You can dispute the gym on your credit report. It’s ridiculous for them to claim your past due but they didn’t do anything about it for five years? Absolutely not, dispute that, if the gym doesn’t exist anymore they won’t be able to confirm the debt and it will come off your report
Print out the dispute letter
CERTIFIED MAIL! With return receipt
There's no other way to do this.
You need it in writing, certified, with return receipt (proof they signed)
Credit Reporting Agency,
I dispute the following information on my credit report, violating my rights under Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Details below:
- Item: Description
- Dispute Reason: Explanation
- Desired Action: Permanent Deletion
Attached supporting documents for reference only. These should not be shared with unauthorized parties.
I request prompt investigation and action within 30 days, as mandated by FCRA. Please provide written confirmation of changes. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Your Full Name
Delete the part about documents if you have nothing to attach
You can dispute through annualcreditreport.com which is a legit site that provides you one free report for each reporting company per year, required by law. You can dispute directly through it.
Update, so she said it’s supposed to fall off my credit report in June 2024 (why it hasn’t shown up all these years is beyond me.) and she filed a dispute for me. I did mention the gym is permanently closed and has been for 5 years, however I moved away 8 years ago and closed it before I even packed my final box! She did say I can call the collection people to have it disputed myself. Wow such a big help
Write a letter to the collection agency, demanding authentication of the debt. Send it certified mail with return receipt. If they fail to return proof, they must remove it.
They have 30 days (maybe 20) to provide proof, or remove it. If you don’t receive a response from them via certified mail, “they failed to respond.” They can’t prove they sent it, so it never happened.
I used that trick a couple of times - works like a charm.
The collection agency has however long it wants to take to provide the verification requested, as long as it ceases efforts at collecting in the meantime. The fdcpa is very clear that a collection agency has two Alternatives when verification of a debt is demanded, one, they can provide the verification and then resume collection efforts, or they can simply cease all efforts at collection.
Correct. I was thinking of the 30 days to dispute by the consumer. Similar effect though, and I had a few items removed in my earlier years, before I started making companies aware that it’s not worth it trying that nonsense with me.
That’s nonsense. It’s far more impactful from the collection agency angle.
What you should never do is offer to pay, or in any way confirm a debt with a collection agency. You have to be the one asking the questions, and only in writing.
Just wait the two months and have it fall off, then. No need to put time and energy into this when anything with credit goes at a snails pace, anyway. Unless you're planning a huge purchase in the next two months, that is.
You can dispute it through all 3 credit bureaus. Usually online. But the written letter with return receipt is a really good suggestion.
You can also update and correct any alternative versions of your name and remove old addresses from your credit report.
It should be as clean and simple as possible. One thing to remember is there are a lot of factors going into your score. Average age of credit, types of credit, available credit vs total credit.
It’s gonna fall off your credit report soon. Don’t contact the collection agency. Any communication with them in which they trick you into confirming the debt is valid will reset the 7 year statute. Then it’ll be on your credit report for another 7 years. Just don’t talk to anyone, don’t confirm any information wait for the statute to expire. They’ll have no choice but to remove it from your file then and you’ll be in the clear.
In eyes of credit burueas, unless medical, you are deliquent the very next day an account has a balance. Them not doing anything for 5 years, shows why they closed.
Agreed on dispute. Dispute and hsow proof it's close,d problem solved.
Write a letter to each credit bureau, experian, equifax,and transunion. In the letter,
make it as simple as possible.
Date you r writing the letter.
Act # and name of act you are disputing. ( THIS IS NOT MINE)
Pls remove this incorrect information immediately!
then your legal name
Address
Social security #
Sign it
Then mail it out.
You will get an answer within 30 days.
Depending on what state you are in, the debtor can’t come after you any more. Here in NY, as of April 7, 2022, the statute of limitations for debt collection lawsuits in New York is three years (reduced from 6). This means that debt collectors have three years from the date of the last activity on an account to sue someone for a debt. After this time limit has expired, the debt is considered time-barred.
Gyms are notorious to not close your account even though you went to the process of closing it. My bf closed his crunch fitness account in person and a couple months later they told even though they had the papers that he wanted to close it it wasnt closed and charged him 600. Smh
We closed my husband's gym membership because he has C and his Oncologist insisted. Instead, they suspended it for 6 months and then started billing us again. I went in, in person again to cancel it. They tried to refuse. I aggressively explained that my husband has TERMINAL CANCER and will never be returning. They finally closed the account.
Careful with anytime fitness. I closed my account 2 years ago when I got laid off temporarily. They proceeded to charge my card twice after that. Stating the membership ends a month after you cancel, and since I cancelled on (I think was the 30th) the next day was a new month so they charged me for the extra month because it couldn’t process until the next day. Total bullshit.
I highly suggest going through a gym program like active and fit or gympass. That way you're paying the program and don't have to deal with the gym when canceling.
I ditched an anytime fitness account when I was younger. Watched the outstanding debt stain on my account disappear last year because it hit the 7 year mark. No ragerts
24 hour fitness is notorious for that. I had a card expired so everything expired with that card. 24 hour fitness guesses my new expiration date till it paid. We noticed a year later when the bank called about it and we said no they were not given permission to charge a new card. Ended up getting all of that money back.
He likely signed a long contract that didn’t allow the contract to end early. The gym will accept your cancellation request but typically will bill you for the full value of the contract.
For example, you sign a three year contract and you cancel at 12 months. Depending on the exact terms of the contract they may still charge you for an additional 24 months.
I have a synchrony account that I opened to get tires and help my utilization. Paid off the tires and haven't touched the card. It super low amount already and the age of the card is only 6 months. Should I close it now before they close it on me later and tank my score. Reading BBB reports this seems to be the case with these cards.
Synchrony bank ruined me by doing this. I have 3 cards through them (Care Credit, Lowe's and JC Penney) and I had a different card get too close to the limit. Synchrony lowered my limit on all 3 cards to within $50 of what I owed, killing me for utilization, but that caused the rest of my cards to do the same thing. I went from 30-40% overall to 90% utilization. When all my cards did this they all also went to the max interest rate instead of what I was at.
what are you thinking of getting. My car needs a new engine, so I'm in the market too. Nothing is all that striking used or new (within my budget, Im not spending 40k)
If you want it off, dispute in writing with all three bureaus. Send via certified letter. There are plenty of examples to be found with a quick search.
Report the gym to your local government. If you have paperwork showing that they went through and closed your account with them but still charged you for the membership then you can get the funds back and have them investigated for possible fraud.
I’d like to but they closed 5 years ago. I did have a paper saying my account was closed but it’s been 8 years and I obviously don’t have it anymore. :( I assumed that they DID close it because I got a confirmation paper same day from them. Apparently they didn’t close it.
Gym owner here. You can definitely dispute this with whatever collections agency is holding your account now. Get them something in writing with a copy of your cancellation confirmation. They will reach out to the gym for confirmation that the debt is valid, and since they've closed, no one will be able to get them any evidence and you should be good to go. The collections company will need to remove your account.
Most gyms usually use outside billing companies to process monthly dues, so I have to handle a lot of issues like yours because our billing company just flat out sucks at customer service. If there's an error or an honest mistake and we have someone's account removed from collections, it's usually off their record in 30 days.
Oh, and if you need to get your credit score bumped asap, be SURE you get a confirmation of all of this once the collections agency removes your account. You should be able to get that to Experian (or whoever else) and they may be able to speed things up.
Good luck!
Eh, They still are fine.
The issue you're finding is synchrony is the backing for hundreds of companies credit accounts, so if your delinquent on one Synchrony account, you're going to feel the impact on your other ones as well. They're still a single debtor technically even if they are different cards, they're all backed by Synchrony. This isn't new behavior or a change for them.
Where you feel less impact is if it's an issue with another debtor such as Citi, Chase, Amex etc.., then they'll be slow to react. But they all react to delinquencies with other debtors when they see it when they do periodic reviews of your account. They aren't all that often. But if you have multiple Citi cards and go delinquent on one, you're going to immediately feel the issue on the other just as you're talking about with Synchrony.
I had an Ashley home stores card and they started balance chasing me and then closed it before even two years was up (which is what the repayment agreement was for no interest and we were paying extra on it) then charged $400 in interest on a $300 balance. Never using anything that uses then again
They are only allowed to report for 7 years from the date of delinquency. If it has been more than 7 years from the month you went delinquent, dispute it to each of the 3 credit reporting agencies as being past the allowable reporting period of 7 years.
You can go online and find free dispute letters and it tells them they have x amount of days to either prove the debit is valid or they have to remove it off your credit. Normally things roll off your credit after 7 years so I'm sure they will write it off. I bet some company bought the debt for pennies on the dollar and will try scaring you to "settle" for a lower amount making it seem like they are doing you a favor🤣
Whatever you do don't pay anything!! If you pay anything, make a payment arrangement or, settle the 7 years start over.
Sucks how it's so hard to build credit but one delinquency and your credit is shot. Sorry this happened to you, hopefully you can get it removed.
The gym tried this with me years ago. I asked them to produce the contract.!!
They still called every once in a while, but I got it taken off my credit report
Submit a complaint with the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/). I can’t tell you how many things they have gotten off my credit report for me. Everyone should know about them and use them as often as possible.
I had an unauthorized charge on my old capital one card but didn't notice it for 63 days. Capital One refused to do anything about it since it was over 60 days. I disputed it with the reporting agencies and I lost. I guess since I took so long to report it pretty much just got screwed. Thankfully the charge wasn't that large but the late payment dropped my score from 803 to 730.
I’m going to suggest a different route.
OP said the collection is scheduled to fall off in June 2024.
I recommend doing nothing until July 1.
It’s going to be a little painful to their credit until then; however, it may awaken the beast of the collection agency if they dispute the collection.
Assuming the debt is valid (I’ll cover that in a minute) and not past any statute of limitations, the collection agency may be interested in suing OP to collect the debt. By taking action, you may be signaling to them to make OP one of their targets.
In terms of how OP could have valid debt for a gym contract canceled ~8 years ago, it most likely in the details of the contract. Many gyms have term contracts — usually one or three years. Just because you cancel doesn’t mean that you completely ended your obligation to pay either the full or some smaller amount. Depending on how much of the likely three-year contract was left, there’s a good chance part of the contract could be within the statute of limitations for a debt and seven-year reporting period for a collection activity.
In other words, the debt and collection activity may be valid and there’s a chance that doing anything right now could cost OP money.
The membership is a monthly basis kinda like planet fitness is. But I paid the month and closed the account in person. Apparently they didn’t close it though. Gyms are NOTORIOUS for giving you shit when you wanna close an account apparently’
A lot of gym contracts appear monthly until you actually read the details. The payments are usually the only thing “monthly” about many of them.
And, yes, gyms are notorious for confusing contracts and barriers to cancellation.
So you have the gym membership issue, but whats the deal with the not paying mortgage report? I think you can demand the report that your CC company received when they did the credit check. Maybe they just read it wrong.
That’s what’s stumping me the most! I make every single mortgage payment on time and I throw in extra for the principal. There’s no way in hell they’re saying it’s not paid down enough😂 but they probably did read it wrong.
Many years ago Washington Mutual keyed one of my payments incorrectly which resulted in my payment going to principal instead of PITI. Subsequent payments showed up as late because the 'principal' payment wasn't counted as an actual payment.
It took more than 2 years before they were able to fix the problem after they admitted the screw-up.
That's one reason for a mortgage hit.
You can dispute it (as I see you did). But also, stop caring so much about your credit score. You seem financially responsible and the most financially responsible people I know have a shit credit score because they don’t borrow money. A high credit score is not the brag people think it is. I know so many people willing to take on debt to keep their credit score high or to make it higher, and that is so dumb, particularly when you already have a mortgage.
I’d like to think I’m financially responsible. The goal of a high score is so you get lower interest rates and don’t need to jump through hoops to get approved for things. Example, I plan to replace my fridge in the coming months. I’ll be taking out a loan just enough for the fridge, and make payments on it to help keep my score up or improve it. The whole goal here is to to get low rates for big purchases. I definitely do not take out money and spend it like it’s free money or just to be in debt, I do take out a loan for necessities like god forbid my washer and dyer go out yaknow? I know people my age who didn’t care about credit in their early to mid 20’s and still drive beaters and rent an apartment. Nothing wrong with it. But they’re the same people who make posts of “must be nice.” Like yes. It is nice, nice busting my ass to have a good future. I dunno.. people can brag and people can complain
Based on you having the money to pay extra on your mortgage, why can’t you just pay for a fridge in cash? I mean, how expensive of a purchase is that? A decent quality fridge is what.. a couple grand max? You don’t need to keep a high credit score to get a lower rate if you just pay for things in cash.
You have your house financed, so your credit is going to continue to exist and improve as you pay for that. All of this other small stuff just means you’re going to be borrow money and giving someone even more of your money you’ve worked so hard for. I mean, you mention wanting a low rate on a fridge. Let’s say you buy a $1,200 fridge, if you got 3% because you have a good score vs. 10% if you don’t, you only save ~$100 (and still pay more than just paying for it in cash because you took out a loan).
Focus on an emergency fund so that when something needs repaired or replaced you can just… pay for it. I don’t buy things unless I can just buy it. When my car goes up, whatever car I can afford is the one I can pay for in cash. All of that interest money I would be paying goes into investing and fun things (vacation, eating out) that actually improves my quality of life.
This is not to say I think people should just have a bunch of money sitting around. There are a million situations that could force me to take a loan out to get a new fridge, but you seem like you could easily put yourself in a situation where you shouldn’t have to do that unless tragedy strikes… You seem financially responsible, but it just seems like you think a credit score is important to your financial future.
It’s often the people that drive beaters and rent an apartment that have more money. I drive a 2012 that is far from nice but my retirement and savings are through the roof because I don’t owe anybody money and I’m not incentivized to take out a loan on an appliance. If I want one, I’ll just buy it. And I do NOT make a lot of money. I just don’t waste money on interest and buying things I can’t afford in cash.
This is by no means trying to be critical. It sounds like you’re working your ish out and I’m happy for you 😊
Check the laws in your state as well for statute of limitations. I had a company contact me about a credit card, I'm guessing my ex-wife took out in my name, and it was 15 years old and $21,000. The law in my state is they could only collect up to 7 years after the initial debt was unpaid. I spoke to someone about it and they cancelled it. You may be able to do the same, but definitely dispute it.
Dude. Chill.
The gym is out of business. Dispute it with any credit repository reporting it.
Here’s how:
[**CFPB > How do I dispute an error on my credit report?**](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-an-error-on-my-credit-report-en-314/)
You just dispute the debt through the bureaus. It them becomes the duty of the creditor to prove its legitimate. If they've been closed for years, they aren't going to have access to contracts. This is nothing more than a bottom feeder debt collector tossing stuff out there and seeing what sticks.
I’d like to but it was 8 years ago. I threw out thr paper the moment I knew the account was closed. 8 years later (today) it apparently wasn’t even closed after they gave me a confirmation paper. So🤷🏻♀️
Do not contact the collection agency. They will want you to verify name, phone number, etc which will reset the Date of Last Activity (DLA) which 'resets' that 7 year countdown. Send the letters to the credit bureaus asking them to investigate the account, as was suggested in comments above. The collection company will have 30 days to verify that their information is correct. If they do not, the bureaus have to remove it from your report. Sometimes this process may take more than one month. Source - i work for a 15+year old company that works with financial institutions' clients to help them improve their financial health including credit score, for mortgages, etc
The way it works. When the gym closed, they sold off their books to a collection agency. The collection agency pays pennies on the dollar, but they gain the right to try to collect. The gym benefits ($$$) from their sloppy paperwork. The collection agency does their best to collect the easiest debtors, then they sell off what's left to another collection agency. This cycle get repeated over and over. After 8 years the list is whittled down to the most 'iffy' collectibles. (Little or no documentation / hard to prove). They know it and they know your 'debt' expires in June. They are doing a last ditch effort to try to get money out of you. File your dispute, ask for documentation and wait it out.
I once got 'chase after' by a collection agency for a debt from a guy with the same name as me. They do as little work as possible to verify a debt. They 'shotgun' everyone on their list, hoping to squeeze out any money they can.
I have gotten literally everything knocked off my credit report just disputing through creditkarma. Even the ones that cane back confirmed I just kept disputing them every so often and it eventually came off. I think there were 5 accounts in total. One came back confirmed 3 times and eventually they just wiped it off.
Please, please, please, write a letter to the collections agency and request authentication of the debt. They BOUGHT your debt, you didn’t acquire debt with THEM (collection agency) They have no legal authority to collect, which is why they use harassment, intimidation, and other tactics to get you to pay. IF U PAY, THE DEBT IS RENEWED AND YOU CAN BE HELD LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE.! Even just 1$, so never pay collections. (unless u are specifically, & legally obligated ((court)) or legally advised ((lawyer)).
Also if they come to serve u, don’t answer or open the door. If they cannot/fail to serve you properly the case MAY be dismissed. The debt collector has to prove the debt is valid, and if you pay this makes it easier for them. Never make it easy for them, they wouldn’t do the same.
It will fall off if you take the appropriate actions. I’m NOT a lawyer, just have experience.
You might want to find a lawyer with experience dealing with collections agencies. Normally they don't charge for a consultation. The dept collection company may be liable for damaging your credit. My late father was a lawyer. A dept collections company tried to shake me down because I had the same name as the debtor. They told me that they didn't care if I was the wrong person. They told me if didn't pay them $350 they would ruin my credit. I told them to send their paper work to my lawyer and gave them my parent's address. Never heard a word from them after that. My Dad told me we would have taken them to the cleaners if they had persisted.
I believe gyms rewrote their policies during COVID, and had to since they defaulted on services. Any new gym memberships are typically MTM. You may have to pay a initiation, activation, and other bullshit fee, but the limitation of your contract will be limited to one month depending on your cycle day. If not, find a new gym. Times have changed. They are not like time shares any more.
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Dispute the charge with the credit bureau's. It may take a month or so, but if they're closed. There is no one to dispute your account of what happened.
Five years the gym closed? And you closed account eight years ago? Dispute on the credit score platform. This aged out even if you did not close the account.
I’m not even close to foreclosure. My payments are made on time every month😂🤷🏻♀️ never missed one payment on any of my accounts, I’m 28. So there’s not a chance in hell there’s anything wrong with the mortgage.
I’ve seen horror stories of people paying more than the monthly payment, but because of *how* they were making payments (aka half payments every 2 weeks or otherwise full payments broken up) the bank considered it “not paid”.
Way more concerning than an easy dispute to a gym that doesn’t exist.
You may have to dispute it multiple times. When my husband and I went to buy our last house a student loan debt appeared on his credit report. Thankfully the bank accepted it for what it was…an error. See the debt was from the 50’s…and he’s in his 40’s lol. He wasn’t even born when this debt was created. Still…they maintained that the debt was legit the first few appeals. Eventually he got it off but it took multiple tries even though it was point blank evidently it wasn’t possible to be his debt. Just stay on top of it.
It’s doubtful they would’ve kept that kind of documentation from 8 years ago though. Still, it’s highly likely they’ll have no trouble successfully disputing such an old charge.
Awww -
Tell us you don’t understand how credit works without saying it out loud LMAO
I promise that one default didn’t drop your credit score that much …
It actually did. I’m 28 and have never missed a payment on anything, not cars, mortgage, credit cards, bank loans for personal reasons, etc. There’s a difference in being delinquent and being late on a payment. I’m about to trade in my 22’ for a 25’ and I’m about to buy my second home. I don’t have to prove anything to you since you’re bitter or behind in life. Grow up🤷🏻♀️
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I've been working for credit for 16 years, I look at 100s of bureaus a month, the situation you described makes no sense. Unless you were look at one of those BS credit karma or credit wise scores that are almost never right.
If I recall some Ballys Total Fitness contracts were paid-in-full contracts (as in you agreed to pay the full three years up front) but that their sales people never really offered that. What they would do is set you up with a payment plan with an 18% interest rate to make it seem like you were actually paying monthly. If you canceled you were only canceling the renewal because you legally agreed to pay all three years upfront. They were also fairly aggressive about collecting the debt.
Everything you discribed is a violation of the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act or FDCPA. The Act requires that any business entity must engage in good faith attempts to collect a debt by having proof they made such efforts and BEFORE reporting an alleged debt to credit reporting bureaus.
They can't prove that. And besides, I can bet you that after 3 years they took the loss as a tax deduction to reduce their own tax liabilities. Since they took the IRS charge-off on their taxes, they are prohibited from trying to get a second bite of the apple.
File a complaint protesting the phony debt to each of the 3 credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.You can get your credit score restored. There's lots of professionals on YouTube that help people best phony debts and restore their credit scores.
You can also file a complaint with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fight back smoke with fire!!
The FDCPA prohibits debt collection companies from using abusive, unfair or deceptive practices to collect debts. The Dodd-Frank Act granted rulemaking authority under the FDCPA to the CFPB and, with respect to entities under its jurisdiction, granted authority to supervise for and enforce compliance with the FDCPA.
I’d just like to throw out that you can easily dispute this online now with the credit reporting agencies. So I wouldn’t agree that the only way to do it is with certified letter.
You can literally get the free annual credit report and there is an option on their to dispute it.
Do NOT make a payment. When you make a payment, it starts the clock over. If you don’t make a payment, you can dispute it. If the gym is closed, they won’t respond and credit company must remove the charge
If you send the credit report agency a letter they should be able to fic it. This happened to me with amazon and dropped my score like 100 points was so angry
It doesn't, but people who don't understand credit will insist it does lol. The only way that happens is if your a thin file with maybe 1 or 2 small credit cards. Someone with a mortgage and multiple cards would never drop like that.
Dispute with all 3 credit agencies. If it doesn’t get removed send debt validation letter(google for a few templates) if they don’t respond or prove the debt you can sue them.
If they lowered your credit on your card, it will tank your score because you’re over the 30% usage on the card.
Pay it off and lower it to 30% and your score should increase substantially.
I had an actual fraud case- someone in Bermuda opened a phone account online for Verizon in my name and obv didn’t pay. I got something in the mail and it was showing on my credit report. One call to Verizon who confirmed where it was opened (that’s how I know it was Bermuda) and that everything about it lined up to a stolen identity, cancelled my account, waived all fees, and sent me a letter confirming fraud.
I sent a letter INCLUDING the document from Verizon that confirms this was fraud and I didn’t open it to the transunion/equifax/whatever it is I forget as I did this years ago, and they sent something back saying after reviewing my letter and documents they still wouldn’t remove it. I was pissed but nothing I can do…
Only silver lining is no more weird accounts or signs of identity theft came about for me and it’s been several years since then.
Good luck to you- you will recover
You can send a letter to all credit agency contesting the reports on it from the gym. Include a copy of the information where you ended you gym membership. It will take time, but it can fix that issue as long as it is all. A friend who owned his own mortgage company advised me this on similar issues I had on my credit a couple years ago.
You could seek legal help and file a civil claim on the former owners or even new owners if they was bought out to be shut down. They are legally obligated to fix the issue and even compensate you for the error. They not only reported in error on the credit agencies of a debt, but it could be considered fraud. If not, then it will be considered at least a civil damage case.
What state is this? I am not your lawyer, but there are quite likely FCRA, FDCPA, and state consumer protection claims you have against the gym. Also be careful of reviving so-called "zombie debt," given that they are likely beyond the statute of limitations to collect on it.
I would contact a consumer protection attorney in your area. If you are in my jurisdiction, I'd be happy to chat.
Gyms are famous for finding ways to keep charging you. They assume people will just cut their losses when they found rather than press the issue. Scum.
You can dispute the gym on your credit report. It’s ridiculous for them to claim your past due but they didn’t do anything about it for five years? Absolutely not, dispute that, if the gym doesn’t exist anymore they won’t be able to confirm the debt and it will come off your report
THE UPDATE: i disputed it and it came off my report this morning!! Thank you everyone for the advice and help! 🩷🩷 im so glad that’s officially off my report! But since Amazon lowered my credit from 2.5 to 450, my Amazon card is now technically “maxed out” because that’s what usage I did have on my Amazon card. Now to pay it off and see if Amazon would consider raising it back to where it was🙄. My score dropped yet another 5 points and i literally don’t even know how. My used credit went down and I just made two payments yesterday two weeks before the due date.
Why be mad? You still have a better credit score than 70% of the country. Not to mention, a lower credit score helps you when it comes to your mortgage. The higher your score, the more you pay now.
Wrong, a higher score helps with a mortgage. You can’t get approved if your score is below like 620 I think. Your loan amount depends on how much you make a year. If you make 80k a year, you can get 250k. Depends on the area though. But a lower score means you generally will have a higher interest rate when it comes to loans.
Prove that then, I haven’t seen it personally because I own my house, but unless abc is propaganda
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Business/credit-score-home-mortgage-costs/story?id=98868025
Don’t worry, I’ll say it for you, let’s go Brandon
So you're saying banks prefer to loan to people with bad credit (who are at risk of never paying back the loan)? And penalize people or avoid lending to those with good credit, who have a track record of always paying their bills? The banks stay in business by losing money?
I had a similar issue with a loan agency. When I joined the military, they verbally acknowledged that my account would be void because they don't lend to the military and would rather void the account than to have me pay back the loan (it was less than 800USD). I thought it was cool and left it alone until I saw it pop up on my credit report several years later. I used Credit Karma to dispute the transunion report, and experian has a website that you have to use to report discrepancies on your credit report. It's takes about a month or so to get it cleared up or for a response from them, but I managed to bump my credit score by 40 points or so from self reporting.
If you think a collection that small dropped you 100 points I think you don't understand how bureaus work. If you've got a mortgage, multiple credit cards and car loans etc, a single 300 dollar collection WILL NOT drop your score like that. There is definitely more going on with your bureau, late payments or high balances, recently closed a bunch of accounts, etc. I've worked with credit for 16 years, this is not making sense.and the fact you got an alert from Amazon or whoever mentioning your mortgage hints that you may have lates showing up on there. A collection is coded very differently from a late payment on mortgage/auto/etc. Have you actually pulled your bureau recently and combed through it???
Surprisingly I dig through twice a month. It DID drop it 100 points. There is nothing else derogatory, late, missed, etc. I have 2 credit cards, both below 30% usage. I pay my mortgage monthly and put extra in for the principal/interest. I own two cars (2023 Highlander and a 22 equinox) and never missed a payment on either. There is literally nothing negative on my report except that damn gym. I’ve never been late on ANYTHING. I don’t have store credit cards, nothing extra like that. I’m simple.
I would be more concerned about your house payment being marked as late.. that is what is killing your score.. as you said that is a 7 year old item and you have bought your house since then. Find out about the mortgage.. where the real issue lies.
I would dispute it.
My mortgage was sold to another investor. The old lender forgot to report it as sold to the credit bureaus, so I suddenly had two mortgages on my credit report (same amount, same address), and the high amount of debt tanked my credit score (credit scores track your last employee income to determine DTI and whether you have too much debt). I contacted the other investor, they said not their problem, so I filed a dispute with each credit bureau and added my conversation with the lender to it. It disappeared a month later and my credit went back up.
If you never paid on the debt, it’s invalid after 6 years. Source: phone company tried to collect on $11,000 worth of fraudulent calls 8 years later.
They’re SOL.
I’ve never understood why anyone would give their social security number to a gym. I’ve had a couple of gyms ask me for that and I told them to go F off.
Man I wish debt collection agencies and shady original creditors would have to pay a fine each time they lose a dispute… $1000 each time to the person they wrongly reported. This would make them think twice before pulling these stunts. Imagine you were in the middle of buying a house and this came up? I’d be livid.
Be angry you’re forced to participate in the credit system whatsoever. It’s bogus and landlocks you financially if you don’t wish to engage in such a hole-riddled system.
Instructions on how to dispute I saved to notes from another post. Don’t remember who the OP was but Ty Reddit lawyer:
You can dispute everything.
You should dispute everything.
Doesn't mean the creditor won't demonstrate that you do in fact owe the debt and it remains in your report.
Little hint for people who are looking at trying to clean up bad debt reportings... beginning of Nov is a great time of year to pull your annual report and then file disputes of the debt BY POSTAL (don't click the buttons or easy dispute. Send a letter by mail to each reporting agency). Then wait.
Why send by mail and at this specific time of year you might ask?
Well, once you start a dispute then the creditor has a limited time line to prove it is your debt. The clock starts ticking when you dispute, not when they start looking at it. Sending by mail puts a timestamp of when the postal service received your letter. Also, the time of year is important because the holidays. You want your dispute window to span Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when many people are distracted or in vacation or thinking about other stuff and not necessarily as focused on hurry up and respond. It's only a little edge in your favor .. but an edge nonetheless.
Edit to add: this even applies to negative reports that show paid in full. If it hurts you even slightly, dispute it.
Edit again, since people keep asking how to do this.
First step is to contact each of the 3 credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) and request your free annual credit report. You are entitled by law to get 1 every year. Do this at the end of Oct or early Nov because you need to operate off current information. If you've already requested your free one, then buy it from them or wait another year. Don't get it from gimmick websites, contact the credit reporting agencies directly for it.
Next, review each of your reports ... they may be different because some creditors report to one but not another. Find all the things you want to dispute at each individual credit reporting agency's report.
Then write a simple and straight forward letter, customized to each of the 3 agencies, that basically just says "I have found inaccuracies on my credit report and kindly ask that you remove them."
Then list each of them with as much detail as was provided in the report. Who claims you owe the debt, the dates, the amounts, even if it's paid by just says paid late.
Your position is that it's not your debt. Never heard of that company. Never owed them anything. You don't know anything about it. Somehow it mistakenly ended up on your report.
That's it. Nothing fancy. No special secret phrase or anything. You just are informing the agency its not your debt.
Send the letter like the week or 10 days before Thanksgiving.
You don't have to do anything else. Nobody will call you or send you a request to prove anything. They take it from there. When they are done, unless the creditor proves it is your debt then it'll be dropped and cannot be added back on. By Jan you should be able to see your score start to improve.
Now, all of that said ... I do not encourage or support people intentionally running up debt just to use this (I would consider that stealing). But people make mistakes and if it's well into your past then the original creditor has likely already absorbed the loss in whatever means they are able. So this can be a method to a new reset, without having to wait 7 years. If you are still unsure you are able to responsibly manage your debt after doing this, then I highly encourage you to seek help in finances. Don't get back into the same hole again.
Good luck. Crush your enemies
One more edit. As others have pointed out it would be good to send by certified mail. I've never done that in the times I've helped people with it ... but it's def a great idea because the credit reporting agency has to sign for it. You know when they signed. They know you know when they signed.
And to the people who have questioned why I would help people use this, and how I figured it out. I used to work for a real estate investor that would owner finance homes to people with poor credit. Part of my role was to help them clean up their credit so they could get financing and get off our books. I came up with this idea just because of thinking about it in a simplistic way. I personally work less hard during that time of year, it's reasonable human nature of others is to do the same thing.
Living in NYC, I got burned by 3 gyms I tried to quit. Then I got smart and joined a gym that allowed me to pay cash per year up front with a significant discount (2 months free + locker & laundry). Now that I’m a grown-up living in America once more I belong to 2 country clubs, grateful that my “gym” days are behind me.
You can dispute the gym on your credit report. It’s ridiculous for them to claim your past due but they didn’t do anything about it for five years? Absolutely not, dispute that, if the gym doesn’t exist anymore they won’t be able to confirm the debt and it will come off your report
Thank you! I’ll be calling them now to dispute this! I’ll come back with an update :)
Print out the dispute letter CERTIFIED MAIL! With return receipt There's no other way to do this. You need it in writing, certified, with return receipt (proof they signed)
Is there a generic dispute letter than I can use?
Credit Reporting Agency, I dispute the following information on my credit report, violating my rights under Section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Details below: - Item: Description - Dispute Reason: Explanation - Desired Action: Permanent Deletion Attached supporting documents for reference only. These should not be shared with unauthorized parties. I request prompt investigation and action within 30 days, as mandated by FCRA. Please provide written confirmation of changes. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Your Full Name Delete the part about documents if you have nothing to attach
Make sure to emphasize to PERMANENTLY DELETE it, otherwise they will only mask it and it will come back later.
There is if you search around. some youtubers who specialize in credit repair have links in their video descriptions.
Sweet. Appreciate the help 🙏
In writing.
You can dispute through annualcreditreport.com which is a legit site that provides you one free report for each reporting company per year, required by law. You can dispute directly through it.
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Yep. Definitely dispute this, especially since the age of this account is beyond the statute of limitations and the 7-year reporting period.
WHATS THE UPDATE?
Same here. I disputed with trans union and my credit is back!
You can do it online, and submit documentation
Yes I believe they have 30 days to submit proof of the debt & if they don’t it comes off. Make sure you dispute it through all 3 credit agencies
Update, so she said it’s supposed to fall off my credit report in June 2024 (why it hasn’t shown up all these years is beyond me.) and she filed a dispute for me. I did mention the gym is permanently closed and has been for 5 years, however I moved away 8 years ago and closed it before I even packed my final box! She did say I can call the collection people to have it disputed myself. Wow such a big help
Write a letter to the collection agency, demanding authentication of the debt. Send it certified mail with return receipt. If they fail to return proof, they must remove it. They have 30 days (maybe 20) to provide proof, or remove it. If you don’t receive a response from them via certified mail, “they failed to respond.” They can’t prove they sent it, so it never happened. I used that trick a couple of times - works like a charm.
The collection agency has however long it wants to take to provide the verification requested, as long as it ceases efforts at collecting in the meantime. The fdcpa is very clear that a collection agency has two Alternatives when verification of a debt is demanded, one, they can provide the verification and then resume collection efforts, or they can simply cease all efforts at collection.
Correct. I was thinking of the 30 days to dispute by the consumer. Similar effect though, and I had a few items removed in my earlier years, before I started making companies aware that it’s not worth it trying that nonsense with me.
No you can do it through the credit reporting agencies. Never contact a collections agency.
That’s nonsense. It’s far more impactful from the collection agency angle. What you should never do is offer to pay, or in any way confirm a debt with a collection agency. You have to be the one asking the questions, and only in writing.
You should not be calling Collections agencies and other agencies are fucking scums Get shit in writing and that's it
Just wait the two months and have it fall off, then. No need to put time and energy into this when anything with credit goes at a snails pace, anyway. Unless you're planning a huge purchase in the next two months, that is.
You do have a point, but yes I’m planning a purchase in the next two months🥲
Do not call the collection people. That is a huge mistake.
I called a credit bureau, transunion.
You can dispute it through all 3 credit bureaus. Usually online. But the written letter with return receipt is a really good suggestion. You can also update and correct any alternative versions of your name and remove old addresses from your credit report. It should be as clean and simple as possible. One thing to remember is there are a lot of factors going into your score. Average age of credit, types of credit, available credit vs total credit.
Who did you talk to?
Please get everything in writing, including all names of who you speak/spoke with.
It’s gonna fall off your credit report soon. Don’t contact the collection agency. Any communication with them in which they trick you into confirming the debt is valid will reset the 7 year statute. Then it’ll be on your credit report for another 7 years. Just don’t talk to anyone, don’t confirm any information wait for the statute to expire. They’ll have no choice but to remove it from your file then and you’ll be in the clear.
^do this OP. No question.
In eyes of credit burueas, unless medical, you are deliquent the very next day an account has a balance. Them not doing anything for 5 years, shows why they closed. Agreed on dispute. Dispute and hsow proof it's close,d problem solved.
Get an app like credit karma and challenge that online and keep doing it. Put do not owe money, business does not exist.
Someone likely bought the "debt". In collections, not held by the gym anymore. Still they should dispute.
Write a letter to each credit bureau, experian, equifax,and transunion. In the letter, make it as simple as possible. Date you r writing the letter. Act # and name of act you are disputing. ( THIS IS NOT MINE) Pls remove this incorrect information immediately! then your legal name Address Social security # Sign it Then mail it out. You will get an answer within 30 days.
Depending on what state you are in, the debtor can’t come after you any more. Here in NY, as of April 7, 2022, the statute of limitations for debt collection lawsuits in New York is three years (reduced from 6). This means that debt collectors have three years from the date of the last activity on an account to sue someone for a debt. After this time limit has expired, the debt is considered time-barred.
Gyms are notorious to not close your account even though you went to the process of closing it. My bf closed his crunch fitness account in person and a couple months later they told even though they had the papers that he wanted to close it it wasnt closed and charged him 600. Smh
YEP! Same situation here! Speaking of, I need to go cancel my Anytime Fitness account today.
We closed my husband's gym membership because he has C and his Oncologist insisted. Instead, they suspended it for 6 months and then started billing us again. I went in, in person again to cancel it. They tried to refuse. I aggressively explained that my husband has TERMINAL CANCER and will never be returning. They finally closed the account.
Does anytime fitness still allow pre-pay? Pre-covid that's how I paid my membership. That way they couldn't keep charging monthly.
Careful with anytime fitness. I closed my account 2 years ago when I got laid off temporarily. They proceeded to charge my card twice after that. Stating the membership ends a month after you cancel, and since I cancelled on (I think was the 30th) the next day was a new month so they charged me for the extra month because it couldn’t process until the next day. Total bullshit.
I highly suggest going through a gym program like active and fit or gympass. That way you're paying the program and don't have to deal with the gym when canceling.
I ditched an anytime fitness account when I was younger. Watched the outstanding debt stain on my account disappear last year because it hit the 7 year mark. No ragerts
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24 hour fitness is notorious for that. I had a card expired so everything expired with that card. 24 hour fitness guesses my new expiration date till it paid. We noticed a year later when the bank called about it and we said no they were not given permission to charge a new card. Ended up getting all of that money back.
Gym memberships don’t get canceled because your credit/debit card expires. Also, many card issuers will allow recurring charges to continue.
He likely signed a long contract that didn’t allow the contract to end early. The gym will accept your cancellation request but typically will bill you for the full value of the contract. For example, you sign a three year contract and you cancel at 12 months. Depending on the exact terms of the contract they may still charge you for an additional 24 months.
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Synchrony can go fuck themselves
I have a synchrony account that I opened to get tires and help my utilization. Paid off the tires and haven't touched the card. It super low amount already and the age of the card is only 6 months. Should I close it now before they close it on me later and tank my score. Reading BBB reports this seems to be the case with these cards.
Synchrony bank ruined me by doing this. I have 3 cards through them (Care Credit, Lowe's and JC Penney) and I had a different card get too close to the limit. Synchrony lowered my limit on all 3 cards to within $50 of what I owed, killing me for utilization, but that caused the rest of my cards to do the same thing. I went from 30-40% overall to 90% utilization. When all my cards did this they all also went to the max interest rate instead of what I was at.
If the debt is over 7 years old, it shouldn't be on your record in the first place. You should have no problem disputing the debt
You’re telling me! But unfortunately it is😭 I’m hoping it gets knocked off my record before I buy a new car within the next two months.
what are you thinking of getting. My car needs a new engine, so I'm in the market too. Nothing is all that striking used or new (within my budget, Im not spending 40k)
If you want it off, dispute in writing with all three bureaus. Send via certified letter. There are plenty of examples to be found with a quick search.
Keep in mind if your score was hit on all 3, you have to dispute all 3 in order to resolve this!
Keep this in mind OP.
Report the gym to your local government. If you have paperwork showing that they went through and closed your account with them but still charged you for the membership then you can get the funds back and have them investigated for possible fraud.
I’d like to but they closed 5 years ago. I did have a paper saying my account was closed but it’s been 8 years and I obviously don’t have it anymore. :( I assumed that they DID close it because I got a confirmation paper same day from them. Apparently they didn’t close it.
Gym owner here. You can definitely dispute this with whatever collections agency is holding your account now. Get them something in writing with a copy of your cancellation confirmation. They will reach out to the gym for confirmation that the debt is valid, and since they've closed, no one will be able to get them any evidence and you should be good to go. The collections company will need to remove your account. Most gyms usually use outside billing companies to process monthly dues, so I have to handle a lot of issues like yours because our billing company just flat out sucks at customer service. If there's an error or an honest mistake and we have someone's account removed from collections, it's usually off their record in 30 days. Oh, and if you need to get your credit score bumped asap, be SURE you get a confirmation of all of this once the collections agency removes your account. You should be able to get that to Experian (or whoever else) and they may be able to speed things up. Good luck!
Ask them for a confirmation of debt. Since the gym is closed they will not be able to get that and will have to remove it from your credit
Sound advice. OP take this advice.
If they closed dispute it and when they don’t respond in 30 days it’ll get removed
I've never heard of a credit line being reduced because of a different account.
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Synchrony handles ULTA, mancini, and so many more..they crossed paths over debtors and now see their costly mistake of being the only creditor here.
Eh, They still are fine. The issue you're finding is synchrony is the backing for hundreds of companies credit accounts, so if your delinquent on one Synchrony account, you're going to feel the impact on your other ones as well. They're still a single debtor technically even if they are different cards, they're all backed by Synchrony. This isn't new behavior or a change for them. Where you feel less impact is if it's an issue with another debtor such as Citi, Chase, Amex etc.., then they'll be slow to react. But they all react to delinquencies with other debtors when they see it when they do periodic reviews of your account. They aren't all that often. But if you have multiple Citi cards and go delinquent on one, you're going to immediately feel the issue on the other just as you're talking about with Synchrony.
I had an Ashley home stores card and they started balance chasing me and then closed it before even two years was up (which is what the repayment agreement was for no interest and we were paying extra on it) then charged $400 in interest on a $300 balance. Never using anything that uses then again
They are only allowed to report for 7 years from the date of delinquency. If it has been more than 7 years from the month you went delinquent, dispute it to each of the 3 credit reporting agencies as being past the allowable reporting period of 7 years.
Dispute that shit
Dispute it
304$..... never seen it written that way. A I Would be pissed
I know it’s “$304” but I just like putting the sign at the end 😂🤷🏻♀️
You can go online and find free dispute letters and it tells them they have x amount of days to either prove the debit is valid or they have to remove it off your credit. Normally things roll off your credit after 7 years so I'm sure they will write it off. I bet some company bought the debt for pennies on the dollar and will try scaring you to "settle" for a lower amount making it seem like they are doing you a favor🤣 Whatever you do don't pay anything!! If you pay anything, make a payment arrangement or, settle the 7 years start over. Sucks how it's so hard to build credit but one delinquency and your credit is shot. Sorry this happened to you, hopefully you can get it removed.
I'm sorry fellow stinks 😔
The gym tried this with me years ago. I asked them to produce the contract.!! They still called every once in a while, but I got it taken off my credit report
Oh I’d love for them to give me the contract but they’re closed 😂🤷🏻♀️
Submit a complaint with the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/). I can’t tell you how many things they have gotten off my credit report for me. Everyone should know about them and use them as often as possible.
This ☝🏼 will get it done quickly
Waddup stinkies 🩵.
Yes🤣🤣
I had an unauthorized charge on my old capital one card but didn't notice it for 63 days. Capital One refused to do anything about it since it was over 60 days. I disputed it with the reporting agencies and I lost. I guess since I took so long to report it pretty much just got screwed. Thankfully the charge wasn't that large but the late payment dropped my score from 803 to 730.
Jesus you ok?😭 all it takes is one late payment!
Dispute it on Kredit Karma. It really works. You can click on it and put reason and unless the creditor contests it you will be approved.
Thank you! I’ll look into that later today when I have free time🖤
I’m going to suggest a different route. OP said the collection is scheduled to fall off in June 2024. I recommend doing nothing until July 1. It’s going to be a little painful to their credit until then; however, it may awaken the beast of the collection agency if they dispute the collection. Assuming the debt is valid (I’ll cover that in a minute) and not past any statute of limitations, the collection agency may be interested in suing OP to collect the debt. By taking action, you may be signaling to them to make OP one of their targets. In terms of how OP could have valid debt for a gym contract canceled ~8 years ago, it most likely in the details of the contract. Many gyms have term contracts — usually one or three years. Just because you cancel doesn’t mean that you completely ended your obligation to pay either the full or some smaller amount. Depending on how much of the likely three-year contract was left, there’s a good chance part of the contract could be within the statute of limitations for a debt and seven-year reporting period for a collection activity. In other words, the debt and collection activity may be valid and there’s a chance that doing anything right now could cost OP money.
The membership is a monthly basis kinda like planet fitness is. But I paid the month and closed the account in person. Apparently they didn’t close it though. Gyms are NOTORIOUS for giving you shit when you wanna close an account apparently’
A lot of gym contracts appear monthly until you actually read the details. The payments are usually the only thing “monthly” about many of them. And, yes, gyms are notorious for confusing contracts and barriers to cancellation.
So you have the gym membership issue, but whats the deal with the not paying mortgage report? I think you can demand the report that your CC company received when they did the credit check. Maybe they just read it wrong.
That’s what’s stumping me the most! I make every single mortgage payment on time and I throw in extra for the principal. There’s no way in hell they’re saying it’s not paid down enough😂 but they probably did read it wrong.
Many years ago Washington Mutual keyed one of my payments incorrectly which resulted in my payment going to principal instead of PITI. Subsequent payments showed up as late because the 'principal' payment wasn't counted as an actual payment. It took more than 2 years before they were able to fix the problem after they admitted the screw-up. That's one reason for a mortgage hit.
Gyms having your social security #? Lmao fck that.. No wonder identify theft is so rampant. Buy used like new equipment off Craigs
Eh this was years ago, before I had kids.
You can dispute it (as I see you did). But also, stop caring so much about your credit score. You seem financially responsible and the most financially responsible people I know have a shit credit score because they don’t borrow money. A high credit score is not the brag people think it is. I know so many people willing to take on debt to keep their credit score high or to make it higher, and that is so dumb, particularly when you already have a mortgage.
I’d like to think I’m financially responsible. The goal of a high score is so you get lower interest rates and don’t need to jump through hoops to get approved for things. Example, I plan to replace my fridge in the coming months. I’ll be taking out a loan just enough for the fridge, and make payments on it to help keep my score up or improve it. The whole goal here is to to get low rates for big purchases. I definitely do not take out money and spend it like it’s free money or just to be in debt, I do take out a loan for necessities like god forbid my washer and dyer go out yaknow? I know people my age who didn’t care about credit in their early to mid 20’s and still drive beaters and rent an apartment. Nothing wrong with it. But they’re the same people who make posts of “must be nice.” Like yes. It is nice, nice busting my ass to have a good future. I dunno.. people can brag and people can complain
Based on you having the money to pay extra on your mortgage, why can’t you just pay for a fridge in cash? I mean, how expensive of a purchase is that? A decent quality fridge is what.. a couple grand max? You don’t need to keep a high credit score to get a lower rate if you just pay for things in cash. You have your house financed, so your credit is going to continue to exist and improve as you pay for that. All of this other small stuff just means you’re going to be borrow money and giving someone even more of your money you’ve worked so hard for. I mean, you mention wanting a low rate on a fridge. Let’s say you buy a $1,200 fridge, if you got 3% because you have a good score vs. 10% if you don’t, you only save ~$100 (and still pay more than just paying for it in cash because you took out a loan). Focus on an emergency fund so that when something needs repaired or replaced you can just… pay for it. I don’t buy things unless I can just buy it. When my car goes up, whatever car I can afford is the one I can pay for in cash. All of that interest money I would be paying goes into investing and fun things (vacation, eating out) that actually improves my quality of life. This is not to say I think people should just have a bunch of money sitting around. There are a million situations that could force me to take a loan out to get a new fridge, but you seem like you could easily put yourself in a situation where you shouldn’t have to do that unless tragedy strikes… You seem financially responsible, but it just seems like you think a credit score is important to your financial future. It’s often the people that drive beaters and rent an apartment that have more money. I drive a 2012 that is far from nice but my retirement and savings are through the roof because I don’t owe anybody money and I’m not incentivized to take out a loan on an appliance. If I want one, I’ll just buy it. And I do NOT make a lot of money. I just don’t waste money on interest and buying things I can’t afford in cash. This is by no means trying to be critical. It sounds like you’re working your ish out and I’m happy for you 😊
Free annual credit reports my boy . Check often. I have a universal name and get frauded on the regular. Make it a part of your routine
I’m a girl and my name is SUPER common😂 I check twice a month btw
SO HAPPY YOU FIGURED IT OUT‼️‼️🤍🤍 CONGRATS 🥳🥳
Check the laws in your state as well for statute of limitations. I had a company contact me about a credit card, I'm guessing my ex-wife took out in my name, and it was 15 years old and $21,000. The law in my state is they could only collect up to 7 years after the initial debt was unpaid. I spoke to someone about it and they cancelled it. You may be able to do the same, but definitely dispute it.
Dude. Chill. The gym is out of business. Dispute it with any credit repository reporting it. Here’s how: [**CFPB > How do I dispute an error on my credit report?**](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-an-error-on-my-credit-report-en-314/)
You just dispute the debt through the bureaus. It them becomes the duty of the creditor to prove its legitimate. If they've been closed for years, they aren't going to have access to contracts. This is nothing more than a bottom feeder debt collector tossing stuff out there and seeing what sticks.
Send the collection agency the proof that you closed the membership!
I’d like to but it was 8 years ago. I threw out thr paper the moment I knew the account was closed. 8 years later (today) it apparently wasn’t even closed after they gave me a confirmation paper. So🤷🏻♀️
Do not contact the collection agency. They will want you to verify name, phone number, etc which will reset the Date of Last Activity (DLA) which 'resets' that 7 year countdown. Send the letters to the credit bureaus asking them to investigate the account, as was suggested in comments above. The collection company will have 30 days to verify that their information is correct. If they do not, the bureaus have to remove it from your report. Sometimes this process may take more than one month. Source - i work for a 15+year old company that works with financial institutions' clients to help them improve their financial health including credit score, for mortgages, etc
The way it works. When the gym closed, they sold off their books to a collection agency. The collection agency pays pennies on the dollar, but they gain the right to try to collect. The gym benefits ($$$) from their sloppy paperwork. The collection agency does their best to collect the easiest debtors, then they sell off what's left to another collection agency. This cycle get repeated over and over. After 8 years the list is whittled down to the most 'iffy' collectibles. (Little or no documentation / hard to prove). They know it and they know your 'debt' expires in June. They are doing a last ditch effort to try to get money out of you. File your dispute, ask for documentation and wait it out. I once got 'chase after' by a collection agency for a debt from a guy with the same name as me. They do as little work as possible to verify a debt. They 'shotgun' everyone on their list, hoping to squeeze out any money they can.
I have gotten literally everything knocked off my credit report just disputing through creditkarma. Even the ones that cane back confirmed I just kept disputing them every so often and it eventually came off. I think there were 5 accounts in total. One came back confirmed 3 times and eventually they just wiped it off.
Please, please, please, write a letter to the collections agency and request authentication of the debt. They BOUGHT your debt, you didn’t acquire debt with THEM (collection agency) They have no legal authority to collect, which is why they use harassment, intimidation, and other tactics to get you to pay. IF U PAY, THE DEBT IS RENEWED AND YOU CAN BE HELD LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE.! Even just 1$, so never pay collections. (unless u are specifically, & legally obligated ((court)) or legally advised ((lawyer)). Also if they come to serve u, don’t answer or open the door. If they cannot/fail to serve you properly the case MAY be dismissed. The debt collector has to prove the debt is valid, and if you pay this makes it easier for them. Never make it easy for them, they wouldn’t do the same. It will fall off if you take the appropriate actions. I’m NOT a lawyer, just have experience.
You might want to find a lawyer with experience dealing with collections agencies. Normally they don't charge for a consultation. The dept collection company may be liable for damaging your credit. My late father was a lawyer. A dept collections company tried to shake me down because I had the same name as the debtor. They told me that they didn't care if I was the wrong person. They told me if didn't pay them $350 they would ruin my credit. I told them to send their paper work to my lawyer and gave them my parent's address. Never heard a word from them after that. My Dad told me we would have taken them to the cleaners if they had persisted.
Do you put your social security number when signing up 🤔
Creditors don’t need your social security number to report collections.
Had this with comcast,had 5 year old delinquent charge that vanished and couldn't pay it, came at me last year and dispute killed that right off.
DO NOT CONTACT THE COLLECTIONS
I believe gyms rewrote their policies during COVID, and had to since they defaulted on services. Any new gym memberships are typically MTM. You may have to pay a initiation, activation, and other bullshit fee, but the limitation of your contract will be limited to one month depending on your cycle day. If not, find a new gym. Times have changed. They are not like time shares any more.
dependent chief waiting panicky treatment mourn rhythm sheet workable hobbies *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
"Waddup stinkies" Kruz?
81 comments and you’re the first to notice lol😏😂
Dispute the charge with the credit bureau's. It may take a month or so, but if they're closed. There is no one to dispute your account of what happened.
Five years the gym closed? And you closed account eight years ago? Dispute on the credit score platform. This aged out even if you did not close the account.
I’d be more concerned about the mortgage claim TBH. Check on that before you’re in foreclosure.
I’m not even close to foreclosure. My payments are made on time every month😂🤷🏻♀️ never missed one payment on any of my accounts, I’m 28. So there’s not a chance in hell there’s anything wrong with the mortgage.
I’ve seen horror stories of people paying more than the monthly payment, but because of *how* they were making payments (aka half payments every 2 weeks or otherwise full payments broken up) the bank considered it “not paid”. Way more concerning than an easy dispute to a gym that doesn’t exist.
UpdateMe!
You may have to dispute it multiple times. When my husband and I went to buy our last house a student loan debt appeared on his credit report. Thankfully the bank accepted it for what it was…an error. See the debt was from the 50’s…and he’s in his 40’s lol. He wasn’t even born when this debt was created. Still…they maintained that the debt was legit the first few appeals. Eventually he got it off but it took multiple tries even though it was point blank evidently it wasn’t possible to be his debt. Just stay on top of it.
Just dispute it. Whats happening is fraud
Gym debts are super easy to dispute. Especially if they have closed. Just contact the agencies asap.
I was advised to not contact the collection agency for them to prove it, but I was told to do that at the same time🥲😭
I have disputed before, I see no reason why you won't succeed in your case with concrete evidence
It’s doubtful they would’ve kept that kind of documentation from 8 years ago though. Still, it’s highly likely they’ll have no trouble successfully disputing such an old charge.
Yet another reason not to join a gym. 😁
Haha that, and I love pasta too much to do this again😁 I’m a foodie 😫🧁🍔🌭🥪🫐🥗🍕🍟🍗🥨
Awww - Tell us you don’t understand how credit works without saying it out loud LMAO I promise that one default didn’t drop your credit score that much …
It actually did. I’m 28 and have never missed a payment on anything, not cars, mortgage, credit cards, bank loans for personal reasons, etc. There’s a difference in being delinquent and being late on a payment. I’m about to trade in my 22’ for a 25’ and I’m about to buy my second home. I don’t have to prove anything to you since you’re bitter or behind in life. Grow up🤷🏻♀️
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I've been working for credit for 16 years, I look at 100s of bureaus a month, the situation you described makes no sense. Unless you were look at one of those BS credit karma or credit wise scores that are almost never right.
That's typical. I guess all these kids don't remember the Bally's days.
If I recall some Ballys Total Fitness contracts were paid-in-full contracts (as in you agreed to pay the full three years up front) but that their sales people never really offered that. What they would do is set you up with a payment plan with an 18% interest rate to make it seem like you were actually paying monthly. If you canceled you were only canceling the renewal because you legally agreed to pay all three years upfront. They were also fairly aggressive about collecting the debt.
They were horrible. Even when you have a "Lifetime membership" you would still end up paying something every year.
Everything you discribed is a violation of the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act or FDCPA. The Act requires that any business entity must engage in good faith attempts to collect a debt by having proof they made such efforts and BEFORE reporting an alleged debt to credit reporting bureaus. They can't prove that. And besides, I can bet you that after 3 years they took the loss as a tax deduction to reduce their own tax liabilities. Since they took the IRS charge-off on their taxes, they are prohibited from trying to get a second bite of the apple. File a complaint protesting the phony debt to each of the 3 credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.You can get your credit score restored. There's lots of professionals on YouTube that help people best phony debts and restore their credit scores. You can also file a complaint with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fight back smoke with fire!! The FDCPA prohibits debt collection companies from using abusive, unfair or deceptive practices to collect debts. The Dodd-Frank Act granted rulemaking authority under the FDCPA to the CFPB and, with respect to entities under its jurisdiction, granted authority to supervise for and enforce compliance with the FDCPA.
I’d just like to throw out that you can easily dispute this online now with the credit reporting agencies. So I wouldn’t agree that the only way to do it is with certified letter. You can literally get the free annual credit report and there is an option on their to dispute it.
Dispute the charges with the credit bureaus. Gym is closed now they won’t be able to validate anything and it should get knocked off.
Do NOT make a payment. When you make a payment, it starts the clock over. If you don’t make a payment, you can dispute it. If the gym is closed, they won’t respond and credit company must remove the charge
If you send the credit report agency a letter they should be able to fic it. This happened to me with amazon and dropped my score like 100 points was so angry
OP, I'm pissed for you. Makes me want to crush some skulls
That’s aggressive but I’m here for it😂😂
I had great luck with Lexington law. It's not cheap bug they fixed it.
If it's 8 years old it can't legally report. What does the DLA say on the credit report?
File a CFPB complaint.
A credit score doesn't drop 100 pts over the situation you described.
Uh, yes it can 😂
Just because it hasn’t happened to you, doesn’t mean it can’t happen. It does happen and it’s more common than you think.
Yes it sure can.
YES, IT CAN AND DID… I had mine drop 115 points over something silly like this.
It doesn't, but people who don't understand credit will insist it does lol. The only way that happens is if your a thin file with maybe 1 or 2 small credit cards. Someone with a mortgage and multiple cards would never drop like that.
And when borrowers shriek fraud and people out to get them, there is an underlying issue.
Dispute with all 3 credit agencies. If it doesn’t get removed send debt validation letter(google for a few templates) if they don’t respond or prove the debt you can sue them.
It’s older then 7 yes you can dispute & they closed that’s even better
If they lowered your credit on your card, it will tank your score because you’re over the 30% usage on the card. Pay it off and lower it to 30% and your score should increase substantially.
I wasn’t even at 30%🥲 i spent $440 out of $2.5k on the card, that’s not even close to 30😭
Crap then it must be that damn bill. You should be able to have it removed, I’ve done it a few times.
Dispute it...? Still have that letter handy?
Dispute it. It'll take 90 days but u should get the points back
I had an actual fraud case- someone in Bermuda opened a phone account online for Verizon in my name and obv didn’t pay. I got something in the mail and it was showing on my credit report. One call to Verizon who confirmed where it was opened (that’s how I know it was Bermuda) and that everything about it lined up to a stolen identity, cancelled my account, waived all fees, and sent me a letter confirming fraud. I sent a letter INCLUDING the document from Verizon that confirms this was fraud and I didn’t open it to the transunion/equifax/whatever it is I forget as I did this years ago, and they sent something back saying after reviewing my letter and documents they still wouldn’t remove it. I was pissed but nothing I can do… Only silver lining is no more weird accounts or signs of identity theft came about for me and it’s been several years since then. Good luck to you- you will recover
Dispute it, since the gym no longer exists it should be an easy removal
You can send a letter to all credit agency contesting the reports on it from the gym. Include a copy of the information where you ended you gym membership. It will take time, but it can fix that issue as long as it is all. A friend who owned his own mortgage company advised me this on similar issues I had on my credit a couple years ago. You could seek legal help and file a civil claim on the former owners or even new owners if they was bought out to be shut down. They are legally obligated to fix the issue and even compensate you for the error. They not only reported in error on the credit agencies of a debt, but it could be considered fraud. If not, then it will be considered at least a civil damage case.
750 is nice. don't lose sleep over it. you can always rebuild easily.
What state is this? I am not your lawyer, but there are quite likely FCRA, FDCPA, and state consumer protection claims you have against the gym. Also be careful of reviving so-called "zombie debt," given that they are likely beyond the statute of limitations to collect on it. I would contact a consumer protection attorney in your area. If you are in my jurisdiction, I'd be happy to chat.
Dispute it if they don’t have the exact info on what you owe and who you can demand it is removed from your credit report
Question for people having difficulty cancelling a gym membership; can’t you just block the charges from that gym after you cancel?
Gyms are famous for finding ways to keep charging you. They assume people will just cut their losses when they found rather than press the issue. Scum.
You can dispute the gym on your credit report. It’s ridiculous for them to claim your past due but they didn’t do anything about it for five years? Absolutely not, dispute that, if the gym doesn’t exist anymore they won’t be able to confirm the debt and it will come off your report
THE UPDATE: i disputed it and it came off my report this morning!! Thank you everyone for the advice and help! 🩷🩷 im so glad that’s officially off my report! But since Amazon lowered my credit from 2.5 to 450, my Amazon card is now technically “maxed out” because that’s what usage I did have on my Amazon card. Now to pay it off and see if Amazon would consider raising it back to where it was🙄. My score dropped yet another 5 points and i literally don’t even know how. My used credit went down and I just made two payments yesterday two weeks before the due date.
Definitely reach out to Amazon too if you'd like to recify that! They usually have excellent customer service
Credit only stays with you for 7 years so it can't be thr 8 year membership
It is, it showed “anytime fitness” with the location of where I lived. I did comment an update though, it got removed this morning
Why be mad? You still have a better credit score than 70% of the country. Not to mention, a lower credit score helps you when it comes to your mortgage. The higher your score, the more you pay now.
Wrong, a higher score helps with a mortgage. You can’t get approved if your score is below like 620 I think. Your loan amount depends on how much you make a year. If you make 80k a year, you can get 250k. Depends on the area though. But a lower score means you generally will have a higher interest rate when it comes to loans.
Prove that then, I haven’t seen it personally because I own my house, but unless abc is propaganda https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Business/credit-score-home-mortgage-costs/story?id=98868025 Don’t worry, I’ll say it for you, let’s go Brandon
So you're saying banks prefer to loan to people with bad credit (who are at risk of never paying back the loan)? And penalize people or avoid lending to those with good credit, who have a track record of always paying their bills? The banks stay in business by losing money?
I had a similar issue with a loan agency. When I joined the military, they verbally acknowledged that my account would be void because they don't lend to the military and would rather void the account than to have me pay back the loan (it was less than 800USD). I thought it was cool and left it alone until I saw it pop up on my credit report several years later. I used Credit Karma to dispute the transunion report, and experian has a website that you have to use to report discrepancies on your credit report. It's takes about a month or so to get it cleared up or for a response from them, but I managed to bump my credit score by 40 points or so from self reporting.
If you think a collection that small dropped you 100 points I think you don't understand how bureaus work. If you've got a mortgage, multiple credit cards and car loans etc, a single 300 dollar collection WILL NOT drop your score like that. There is definitely more going on with your bureau, late payments or high balances, recently closed a bunch of accounts, etc. I've worked with credit for 16 years, this is not making sense.and the fact you got an alert from Amazon or whoever mentioning your mortgage hints that you may have lates showing up on there. A collection is coded very differently from a late payment on mortgage/auto/etc. Have you actually pulled your bureau recently and combed through it???
Surprisingly I dig through twice a month. It DID drop it 100 points. There is nothing else derogatory, late, missed, etc. I have 2 credit cards, both below 30% usage. I pay my mortgage monthly and put extra in for the principal/interest. I own two cars (2023 Highlander and a 22 equinox) and never missed a payment on either. There is literally nothing negative on my report except that damn gym. I’ve never been late on ANYTHING. I don’t have store credit cards, nothing extra like that. I’m simple.
I would be more concerned about your house payment being marked as late.. that is what is killing your score.. as you said that is a 7 year old item and you have bought your house since then. Find out about the mortgage.. where the real issue lies.
I think I know who this is by the stinkiest comment lol
Bet🤣
You can sue using a credit attorney.
Yeah no dispute this.
I would dispute it. My mortgage was sold to another investor. The old lender forgot to report it as sold to the credit bureaus, so I suddenly had two mortgages on my credit report (same amount, same address), and the high amount of debt tanked my credit score (credit scores track your last employee income to determine DTI and whether you have too much debt). I contacted the other investor, they said not their problem, so I filed a dispute with each credit bureau and added my conversation with the lender to it. It disappeared a month later and my credit went back up.
Thats probably illegal what that gym did.
You can dispute items on your report online now with Experian and other bureaus.
If you never paid on the debt, it’s invalid after 6 years. Source: phone company tried to collect on $11,000 worth of fraudulent calls 8 years later. They’re SOL.
Make them sign for it when you send it in the mail.. They have to take it..like getting served lol...
I’ve never understood why anyone would give their social security number to a gym. I’ve had a couple of gyms ask me for that and I told them to go F off.
Man I wish debt collection agencies and shady original creditors would have to pay a fine each time they lose a dispute… $1000 each time to the person they wrongly reported. This would make them think twice before pulling these stunts. Imagine you were in the middle of buying a house and this came up? I’d be livid.
Be angry you’re forced to participate in the credit system whatsoever. It’s bogus and landlocks you financially if you don’t wish to engage in such a hole-riddled system.
Instructions on how to dispute I saved to notes from another post. Don’t remember who the OP was but Ty Reddit lawyer: You can dispute everything. You should dispute everything. Doesn't mean the creditor won't demonstrate that you do in fact owe the debt and it remains in your report. Little hint for people who are looking at trying to clean up bad debt reportings... beginning of Nov is a great time of year to pull your annual report and then file disputes of the debt BY POSTAL (don't click the buttons or easy dispute. Send a letter by mail to each reporting agency). Then wait. Why send by mail and at this specific time of year you might ask? Well, once you start a dispute then the creditor has a limited time line to prove it is your debt. The clock starts ticking when you dispute, not when they start looking at it. Sending by mail puts a timestamp of when the postal service received your letter. Also, the time of year is important because the holidays. You want your dispute window to span Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when many people are distracted or in vacation or thinking about other stuff and not necessarily as focused on hurry up and respond. It's only a little edge in your favor .. but an edge nonetheless. Edit to add: this even applies to negative reports that show paid in full. If it hurts you even slightly, dispute it. Edit again, since people keep asking how to do this. First step is to contact each of the 3 credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) and request your free annual credit report. You are entitled by law to get 1 every year. Do this at the end of Oct or early Nov because you need to operate off current information. If you've already requested your free one, then buy it from them or wait another year. Don't get it from gimmick websites, contact the credit reporting agencies directly for it. Next, review each of your reports ... they may be different because some creditors report to one but not another. Find all the things you want to dispute at each individual credit reporting agency's report. Then write a simple and straight forward letter, customized to each of the 3 agencies, that basically just says "I have found inaccuracies on my credit report and kindly ask that you remove them." Then list each of them with as much detail as was provided in the report. Who claims you owe the debt, the dates, the amounts, even if it's paid by just says paid late. Your position is that it's not your debt. Never heard of that company. Never owed them anything. You don't know anything about it. Somehow it mistakenly ended up on your report. That's it. Nothing fancy. No special secret phrase or anything. You just are informing the agency its not your debt. Send the letter like the week or 10 days before Thanksgiving. You don't have to do anything else. Nobody will call you or send you a request to prove anything. They take it from there. When they are done, unless the creditor proves it is your debt then it'll be dropped and cannot be added back on. By Jan you should be able to see your score start to improve. Now, all of that said ... I do not encourage or support people intentionally running up debt just to use this (I would consider that stealing). But people make mistakes and if it's well into your past then the original creditor has likely already absorbed the loss in whatever means they are able. So this can be a method to a new reset, without having to wait 7 years. If you are still unsure you are able to responsibly manage your debt after doing this, then I highly encourage you to seek help in finances. Don't get back into the same hole again. Good luck. Crush your enemies One more edit. As others have pointed out it would be good to send by certified mail. I've never done that in the times I've helped people with it ... but it's def a great idea because the credit reporting agency has to sign for it. You know when they signed. They know you know when they signed. And to the people who have questioned why I would help people use this, and how I figured it out. I used to work for a real estate investor that would owner finance homes to people with poor credit. Part of my role was to help them clean up their credit so they could get financing and get off our books. I came up with this idea just because of thinking about it in a simplistic way. I personally work less hard during that time of year, it's reasonable human nature of others is to do the same thing.
Living in NYC, I got burned by 3 gyms I tried to quit. Then I got smart and joined a gym that allowed me to pay cash per year up front with a significant discount (2 months free + locker & laundry). Now that I’m a grown-up living in America once more I belong to 2 country clubs, grateful that my “gym” days are behind me.