First off - I don't know where that first line about Equifax comes from as it isn't verbatim from Equifax.ca itself.peterpan783 wrote: ↑ "any negative information is retained for different periods of time at each bureau, 6 years from date of last activity on equifax [THIS IS ILLEGAL!] and 6 years from date of first delinquency at transunion"
This information and this discrepancy are not accurate. If this is true, then one of the Credit bureaus (Equifax) is breaking the law.
It is not up to the credit bureaus to freely and unilaterally decide for how long negative information gets reported, and to pick whichever dates they feel like. That falls on the LAW of the province of residence, and what the law says about credit reporting.
From the statement above, in British Columbia, only Transunion is complying with the Law and applying it properly.
Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act [SBC 2004] CHAPTER 2
Contents of reports
109 (1) A reporting agency must not include in a report given under section 108 (1) (a) [to whom reports may be given] any of the following:
(o) any other information adverse to the individual's interest 6 years after the event that gave rise to the information;
The event that gave rise to the (negative) information is the date of first default, the date when the account first became delinquent, the date when a payment was due and expected and did not happen. It is because of that event that the negative information got reported to the credit bureau. This is the date that matters, and the 6 years start counting from that date onward, non-stop. That date does not get "reset" by (partial) payments. Once an account gets reported as delinquent, that delinquency will stay reported for the next 6 years, whether the account is paid or not. It cannot be removed, unless it was reported in error.
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In any case, your assertion that "first delinquency" is meaningful isn't convincing to me on a revolving account. On a revolving account I believe it could be argued that each month that the NEW balance isn't paid becomes a new event. I'm no lawyer, but I suspect Equifax has plenty and they apparently believe they comply with the law. If you have an example where someone has successfully argued your point that would be informative.