Hmm... I need to find out myself. I don't know what is the answer to that question. I'll do some investigation and get back to you if I got an answer. You should email the people at Discover Card as they probably know..

Only one 30 day late and the loan has since been paid off. anyway I can prove to him that it is legal?? I'm going to have to prove it's legal to get him to do it...

What's not technically permissible is to report the account as being current that month. Data that's reported must be reported accurately..

However, a reporter has the option to change the entry for the month to "not reported". That's entirely within the spirit of the rules that apply to reporting..

You're not likely to find this spelled out anywhere. What you can do is reason with the guy, saying, "I grasp that reported data must be accurate. However, my understanding is that reporting can be withheld (or shown as "not reported"), allowing the suppression of adverse reporting without introducing an inaccuracy".

Good luck...

Simply put, it's not illegal. Probably against their contract with Fair Issac, but not illegal..

Moreover, if he's The Bank and he says "Oh, look at that, you weren't late that month after all" then who is Fico to say he must report information that was found to be false..

He's dismissing you because of his own morality about this and his own outlook on these issues. His hands are maybe tied, but he or his immediate superiors tied them. Not congress. Not Fico...

If OP was late and wants a goodwill adjustment because of everything else being hunky-dory, they ARE asking for inaccurate information to deliberately be reported...and that IS contrary to the FCRA (and therefore within the definition of 'illegal')...

My thoughts exactly. Reporting that the account was not late when it was is exactly the same as reporting it was late when it wasn't..

I suppose it could even be argued that since it was reported at one time, it would also not be accurate to go back and clear the data, but this is a stretch IMO...

Simply put, they ARE legally required to report accurate information... IF they report. They are NOT legally required to report at all. It is illegal for a creditor to report inaccurate information (i.e., not late when you were late). However, we all know creditors report inaccurate information all the time, intentionally and unintentionally, so some creditors wouldn't give the legality to a goodwill adjustment a thought at all anyway. However there is NOTHING illegal about asking a creditor to simply remove the reporting from that particular month (or the tradeline altogether...

What's legally controlled is what is reported, not that it is actually reported..

I'd contact the VP again, and I'd clarify to him that you would like that month to be unreported rather than falsified, which is completely legal. Maybe you'll make some headway then...

It should be completely legal, provided you aren't late right now..

This post has been edited by.

Greywolf.

: 22 January 2010 - 03:52 AM..