Collection Agency listed on my credit report

I'm going to make an assumption and say that's probably a CA reporting, because I don't know any landlords that actually report directly to the bureaus. Most likely they reported that date because that is when the debt was placed for collection.

You would need to dispute that account in order to get it corrected. You can make a dispute through the credit bureaus, who will in turn forward the dispute to CA. CA will then have 30 days to verify/update the info. You can also send a dispute in writing directly to the CA.

Just one quick warning: sending in a dispute may "wake the beast." Your file may have been sitting around in a file cabinet somewhere, and disputing it might jump it up to the front of the queue. If they haven't been calling you or trying to collect, this may provoke them a little into acting upon it. It could possibly lead them to retort with a lawsuit for the money owed.

Not that you shouldn't dispute it; but maybe sometimes it's best to "let laying dogs lie" -- ie wait until the SOL is up where you know they cannot sue anymore.

THat may be good advice debtcruncher. being that the sol is so close and so much time has elapsed already, waiting until sol has occured may actually help. interesting thought there, but i think it's a good way to go judging from the info that dc provided