Credit report dispute/error, city tax edition.
March 25, 2015 10:42 AM Subscribe
The city says they will remove the negative report upon payment. Should I also contest it from my side with the credit agencies?
I bought a condo in City, then moved away from City and rented out the condo. In fact, I moved several times, and then a year after the last move, last summer, I sold the condo (phew!).
City sends both property tax and rental tax bills. Apparently the rental tax bill was sent last summer to my next-to-last address, did not get forwarded, and was sent back to them. I don't know how it did not get included in escrow/closing, and I don't know how they didn't coordinate with City property tax to figure out the right address. At any rate, upon getting it back in the mail, they turned it over to their internal collections department. I only found this out by way of a 100 point drop on my credit report (interestingly, it was only on Experian, and not on Equifax) when I got a new credit card with more functional rewards.
I immediately called the phone number for the City that was listed on the credit report, which was the number of the City collections department. The person on the phone recognized that I'd never received the bill, and said that they would take it off my credit report upon receiving payment ($100). So it sounds like it should be fine. But in the interest of protecting myself, should I also initiate a dispute via the credit report side?
I bought a condo in City, then moved away from City and rented out the condo. In fact, I moved several times, and then a year after the last move, last summer, I sold the condo (phew!).
City sends both property tax and rental tax bills. Apparently the rental tax bill was sent last summer to my next-to-last address, did not get forwarded, and was sent back to them. I don't know how it did not get included in escrow/closing, and I don't know how they didn't coordinate with City property tax to figure out the right address. At any rate, upon getting it back in the mail, they turned it over to their internal collections department. I only found this out by way of a 100 point drop on my credit report (interestingly, it was only on Experian, and not on Equifax) when I got a new credit card with more functional rewards.
I immediately called the phone number for the City that was listed on the credit report, which was the number of the City collections department. The person on the phone recognized that I'd never received the bill, and said that they would take it off my credit report upon receiving payment ($100). So it sounds like it should be fine. But in the interest of protecting myself, should I also initiate a dispute via the credit report side?
No. Disputing it will result in extra paperwork.
What you need to do is ask for receipt that city has taken your payment and has forwarded the correction to the credit bureau. Then give them 30 days and check again.
posted by kschang at 2:32 PM on March 26, 2015
What you need to do is ask for receipt that city has taken your payment and has forwarded the correction to the credit bureau. Then give them 30 days and check again.
posted by kschang at 2:32 PM on March 26, 2015
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No. Not receiving a bill does not relieve you of payment for the bill. If the city does not take it off your credit report, your credit report will accurately and correctly reflect the fact that you did not pay a bill. If you dispute the report, you will either not be able to give the credit bureau any reason to remove the report (because it is correct) or you will be lying.
posted by saeculorum at 11:17 AM on March 25, 2015