Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Credit question

Thank you for serving, and sorry you have to go through this with the inconvenience of being so far away while trying to sort these things out.

First, it was (is) an error for these reports to be listed on your credit report. If you did not file for bankruptcy, and no debt owed by you was discharged in bankruptcy, then you should not be listed now. I am making a distinction between being a cardholder on someone else's account vs. being jointly responsible with your father. Having a card on your father's account is not the same as being jointly responsible. They obviously did not come after you for the unpaid bills on the account, so you are not responsible on the account (it would appear from what you say).

But that is water under the bridge. They are doing it.

So at this point it comes down to the laws governing credit bureau reporting. And unfortunately, those are a problem. Credit bureaus often report false information. Theoretically you can sue under the credit reporitng laws, but another provision says that only the government can do it.

As a result, there is a small trend to sue the companies and the credit bureaus for DEFAMATION. There is precedent in Richmond courts holding credit bureaus responsible for in effect slander by reporting false information. This does not always work, but in your situation I think it would.

Another thing you can try is request a copy of your credit report, then go through the process of disputing the report. This is often useless. The law requires credit bureaus to verify the accuracy of the item being reported. In reality all they do is send a note to the creditor who reflexively says "Yeah" without actually checking, and then they tell you they verified it.

HOWEVER, at that stage the law also allows you to include a STATEMENT of (I think) 200 words. The bureau is then REQUIRED to report your statement every time they report the item to anyone in a credit report.

If you write a polite, reasonable-sounding statement which nevertheless CLEVERLY makes them sound like morons (the original creditor or the bureau or both), you may find that they will suddenly drop the item from your credit report like a hot potato.

This would also be a good first step toward an eventual lawsuit, if they don't take it off.

NOTE: You have to keep watching them. They may put it back on again later. You have to treat them like undisciplined children.

There is also a company Lexington Law Firm which will harass your creditors for you demanding they remove items from your credit report. This is of some help.

Re: Credit question

Thanks for your service there. These companies almost never fix the problem and you should consider consulting a good consumer law attorney. You may need to file suit. We do these cases and/or we can refer you to someone convenient to you. My email address is below. Good luck.