For our local attorney/legal experts

[j_seph]

Long story and try to make short as possible.
In 2014 my wife, who was a single mom back then had purchased a vehicle from a buy here pay here. Within just a few months the vehicle locked down, even a mechanic looked at it and had told her it was not her fault that the vehicle appeared to have had issues prior. She called the dealer, told them to come get it as she could not afford to fix it and she was not paying for it. Basically a voluntary repo I guess you could call it.

Fast forward Jan 2021, she went to get a vehicle since her trailblazer blew a head gasket after 320,000 miles. Dealership pulled her credit and the big R popped up for Repo. Dealer went above and beyond to help her. Even letting her know that her credit was good enough she could pretty much finance any vehicle she wanted. But with the Repo showing it locked the brakes down.

I called the dealer that had claimed the Repo as well as went ahead and submitted a dispute to Equifax. While talking with the prior dealer over the Repo he informed me that they changed their systems/records back in 2017. That there was no way they could go back into their system prior to 2017 to answer any questions on it. They as well recommended to Dispute it. That once we disputed it, Equifax would then inquire with that dealer about it. Since the dealer did not have any record of it there would be a no reply to the Dispute. My understanding that a no reply would have this removed from her report.

Got the results back today, and nothing has changed.........notta. Any advise on how to get something off quickly now that we have played car hopping for over a month without the extra vehicle? Seems to me that there should be some kind of evidence somewhere that states they did a repo legally, that the money was still owed for it, or that there was a charge off for the amount owed which there is not any of that on the credit report. Assuming they probably repaired the vehicle and sold it losing no money.

The other 2 credit reporting agencies do not have anything about that dealership on their records. Thanks, signed wife in need of vehicle yesterday.

 

[westcobbdog]

National Credit Care out of Denver is the best consumer credit advocate company I have ever come in contact with. This is a company of highly educated business people who chose to go into credit vs Wall Street. Sorta like a CPA who knows his stuff they know all the rules and laws and will press hard on behalf of the consumer, so overall they are a legitimate option for consumers wanting help with credit issues. Think its a one time $179 charge.
They stay with the consumer until the issue(s) is resolved.

 

[mark-7mag]

I'm not sure I understand what you are disputing . A voluntary repo is no different than a "regular " repo. The only difference is you call them to come get it and leave the keys in it as opposed to them coming and getting it in the middle of the night while you're asleep. Both show up as a repo on your credit. Her situation is unfortunate but she signed a contract to make the payments whether the car breaks down or not. I think the dealer telling you to dispute it was nothing more than blowing you off and saying that its your problem.

 

[Fletch_W]

Businesses are required by law to keep financial records going back much further than that. Changing over to a new system doesn't mean the old records don't exist. You either talked to someone at the old dealership who doesn't know what they are talking about, or they were lying to you.

The good news is that the repo should be about 5 years old now, and if the new dealer was telling the truth about her overall credit being good except for that R, then she should still be able to get financing on a car from someone. It may not be the super sweet deals you see advertised on TV, but you'd be surprised how bad your credit has to be to walk out of a dealership without some kind of deal.

 

[Spotlite]

Send a written dispute once over week. Being that old, they’ll drop after multiple times if responding. It cost them to research and respond. Other than that, you can’t force them to remove it.

 

[across the river]

If she quit paying on the car and they took it back, then it was repoed and would be considered as such. What did you dispute it based upon? Usually a despite is made based upon some inaccuracy on the report, or you have proof it isn't correct. What was the response from Equifax?

As others have mentioned, you best bet to get it removed would be a credit repair company, but that will cost her some money, and there is no guarantee that they can get it removed.

 

[trial&error]

Use your own bank financing. You may not get the sweet interest rates advertised from the dealers.