Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Creditor lawsuit dismissed but still being reported to credit agencies
Last year, a creditor filed a lawsuit against me that was subsequently dismissed in district court (they failed to appear in court twice). However, the debt for which I was sued is still being reported on my credit report, despite the fact that I have sent letters to the creditor instructing them to remove it, along with copies of the court's dismissal.
Would I have a legitimate case if I were to sue the creditor in order to have the item removed from my report? Also, would sending copies of the court's dismissal to the credit reporting agencies remove the item?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Creditor lawsuit dismissed but still being reported to credit agencies
What you describe, as near as I can tell, is that the case was dismissed on procedural (technical) grounds, but the court did not actually decide that the debt is not owed. Of course, no one has proven that the debt IS owed, either. The credit bureaus are one of the biggest "legal" scandals in our legal system, because they really have no accountability and don't try very hard to get it right. One person was being reported as DEAD, and could not convince the credit bureau that he was not dead.
The creditor is supposed to report the truth, regardless of what the district court did. However, if they honestly believe that the debt is due, they are going to continue to report it as a real debt.
It is possible that the court's dismissal might persaude the credit bureau to stop reporting the debt as being due. However, you would have to convince the creditor that you don't owe the money in reality, not necessarily whether the court dismissed the case for a non-appearance of the attorney.
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