How to Get a Reaged Debt Removed From Your Credit Report

Reaged debts are a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and must be removed from your credit report as soon as possible. A reaged debt is simply a debt in which the DOLA has been set to a more recent date in order to prevent the negative tradeline from falling off your credit report in a timely manner.

Instructions

1

Know what a DOLA is and how it affects you. DOLA stands for Date of Last Activity

2

Learn how creditors calculate your DOLA. A DOLA is only assigned by an original creditor and is the date the debt first went delinquent with no following payments.

3

Understand how debts "time out". A negative tradeline will fall off of your credit report seven years from the DOLA.

4

Get a copy of your credit report. It is best, when attempting to clean up your credit, that you get a copy of all three credit reports.

5

Check the tradeline of the original creditor for the debt. Note when the debt first went delinquent.

6

Check the collection agency tradeline. Depending on which version of credit report you are looking at, you will either see a DOLA or a removal date. If their DOLA does not match the original creditors, or if their removal date is more than 7 years from the correct DOLA, your debt has been reaged.

7

Contact the collection agency in writing. Do NOT send a copy of your credit report or include your SSN. State that reaging a debt is against FCRA guidelines and that they have 15 days to remove their illegal tradeline from your credit report.

8

Send your letter CRRR (Certified Return Receipt Requested). This will insure that someone has to sign for your letter and that you receive written proof that your letter was delivered.

9

Check your credit report to ensure that the collection agency tradeline has been removed.

10

Contact the Credit Bureaus. If the collection agency does not remove their tradeline, send letters to each of the CRAs that are reporting the reaged DOLA.

11

Explain that the DOLA has been illegally reaged. Remind them that this is against the FCRA. Highlight the date the debt went delinquent with the original creditor and highlight the collection agency tradeline. Demonstrate that the two do not match up.

12

Notify the CRAs that you did attempt to rectify this with the collection agency but they would not fix the tradeline. Include the signed form from the collection agency verifying that they received your CRRR letter.

13

Wait for the investigation to be completed. The CRAs will conduct an investigation into the true DOLA of the debt and any illegal actions on the part of the collection agency. You will receive a letter in the mail notifying you of the results of the investigation.

14

Threaten the CRAs. If the CRAs do not remove the reaged tradeline, write another letter letting them know that you will be contacting the Federal Trade Commission and your Attorney General and filing a formal complaint if they do not uphold the law as outlined in the FCRA.