This cannot be true.

Mar 082011
 

As I begin to become re-acquainted with credit scoring (I spent some time in lending about 9 yrs ago) I am subsequently re-acquainted with how absolutely insanely asinine it is. Please learn of my crap-tastic situ and tell me where I’m going wrong. I’ll try to be as brief as possible.

 

First, outside of what I’m about to detail. my credit report is pretty darn ship-shape. No late payments. No other collections. No credit cards. One small ($1500) loan nearly paid off.

 

Reader’s Digest Version:

 

I had about 12 visits over a 3 month period (weekly) with a doctor about 3 yrs ago.

 

My employer was to cover each one of these visits in FULL.

 

Long story short: this never happened…of course.  It was (at the time) an going battle of clearing up a misunderstanding of epic proportions.

 

Well, it seemed to be all “figured out” as I no longer received mail or telephone calls from the provider insisting payment…I even called to confirm things were settled and in no uncertain terms it was made clear to me everything was kosher. My CR has been clear of this entire ordeal for 2 years until now.

 

 

Here we are, 36 months removed and when I ran my credit in preparation for a mortgage, what do you know…not 12 but TWENTY-21 $50 collections.

 

Absolutely floored, I sought out the collection agency..and sure as crap, all 21 are linked back to these doctor’s visits over 14 MONTHS by the way, not THREE. Again, the reality is/was these were weekly appts for 3 months. How I go about proving this 3 yrs on is a dialogue for another thread I suppose.

 

Now to save time, let’s skip past the negotiations and hypothesize that I simply would agree to settle with these folks on these 21 collections, as my employer has put in writing that they will immediately reimburse me.

 

Understanding this, please consider:

 

1. If I pay these collections, I understand that they’ll remain on my CR for another SEVEN years from the DATE of PAYMENT/SATISFACTION, not from the initial report date. 

 

2a. If I do nothing, they will “fall off” in 3 1/2 yrs when the 7 yr limit has been reached…ONLY if…

 2.b. The debt is not bought from another collection agency, in which case ANOTHER SEVEN YEAR window will open.

 

3. I have always been led to believe that it’s 7 years from 30 days from the last payment/non payment due date. So, let’s say the due date was June 30 and you never paid…the 7 year period would start from July 30th of that year.  A Fico rep assured me that WASN’T the case, though. If I PAY the debt, a new 7 yr window will open. Mind-blowing of course. No problems with waiing for the initial 7 yr window to expire, but the idea that doing the right things buys you another 7 yrs is beyond comprehension to me.

 

4. Further Insanity: PAID collections affect my score IDENTICALLY as UNPAID collections do. Good god, just think about that sentence.

 

5. So when considering 2a and 4: what other reasonable conclusion (from a credit standpoint anyway) can you come to other than to NOT pay your bills/these collections, as paying them affects you identically from a score standpoint AND WORSE, paying them simply extends the amount of time they’ll sit on your CR?

 

I understand individual lenders will now “see” these collections as paid, but get real, it’s numbers game in the world today and we know it, 20 of these appearing paid or unpaid and putting me at a 600 CS will devastate me.

 

I of course am trying to get these removed altogether…even offering the FULL payment of debt I really do not owe but they (the collection agency) are adamant that these will stay for the 7 years.

 

Now, I understand how this should never happen in the first place, but it did, so I’m just looking to move forward from here.

 

Can someone speak to the validity of my numbered points and detail my options, if any, and the BEST way to proceed from here.

 

Quite clearly, this “system” seems to nearly insist on NOT doing the “right” thing, as it only costs you money AND extends the time these damaging accounts stay on your record.

 

Here’s to hoping I’ve been terribly informed though, and such a methodology is as inexistent as a unicorn and consequently, taking care of this debt will NOT extend the accounts 7 yrs and actually improve my score right from the start.

 

A million thanks for listening and helping.

 

What an unspeakable mess. 

 

 

  James

EX – why do you take so long for something I think is obvious?

Mar 042011
 

I recently disputed some personal info on my reports.  I asked them to delete an old address (they had “10″ for the apartment number, not “104″ – well, they had 3 listings for this address, one without the apartment number, one with the 10, and one with the correct number), delete a phone number I no longer have, and to delete a name that isn’t mine.  It’s a common misspelling.  I didn’t ask them to delete any of their other versions of my name – they had me as Firstname Lastname, Firstname Middle Initial  Lastname, Firstname Middlename Lastname, and as Firstname Middle Initial Misspelled Lastname.  Why can they so easily fix the address and the phone number but I can’t seem to even find out if they’re going to delete the wrong name? 

Initial Hippa letter response

Jan 282011
 

I sent the initial Hippa letter to Equifax and Experian as these were the only 2 reporting collection accounts that were paid. 

 

I sent one to Equifax that they were reporting on my credit report and it now shows deleted.

 

However,  I sent 3 letters in one envelope for my wifes credit report and only one is showing up on her credit file as being investigated.  Did I **bleep** up when I sent them all in one envelope or what should I do now?

 

Also, sent the same letters to Experian and they are not reporting disputes on any of them.  What should I do?

 

All letters were sent out on 1-20-11 and signed for by 1-24-11

 

Any help would be appreciated.

points to hit on in PFD

Nov 192010
 

I am undertaking the difficult task of negotiating with Barclays to try and clean my stuff up.  Being that they are the largest source of negative information on my report, while also my biggest revolving debt, it behooves me to at least try this now that I have secured the money to PIF.

 

The specifics:

 

Apple Mastercard/Juniper Bank (Barclays): opened 2004

 

closed by Juniper 2006, never charged off or sent to collections

 

original ‘loan’ amount: $3000

 

current balance: $4232 (haven’t paid since late September and am approaching my payment date for this month)

 

Derogatory:

90 days late Aug 2006

60 days late Feb 2006, Feb 2007

30 days late 10 different times from 2006-Jul 2010 (eek, and again now)

 

To date have paid: $3900 over 6 years

 

So, recommendations on points to stress in the letter?  Perhaps that I’m nearing bankruptcy or how much I’ve paid thus far in relation to the initial debt?  I’d like to write one from scratch unless this presents too many challenges in legal wording.  Lastly, might it be worthwhile to include a conditionally endorsed check?  I’m confused about which state laws govern these (I live in NY but the mailing address Barclays has for me is in California, which could of course be changed).

Capital One and Kohls…

Oct 012010
 

Hi folks,

 

So I sent the initial GW to Kohls and got the ” Sorry, we can’t change the late payments” blah blah blah… Has anyone gotten the inital denial and the bounced back with lates deleted after another shot of GWing it?  I am writing the letter right now.

 

I also just wrote the GW letter to Capital One, wish me luck.  Seeing people get things removed from them really gives me a glimmer of hope.

 

But I guess my real question is, all these late payments are about 2.5-3.0 years old(with DoFD at 2005 for the Capital One).  If I can’t get these off, is there a *threshhold* where the scores start creeping back up the longer these remain?

 

Thanks!

Requesting advice on next step…..

Sep 232010
 

Ok, I am throughly 100% confused. 

 

Here’s the situation.  I have some baddies on my CR from about ’06 and ’07, mostly credit cards that were turned over to CA’s.  I have my report from EQ, and there are a couple items on there that I simply have no idea whether or not I ever paid those accounts, and I can’t figure out who the OC’s are, and I would like to know that info, because I’d like to write either a PFD/PIF or a GW letter (if it’s been paid). 

 

But then I was reading on here that you can only write a DV letter if it’s within 30 days of the initial notification from the creditor.  Soooo…. what do I do?  I suppose I could just write to these creditors saying, “Hi, there’s something on my credit report from you, but I have no idea if it’s been paid or not, and by the way, who is the OC?”

 

And the other thing, in my state, the SOL is 5 years, so should I wait?  As I’ve read, maybe it’s best not to wake the sleeping giant?  

 

Then again, maybe it’s just too late at night and I’m tired and not processing things right, because I feel like my head is just spinning right now.  Breathe in, breathe out.  LOL

 

Thanks in advance!

Big Score Improvements – They can happen!

Sep 212010
 

I am almost to a year since starting my credit transformation, and I can’t be happier with the initial results. Though I still have a lot of room to go, I have increased all of my scores by almost 100 points with the help of the forum! Thanks so much. I just purchased my TU score this morning. Not knowing how accurate the simulator is, it did show that had I not missed the report date for my credit card (which I still don’t think I did), if I were to pay off it’s balance of $364 my TU score would fall in the 727-767 range! Again, thanks all. I was able to purchase my first home this year, and even be able to answer the phone since I don’t have the collectors calling. I still have those darn LVNV and Arrow on my report (looks like I am just going to have to let them fall off in about a year and a half), and one more medical that I’m working on, but everything else is clean!

What is the smartest move?

Jun 302010
 

I need some advice on what to do with $3,000 I will receive shortly.  I have three problem areas:

  1. Gov’t Debt which was actually an overpayment from the military in 2007 in the amount of $2,461.  I never paid anything and I don’t agree with it. I have only received the initial bill when they first “discovered” the overpayment.  It is reported as an installment loan by EQ and as a collection account by TU and somehow it was 120 days past due a few times in 2008 on EQ??? There were no terms but it reported to all 3 CRAs. I have already disputed this to no avail. Should I try a PFD? Has anyone dealt with a Gov’t debt?
  2. The Home Depot CC (still open) DOFD 9/2008 through DOLD 5/2009 because I was on their payment plan but they didn’t tell me it would be reported as derog. I owe $3,200 and it has been in good standing for 12 months.
  3. Gap CC Closed by CCC-DOFD10/2008 through DOLD 2/2009. The balance is $300.00

What action will potentially raise my score the highest?  I see that a PFD attempt is only for accounts currently in bad standing but would it also be advised for current accounts with a bad history (Home Depot)? I appreciate your help.

Negative information

Jun 272010
 

I leased a car through Infiniti Financial Services from 2001-2005.  At some point during my lease I was 60 days past due.  It is only on my Experian report.

I disputed the report last year ( May 2009)because I was pretty sure that the initial time of delinquency was over 7 years old. Infinity said the the way they were reporting it was correct.  They responded in May 2009 and now my report says that the last time anything negative was reported on my report was May of 2009.  It can only be this Infiniti lease because I have no other negative information.   Are they justified in reporting this negative in May 2009 when the lease ended in 2005?

 

Is there anything I can do to get them to remove this negative information in May 2009 or is there anything I can do to get it removed from my credit report all together??

 

Thansk for your help.

 

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