Thanks BigMatt for clarifying your comments. First, I want to address your bank overdraft. It is highly unusual, in fact, I have never heard of a bank reporting an overdraft to a credit bureau. What normally happens is that when a cheque is issued on a bank account that puts the account into an overdraft position, the cheque is dishonoured unless the bank decides to honour the cheque. Of course, there will be a service fee for honouring the cheque and the account then goes into overdraft. If you have overdraft protection which is usually established at the time the account is set up, and up to a certain limit, any cheque issued that puts your account in overdraft up to that predetermined limit will automatically be honoured together with the appropriate service fee. The customer is then informed of the overdraft position and is given 30 days to place the account in a positive position. Failure to do so would "freeze" the account for any further transactions, complete with related service fees, until the account was placed in a positive position.

An "I9" rating on an installment account such as a bank loan, an auto loan or a furniture installment purchase would only be assigned when the account is at least 150 days in arrears or the account has been written off, or the debtor cannot be located. This rating that has been assigned makes absolutely no sense at all. For starters, a bank overdraft is not an installment account. If the bank chooses to report bank overdrafts to the credit bureaus, the worst rating that could be assigned to this account would be a "R2" rating meaning that this is a revolving account and that the account is at least 30 days late. Even with this rating, that is quite a "stretch". Assuming that what you have posted is correct, i.e. that your bank overdraft was only 30 days overdrawn and that only occurred once, I would definitely contact your bank and get this matter sorted out ASAP. Also, ask the bank if they report ALL overdrafts to the credit bureaus and if so, how do they determine the rating to be assigned. I would be extremely interested in their response.

As to the collection account, if there are two dates reporting, the latter date is the "date of last activity". The earlier date is probably the date that the account was assigned to the collection agency. Every time that a payment is made on a collection account, it establishes a NEW "date of last activity" and further extends the time when this collection account is purged from the credit report. In order to avoid this from happening, you should cease all further payments on this account until it is purged. If you then want to settle this account after it is purged, that is between you and the collection agency. Once an account is purged, be it a "tradeline" or a collection account, it will NEVER be shown on the credit report again.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

Thanks for the information footloose. Perhaphs a little clarification is needed.

I never said the student loan was an I9, it is showing as R1 but with deliquent payments. The I9 was money owing to a bank on an overdrawn account, it was paid, and shows on my credit report as being 30 days late once, the comments state that is was paid. Do I need to call the bank and have the update it? Is that the proper thing to do?

As for the collection account, there is no tradeline on the report, just the collection account, it shows two dates, date of last payment, and collection reported date. I would assume the later date is the date of last activity?
Also, I want to pay them....just wondering if doing so will only extend the date of last activity, and prolong the length of time these show on my report. One collection account will fall off next year.

Thanks Again!

If you have both a "tradeline" and a collection account reporting on a credit report, the "date of last activity" should be identical on both. If the dates are different, this needs to be corrected with the credit bureau.

In Ontario, the SOL is 2 years, therefore any debts that are 2 years beyond the "date of last activity" cannot be pursued through the legal system. And, both Equifax and Trans Union purge all debts with NEGATIVE information 6 years from the "date of last activity". Whether you pay off these debts or not is strictly a moral issue. Any debt that is purged from your credit report still remains a debt and will only be extinguished when it is either negotiated or paid in full.

Any student loan that was only late once, i.e. 30 days, does NOT show as an I9. Sorry, I've been in this business too long to buy into that story. You stated that this student loan shows numerous delinquent payments. That becomes a much more plausible explanation for the I9 rating. And even if this student loan is now paid, the I9 rating will remain on your credit report until this account is purged.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

Hello Everyone,

I am starting a new job, with a much higher income than my previous job, and am looking to be able to fix my credit to be able to get a car etc in the future.
I have a couple outstanding collections, one is almost 6 years old, the other about 2 years. Should I pay these off? Should I let them fall off my credit report? Also, on my equifax report, it shows two dates, date of last payment, and collection reported date...which is the date of last activity?
I also have an old school loan which is now paid off, but still show on my report, and shows numerous deliquent payments.
There is a second entry my credit history showing as I9, Bad Debt or Unable to Locate, but it has been paid, says it was paid in the comments, why is it showing as I9 now? It was only 30 days late once.

I am looking for ways to deal with my credit, and improve it. What is the best way to do this when you cannot get credit?

Any help or explanation would be greatly apprecaited!

Thanks!