boredhousewife... the credit bureaus are regulated...
the regulation is just not enforced

people need to write letters to consumer protection to complain.

It was explained to me that people don't complain enough about credit bureaus .... credit bureaus are not high priority with consumer protection because people don't complain very much about them

If you write letters of complaint then consumer protection counts these and this tells them how to prioritize.

I so agree with you Ray. I have been fighting with them for two years now and still getting no where. I wish the government would regulate bankruptcy laws as well as them to make sure they follow there own rules and policies. I cannot count on one hand how many different stories I have heard in the past two years. I think we should all gang up on governement and make it a bill pass to have these credit bureau's regulated for all consumers.

A) We've beaten this to death already. For debts of your type, the SOL is from when the debt went into default OR the creditor ought have known that it went into default.

The exact date a debt went into default can't always be defined because, sometimes, to judge when the creditor "ought to have known" when it occurred can be subject to some interpretation. Certainly, if one misses 2 or 3 consecutive payments, that would qualify. But another judge might conclude it started when the first payment was missed.

In most cases, it's a moot point because if someone is going to sue you, they won't wait until the last minute. An acknowledgment that renews an SOL must be in writing, and the SOL must not have expired already [unless it's something like a student loan which can revive an expired limitation period]. See Section 13(10) of the link below that says the acknowledgment must be in writing and signed to renew - but not revive a limitation period.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02l24_e.htm#BK14

B) It may seem strange but the DLA (date of last activity) on a credit report is one of the most misunderstood and misused terms even by credit bureau staff - a fact which I find astounding. This probably due to 2 reasons.

1. The DLA (date of last activity) is defined somewhat differently by TransUnion and Equifax than the various provincial credit reporting acts describe it.

2. The 2 bureaus make no effort to clearly define what they mean by it either on their websites or on their written reports. And if you talk to staff there, you are likely to get several different answers.

If you call your average creditor's reporting officer to the bureaus, you'll find even more confusion. Some (including major banks) maintain it's when the debt was written off. Others say it's when a a payment was last made to a collection agency. Yet, others maintain that it was when a creditor or collection agency last reviewed your file, while many maintain it was when the debt was last sold off. HELLLLPPP!

I remember asking experienced staff at the bureaus about this matter who, in turn, quoted me non-existent legislation. Several didn't even know what the statute of limitation on a debt was. True, the latter is unrelated to credit reporting; but how in the world could you work in the industry and not know that?

It's hard to fathom that the meaning of so important a term is left ambiguous to the general public, but it is. Furthermore, it's hard not to infer the equivocation and ambiguity is deliberate.

Credit reporting bureaus are big money making operations and the demarcation lines between between credit reporting, enforcement and protection are becoming increasinly blurred. We have ex-collection agency presidents running credit bureaus. We have ex-collection lawyers woking with Ministry of Consumer Protection heads who used to work in the sheriff's seizure dept. and so on. Maybe, Deanna Natale will be the next Minister of Consumer Protection.

When you dispute a credit item, the credit bureau is supposed to thoroughly investigate the details of the dispute with the creditor as per consumer protection legislation. What actually happens is they make a quick phone call to the credit reporting lackey over at the company in question and ask them if the data they've sent is "ok." The person on the other end of the line likely doesn't even look at it in many instances, and even if they do, they are unlikely to understand or even care about what the credit reprting acts mandate. No letter, fax or any such thing is generally sent and none is asked for.

To the credit bureau, your complaint is nothing more than a nuisance and a necessary cost of doing business which eats in to profits. And so responses are made as cursory as possible, officious denials to the contrary. That's why I tell people to save all their old records and be prepared to fight. They are likely to need them.

Ray

Hi

I'm still looking for an answer to SOL Please if someone can help.

In ONtario the SOL is 2 years from acknowledgement of debt.

What exactly is acknowledgement of debt?? Can it be a telephone call - where I discussed the debt with a creditor be considered acknowledgement of the debt - or is it 3 months from the last payment made on the account??

thanks

my husband and i have $ 45000 worth of debt not including the car which is only a year worth $30000. so confuse if i have to apply bankruptcy or not. income are not really good bet me and my husband. met the company who can help to file but need to pay them $1400 + $2200 for the trustee. im so scared on what will happen after the bankruptcy im already 38 have 2 kids 6 and 2 .cant imagine the 10 years to wait to rebuild our credit.

Please any suggestion is really appreciated. need to decide before its too late.

I had over $70,000 worth of debt.I settled them for 10%.It was not easy to do.The process was stressful at time,and at times i said to myself why go through all this, just go bankrupt.I still have a few more to settle and they will take time.I didn't want to give the creditors the satifaction of going bankrupt.He are somes tips;1)If your account has gone to a R9 rating,forget the payment plan,and instead settle for a one time lump sum.2)I would find out when the last time you made a transation or payment on your account,i find collection agencies like to change the activiy dates.3)If your not working,and your account is R9 i wouldn't give the creditor more then 10% of the debt to settle.If collection agency is harrassing you,i would purchase a tape recorder and let them know you are recording them,you will find they are not as rude.

hmmm... for afterbite it seems like it was a 10-12 year lesson to learn about credit and bankruptcy.

That's 10 years out of a person's life. However, it's not uncommon and I'm glad that we're talking about it here so that others will know.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could fully know about credit before we started taking it on.!!

afterbite! you are one of the privileged or lucky ones. at such a young age you declared bankruptcy and came out in mere 9 months thats amazing. you are an inspiration for those whose lfe is slowly heading towards bankruptcy, due to lack of planning and knowledge.
vik
-------------
how does bankruptcy work

When I did it, declaring bankruptcy was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was a stupid twenty something with a high paying job, great credit, and endless pre-approved credit card offers filling up my mailbox every day. I was completely uneducated on credit, and how it is granted by lenders and had no idea about credit scores and what not etc. I had a 30 thousand dollar credit line, a 20 thousand dollar credit line, 9 credit cards, a car loan, and 4 retail store cards. I never saw it coming. When I got turned down for a consolidation loan, and then had problems making the minimum payments on my credit cards i declared bankruptcy. Nine months later I was discharged and was debt free. I had a secured MasterCard for a couple years after that and slowly but surely my credit got better and better, Now ten years later I have no problems getting credit or managing debt.

I agree somewhat... that's the theory however I've seen corporate directors get sued, and corporate veil be pierced for things like this.

It depends how aggressive the creditors want to be.