some doing to get the records from the original lender (a letter to their attorney finally accomplished it), but even so, their records provided a detailed report of all deferences, forbearances, interest rates, debits and credits, with a breakdown as to what applied to principal and what applied to interest. The records were detailed and provided a good picture of the loan. If you receive such records, you will certainly be able to tell if there is a discrepancy between your own records and theirs and be able to reach resolution on the outstanding balance, if indeed there is one. Like other lenders, mistakes can be made, and you are certainly entitled to ascertain the legitimacy of any reported outstanding balance.

Government backed SL lenders and guarantors have collection means not available to other lenders which include attaching your income tax returns and administrative garnishment of your wages. Additionally, govt backed SLs have no SOL and can be collected years and years after the loan - including garnishment of your social security check upon retirement. Private loans are a different matter.

Before you make a hasty decision abt how to proceed, you will want to be aware of whether your loan is govt backed, in default or not, currently with an OC or guarantor, and if with a guarantor, if that agency is or is not subject to FDCPA. Student loan collectors, guarantors and otherwise, have been successfully sued for FDCPA violations, so it is foolish to say they are above breaking the law and are above being held to it. Nonetheless, your expectations may need to be adjusted based upon the answer to each of the above, and possibly additional issues I have overlooked at the moment.

If you are in default, you may wish to look into rehabilitation of your loan in order to remove the default status from the guarantor's trade line. If you are unconcerned abt that, you may wish to look into consolidation of your loan or loans in order to pay it/them off before more severe collection activities are levied against you. If the trade line is, in fact, about to come off, then consolidation may be a better bet than rehab.

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edited for typo

Thank you both for the very extensive reponses. My student loan(s) (was one loan, was split in two for some reason) just got out of rehab. I am back in good standing with Direct Loans now who I think is the original lender.

The companies that attempted collections on me are the companies I have in question here. Lets just call them Company A and Company B. Company A has two entries on my CR from May-Oct of 2002 all six months showing Charged Off. Company B had the loan(s) a bit longer, with entries from May 2000 to April of 2002. The last seven months worth of entries for Company B are 120 day lates and a 150 on the final month reported.

I have two other entries from the US DoE that were entered during the rehab program, all showing CO status which I find odd since I was making payments to the CA for the rehab. Thats a different story though. My SL's now account for eight of the 18 entries on my CR.

So it sounds like I shouldn't try to confront these people unless I am ready to take on a big project. I am not interested in trying to fight this from a "not mine" stand point, they are my loans for sure and are being paid on a monthly basis. I am just wondering if I have any tools available to try to get these off my CR other than time.

Thanks again for the responses.

I am trying to help a friend right now and have never dealt with SL before. This is my first venture into this forum. Your answer is awesome! It answered some questions that I had!