What is Re-Aging an Account?

Illegal Re-Aging (Negative)

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), most negative credit informat
ion can remain on your credit report for 7.5 years (7 years + 180 days) from the
date of the first delinquency (DOFD).
The date of the first delinquency (DOFD) is the date a consumer first became 30
days late and no further payments were made on the account from that date forwar
d. At this stage the DOFD usually leads to a creditor charging-off the delinquen
t account.
The FCRA Compliance Date is the official beginning of first date of delinquency
(DOFD) which cannot be changed once an account is charged-off. The 7-year clock
begins 180 days from the time you FIRST missed a payment.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act states:
â The 7-year period shall begin, with respect to any delinquent account that is place
d for collection (internally or by referral to a third party, whichever is earli
er), charged to profit and loss, or subjected to any similar action, upon the ex
piration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the commencement of the
delinquency which immediately preceded the collection activity; charge to profit
and loss, or similar action.â
Creditors can charge-off an account 180 days after the first date you missed a p
ayment. The date you became delinquent begins the â Agingâ process and once the debt has
matured 7.5 years, it must be deleted from your credit report. Some creditors an
d debt collectors will report to the credit reporting agencies a more recent sta
tus date, thereby extending the negative reporting of the charged-off account. T
his is illegal and will hurt your credit score even more as recent negative info
rmation is more detrimental than older negative information.
Re-Agingâ a delinquent account is a serious violation of the FCRA. An original credi
tor or a debt collector may engage in illegal re-aging on the same charged-off a
ccount. Within 90 days of a charged-off debt being placed on your credit reports
, the creditor must report the FCRA Compliance Date and failure to do so within
that time period is also a violation of the FCRA.
Once the original creditor reports the FCRA Compliance Date to the credit report
ing agencies, it is set in stone. This date cannot be changed or updated under a
ny circumstance. The clock on the date the account FIRST went delinquent cannot
change no matter how many times a charged-off debt is purchased, transferred or
sold. The charged-off account can bounce from collection agency to collection ag
ency but according to the FCRA, the debt can only be reported for 7.5 years from
the date of first delinquency (DOFD).
How to Determine Illegal Re-Aging has been Committed
Get copies of your from the major three credit reporting agencies. Do not use a
tri-merged credit. The actual hard copy of your credit report from the three maj
or credit reporting agencies is necessary. Check each credit report for the date
scheduled for removal of a negative listed item.
Experian and Transunion display a â Status Dateâ showing the removal date of a negative
tem (subtract 180 days and that should be the DOFD). Equifax displays a â Date of Las
t Activity (DOLA). They seem to use the DOLA as the date of first delinquency (D
OFD) so you need to add 7 years to that date in order to determine the removal d
ate.
Look at the dates reported by the original creditor and the debt collector. Is t
he debt collector reporting a more recent date than the original creditor? Are t
he dates in sync with the FCRA Compliance date? If a more recent date is being r
eported you have the grounds for a successful re-aging complaint after you dispu
te the re-aging of the FCRA Compliance Date with the credit reporting agencies.
Illegal Re-aging occurs when a creditor or collection agency updates the Fair Cr
edit Reporting Act Compliance Date and extends the 7.5 year statute of limitatio
ns on reporting a delinquent account.