[Christien]

Not an expert, but I do work in credit and deal with Equifax on a regular basis, both receiving reports and reporting customers. AG's right in that lenders can no longer report just bad or just good, they have to report everything (though I think that change goes back to 2001, at least it did with Equifax Canada).

The problem with your situation is everything stays on your credit report for 6 years (7 for bankruptcies). Whoever told you that once your account was paid it would be "deleted" from your credit report is a moron. Lenders have no control over clearing things from a credit report - only credit bureaus do. I couldn't clear any record of our company from a customer's file even if I wanted to. The only thing a creditor can do is update the report showing a zero balance. Problem is, all the older reports will still show up, until they're wiped after 6 years. So I'm afraid you're stuck with it. You could try to contact the credit bureaus and fax them the letter you've got, but I can pretty much guarantee they'll say there's nothing they can do, the case worker was mistaken.