WFNNB listing on credit report – How to deal with it

By Good Nelly

Ask Nelly

If you find a WFNNB listing on your credit report, chances are that you may owe money to the World Financial Network National Bank or any of the business entities for which the former underwrites credit cards.

What to do if you find WFNNB listing on credit report

If your credit report shows a WFNNB account listing, and there's a certain amount of outstanding balance, 3 things are likely to happen.

1. If you owe money to WFNNB or its business clients, pay it off
   In this case, you need to speak to your creditors and explain why you've missed payments. You may send them a hardship letter thereby requesting them to lower your interest rates so that you can comfortably pay off the bills. If you're in financial crisis and cannot pay on a monthly basis, you may negotiate to settle your account by paying as much as you can afford. Settlement allows you to pay less than what you owe, but it can get you out of debt legally. Check out the tips to negotiate and settle debt successfully.
2. Verify the debt if you're not sure as to whether you owe money
   If you're not sure as to whether you owe the dues, you may send a debt verification letter requesting WFNNB to prove that you owe the money. Once they provide you with enough proof, you should work out a repayment plan or a settlement to clear the bills faster.
3. You can avoid making a payment if the account exceeds the SOL
   If the account exceeds the Statute of Limitations (which starts from the date of last activity on the account), and the creditor seeks payment, you can use the SOL as a defense and avoid paying the bill. In this case, you should check the SOL of the state where you currently reside. However, using the SOL as a defense doesn't affect how long the item will stay on your credit report. So, if you're not paying a bill even though it has passed the SOL, a negative remark will show up on your report for 7 long years.

What to do if you've paid off the bill

When you've paid your dues on the account, but it still shows up on your credit report, here's what you need to do.

• Dispute the item with your creditor: You need to contact the creditor thereby requesting him to co-ordinate with the CRAs (credit reporting agency) and update the account status correctly. Send a letter of dispute to the creditor through certified mail with return receipt requested. This helps you to know on which date the creditor has received the mail. Attach documents which prove that you've already paid off the dues on the WFNNB account.
• File a dispute with the CRAs: You can file a consumer dispute with the CRAs. The credit reporting agencies are supposed to contact the original creditor within 5 days of receiving the dispute. They need to verify the disputed account within 30 days. They should send you the results in writing along with a free copy of the credit report provided the information on the account is incorrect. However, if the account listing is found to be inaccurate, the CRAs will delete all information on that account from your credit report.

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