I have a foreclosed rental property in Georgia that was sold back to the bank and received a 1099A showing 100k owed but box 5 not checked. ...

Question

I have a foreclosed rental property in Georgia that was sold back to the bank and received a 1099A showing 100k owed but box 5 not checked. In Georgia, if they dont come after you for deficiency in 30 days, they cant come after you. It has now been 3 years. Anyways, it is showing up my credit report as a CO and the balance being that 100k and past due 100k 3 years later. It is also still reporting as a CO monthly on Equifax. Is there any way this can be correct. It was my understanding once sold that it should be reporting zero balance. I had 3 other rental properties foreclose as well at the same time and they are all reporting zero balances. I have contacted Equifax to dispute but the bank came back and verified all items. If this is incorrect, what should I do next?

Answer

Suing for a deficiency and tax reporting have nothing to do with your credit report. While a lender may not be able to sue for a deficiency, I don't know that there is anything to stop this lender from reporting this as a charge-off. What is the basis of your understanding that this should be reported as a zero balance?

The 1099a is a tax issue. I am not a tax attorney, but you should not need an attorney. You would have to speak to a CPA as to how you would report any losses or income resulting from the foreclosure.

With regard to your credit report, if you disputed this with the credit bureau, your next step would be to send a certified letter directly to the bank. The verification by the bank was simply "yeah, the information is correct." You need to do a letter to someone at the bank and get more of an explanation as to how this should be reported. It seems to me that the bank should only be reporting the balance remaining after the foreclosure sale if at all.

Further, your credit report would show this as a foreclosure.