After being dicked around by Equifax Canada, I finally got my credit report yesterday.
Very, very interesting stuff. Given how I used to never pay utility bills until I was within 48 hours of being cut off kind of thing, I expected it to be pages and pages long.
Nope. The only things listed (aside from a matter of public record) were a MasterCard I paid off in 2000, and a Visa I paid off in 1998. Thing is, the MasterCard listing shows I have a balance of $0, but that it’s a bad debt, i.e. I skipped town, and they wrote it off, or it’s in collection. Now, I have proof from the bank in question that the debt was paid in full in 2000, and the account closed, and that I definitely did not skip town.
I know that I have to send all of this to the credit bureau… but this is what puzzles me (bolding mine):
So Bank of Montreal MasterCard is reporting that my account is still in collection, last payment made in 1998 (not in 2000 when I paid it off and the account was closed).
Do I now contact BoM MC to send them the proof (from them) that my account was paid as agreed in 2000? They’re still reporting a bad debt, as if I skipped town.
Royal Bank Visa, on the other hand, reports me as R1 - paid as agreed and up to date, balance $0, account closed, etc.
Shouldn’t my MasterCard be reported likewise? How can Equifax fix what’s being reported to them by creditors? They just record it, right? In this case, shouldn’t I be getting the creditor to report it as being paid?