Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

It depends. You have to strictly follow the process outlined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Your first move would be to dispute this with the credit bureaus. See 15 U.S.C. � 1681i : US Code - Section 1681I: Procedure in case of disputed accuracy. Here is the kink to the statute:

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/15/41/III/1681i.

If the information is disputed and found to be inaccurate, the credit bureau must correct it or delete it from your report (which it would do if the information is totally wrong). If the credit bureau believes that the information is correct, you would then have to dispute with the timeshare company or debt collector who placed the information on your report by sending them a certified letter. If they still refuse to correct then you can sue. But you have to follow this procedure first by disputing this with the credit bureaus first..

The problem that I see here is that your damages are going to be very low to non-existent. The act only awards your actual damages or damages of up to $1000. I am not sure that you have been damaged here. If the information is reported accurately, then it would reflect a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure not that you were just late. How would disputing this help exactly? If it gets corrected, the deed-in-lieu of foreclosure will be reported and it is the prior deed-in-lieu which is causing problems. Deed-in-lieu and actual foreclosure both have a negative effect on your credit even more than a late pay/charge off.

Also, the credit report that you see is not quite the same one that a mortgage lender would see. Did you ever try to work with a mortgage broker before you applied for a mortgage and correct any errors before you tried to apply? What I would do is start working with a mortgage broker or with someone who can legitimately review your credit report and make suggestions as to how to improve your score. A place to start is www.myfico.com. The biggest chunk of your credit score is paying your bills on time, your credit/debt utilization ratio and having a good mix of credit.

Further, negative information will stay on your credit for 7 years from the date you did the deed-in-lieu. Its really closer to 6 years and 9 months. If this is holding you back from getting a mortgage then I would wait until this is about to drop to dispute.

You getting calls about selling or renting a timeshare means nothing. You are on an old list of timeshare owners. Once on the list, these things take on a life of their own. Lists are sold and re-sold.