This is my first time posting here, so please forgive me if I do not make much sense. I've tried to do everything I can to rebuild my credit and this whole situation has completely destroyed it. I probably should've asked for help sooner.
I opened a car loan in May of 2008 with First Merit. Before I paid my car loan off, I totaled the car. My insurance covered everything except $937 which I didn't find out until later on when I was attempting to purchase a new car. Fortunately, I was able to get another car even though I had an outstanding loan with First Merit, but I had a very high APR. A couple years later when I realized how important my credit is, I noticed this outstanding loan on my credit report. It showed that I still owed the $937 but they were not applying late fees and were reporting to the credit agency that I was making payments on time which was actually raising my credit score. Stupidly, I said screw it and left it there because it was helping. First Merit had never contacted me and it was at the 7 year mark, so I figured it would be written off as bad debt and I'd take the "black mark" or whatever on my credit when it was written off on the 8th year.
Then First Merit went under and was purchased by Huntington who took over the account and started reporting to the credit agency that I was 149+ days past due for years (rightfully so). My credit took a gigantic hit. It went from 740 to the low 500's and credit karma was suggesting I file bankruptcy! I contacted Huntington telling them I was never notified of the debt from First Merit and that I had received no notice that it was owed. I also asked them how it was possible for them to reopen/reinstate this account considering it was now over the 8 year mark. They said they would look into it blah blah blah and sent me a notice in the mail telling me the debt was valid. I called back and offered to pay the money if they agreed to remove the late payments from my credit report and they said this wasn't something they were able to do.
So here I am 10 years later with this debt from 2008. I do not understand how it is possible for this account to still be active. How can Huntington do this? Everytime I open my bank account, I see this installment loan at the bottom for the $937. The messed up thing is that under the installment loan information on Huntington, it says my last payment was due on 12/31/1999. I didn't even have the account at this time?!! I asked them on the phone about this and they didn't have an answer for me.
Is this something I can dispute? How long will this take to be written off? Am I beyond confused about how long it takes for debt to be written off? Is this a mistake on their end? Should I just pay it even though I don't know how I will come up with the money now?
I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone is willing to offer. I apologize if I sound like a dumbass. I've tried to do my research, but it is all extremely confusing. I need to purchase a new car next spring and I'm afraid this will have a detrimental effect on that process or put me in jeopardy of getting another car loan.
Submitted October 23, 2018 at 08:20PM by WorldSlampion https://ift.tt/2OKjF9y
