Took a while, but Transunion finally totally removed the bogus collections account from my credit report. It bumped my TU credit score up to 733 from 685 earlier this month, so that's a pretty significant increase.

After my last update to this thread, all that ended up happening was that the collection agency reported the account as "Paid". This was still unacceptable, as this account needed to be completely removed as it was inaccurate. I'm thankful that the original creditor was willing to investigate the matter and help me out.

In the end, I needed to get a letter written from the original creditor with all of my personal information and consent to update my credit report, along with a detailed account of what had happened. Basically, the original creditor agreed that the mistake was due to a billing error on their part and the account was erroneously sent to collections.

It was interesting. The collection agency (Nor-Don) refused to offer any help because according to them, the collection account was valid. Even though the account should never have been sent to them in the first place, (and the agent I was dealing with agreed with me) they refused to remove the item and advised that I would have to deal with the original creditor. because as far as they could see the information reported to them was accurate. I even had the woman in the collections department of the original creditor directly contact the agent at Nor-Don to explain the situation, and no dice. The original creditor tried several times with no luck and were told by Transunion that Nor-Don would have to request to have the account removed, so the frustration was high with all of this running around in circles.

Calling in to Transunion and speaking with some guy in Mumbai aggravated things further. Eventually, I called the Transunion office in Saskatoon and was given some extremely helpful advice by the staff (local I might add) working there. I highly suggest this method if you have any general questions about your account or how to go about fixing inaccuracies because if you call the 1-800 number and talk to someone with a thin grasp of the English language you will get nothing but a headache.

The woman in Saskatoon advised that I draft a letter outlining exactly what had happened, include all of my personal information (ie: SIN, current address, birthday, signature, date the collections account was opened and the amount in question) and send it to the original creditor for review. The original creditor then signed off on the letter and forwarded it directly to Transunion. After about 3 weeks the bogus account was FINALLY removed completely from my credit report.

The current system in place is ridiculously complicated and had I been a person with less passion to fix this, there would be patently false information on my credit report. I worry about all those out there that go on daily with no clue as to what creditors think of them when they see their credit report! Reform is direly needed in this industry, without a doubt.

The letters are nicely written and if creditor made a mistake, they will correct it or remove it. If you can convince them to remove your own mistakes, all the power to you.

Oh, I sent these out about six months ago. They've already removed the negative entries from my TU and Equifax credit reports! :)

I just figured I'd post them so others could use them as a template.

Instead of mailing your letter, here is royal banks visa toll free fax number 1-888-368-4047.

Good luck and hopefully they will do that for you but if they don't, will you still be a happy customer of theirs or an unhappy one.

And here's the one I wrote to RBC VISA:

RBC VISA
PO Box 4402 Station A
Toronto, ON M5W 3V1

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been an RBC Visa customer since November, 2001 (Account no. xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx) and have held a bank account with RBC (Account no. xxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xx) for slightly longer and during that time, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience with your company. I am writing to see if you would be willing to make a "goodwill" adjustment to your reporting to each of the credit reporting bureaus. I was recently reviewing my credit reports from Equifax and Transunion and discovered that I had a late payment on the above referenced account that dates back a few years ago. Up to that time and thereafter I have been an exceptional customer, paying my monthly payment on time and in full every period.

With respect to my payment history over the history of my account, I would like you to consider removing the negative payment from my credit report. At the time of the late payment, I was several years younger than I am now and not acting as responsibly as I should have been. I say that not to justify why the payment was late, but rather to show that the late payment is not a good indicator of my actual credit worthiness. I hope that RBC VISA is willing to work with me on erasing this blemish from my credit reports. My family and I are currently considering purchasing a home and want to be able to receive the lowest possible interest rates, and having the highest possible credit rating will make sure I can get the best rates offered.

I have been a very happy customer in the past and hope to continue a long relationship with your company. With today’s credit industry so competitive, I know how important it is to maintain good relationships with customers. RBC VISA has been exceptional in my book so far and I highly recommend it to all my friends and relatives. I hope that you will deeply consider my request and prove once again why you remain heads above the rest. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Here's the one I wrote to BMO Mosaik MasterCard:

BMO Mosaik MasterCard
Customer Service and Operations
PO Box 300
Station M
Toronto, ON M6S 4X2

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been a BMO Mosaik MasterCard customer for several years (Account no. xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx) and during that time, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience with your company. I am writing to see if you would be willing to make a "goodwill" adjustment to your reporting to each of the credit reporting bureaus. I have a late payment on the above referenced account that dates back to November, 2008. Up to that time and thereafter I have been an exceptional customer, paying my monthly payment on time and in full every period.

With respect to my payment history over the history of my account, I would like you to consider removing the negative payments from my credit report. At the time of the late payment, I had lost my credit card in Mexico and was awaiting a replacement card. I was hesitant to submit a payment via online banking to the old account number, as I thought the payment may be made to a cancelled account and not be reflected on the new account number that would be assigned to me (and that I had not yet received by the payment due date). I say that not to justify why the payments were late, but rather to show that the late payments are not a good indicator of my actual credit worthiness. I hope that BMO Mosaik MasterCard is willing to work with me on erasing this blemish from my credit reports.

I have been a very happy customer in the past and hope to continue a long relationship with your company. With today’s credit industry so competitive, I know how important it is to maintain good relationships with customers. BMO Mosaik MasterCard has been exceptional in my book so far and I highly recommend it to all my friends and relatives. I hope that you will deeply consider my request and prove once again why you remain heads above the rest. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Here's the one I wrote to CitiFinancial:

Regarding: Account No. #############

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing a letter about my experience with CitiFinancial that is a mixture of a grateful "thank-you" and a pressing request concerning a 30 and 60 day late payment report for the months of August, 2008 and September, 2008, respectively on my CitiFinancial Retail Services account mentioned above reported to each of the credit bureaus that I would like you to consider revising as a demonstration of goodwill.

I purchased a mattress set from Sleep Country Canada in March, 2008 which carries out its financing through CitiFinancial. I opened the account with the understanding that it was to be paid off within 3 months to avoid any interest charges. Come August, 2008 I had changed addresses and had forgotten that the account had not yet been paid off in full. I had also forgotten to update my address with CitiFinancial for that account and therefore did not receive any mailed statements to remind me that the account was becoming past due. Unfortunately, I did not realize the account was in arrears (for the amount of $303.16) for 60 days until I was contacted by phone about the account. I promptly paid the balance in full and sincerely apologize for the late arrival of the final payment. I truly recognize my responsibility with respect to payable accounts and work diligently to ensure my relationships with all creditors are kept current to demonstrate my creditworthiness to you and all other creditors I may deal with in the future.

Responsible credit management is reflected in my credit records which, excluding the late payments on this account, are excellent. I currently hold an account for a personal loan with CitiFinancial as well and I have had nothing but great experiences with your company. I implore you to renew your confidence in me and for giving me a second chance at a relationship with you, one that I am determined to keep spotless.

We are about to shop for a mortgage, and it has come to my attention that the late notations from CitiFinancial may preclude me from taking full advantage of the very lowest interest rates now available. Since those notations do not reflect my current status with CitiFinancial, I am requesting that you give me a second chance at a positive credit rating by revising those tradelines. Your customer service representative suggested that I write you for a "goodwill adjustment." I sincerely hope that there is redemption at CitiFinancial, and I beg you for such consideration. Please let me know if any additional documentation would assist in reaching a positive outcome, and I thank you again for the time you have spent reading this letter.

Very hopefully yours,

XXXXXXXXXXX

I'd love to see those "goodwill" letters of yours! They must be quite effective!!

Update: After talking with the original creditor, I convinced them to take payment directly from me and to advise the collections agency that my account was sent to them in error. The collections entry should be removed from both TU and EQ within 30 days... I'll keep you guys posted.