Beginner's Musings -- Any Suggestions Would be Helpful

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by IDKHow, Mar 11, 2015.

  1. IDKHow

    IDKHow Member

    Hello,
    I joined today hoping to find some help with my credit situation. I was able to pull my TU report but had to mail away for EX and EQ, so I'm waiting on those.

    Basically, aside from some piddly contact detail errors, I can't find anything factually incorrect about my report, so I personally don't have a basis to challenge anything outside of a couple of items that wouldn't make a difference anyway. (a soft pull and the aforementioned contact detail removal)

    I have some old loans that are severely delinquent -- one that is in rehab; the other is a private student loan being listed as a charge-off, "transferred to recovery" and is being reported as such with "120" each month for several months now. That one bothers me and here's why:

    I have heard that it will do no good to pay a debt once it has been charged off in terms of improving one's score. I could try to settle with the OC for a percentage of the total in exchange for the information being deleted from my profile, but I'd only do that if they completely remove it all and never speak of this again.

    It would help in terms of avoiding a lawsuit, but if the SOL began at first delinquency, then it should be nearing the end of that time for it to be legally collectable. (I don't want to jinx anything by writing that)

    As far as I can tell -- and my morality will allow -- the only thing for me to do is wait for these things to fall off my credit report and apply for a secured card to establish some good payment history. I had a credit card years ago that was closed by the creditor due to inactivity and I haven't had one since. When I was a kid and saw how much of a hassle credit was (no education about it), I figured, if I don't have a credit card, I won't have to worry about credit. Boy, was I wrong.

    I have heard that anybody can challenge any information on a credit report, but I just don't know if it would be worth it since I know it's true. I wouldn't know how to challenge anything being reported as inaccurate, etc., nor do I have confidence that if I did, anything would be removed.

    Also (and this is not a shill; I have been looking at books and things), I heard about the Credit Repair Intelligence Guide and was wondering if anybody has used it or whether it's reputable.

    Any thoughts and suggestions about my situation would be helpful. If you need more detail, let me know. I just don't see this changing outside of time. If time were to heal this, it would take another 2-3 years before most of these items come off (assuming the CRAs do their job). I do think that a secured card would be the only saving grace at this point.

    I don't really know what to do anymore, to be honest. Thanks for your time.
     
  2. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    You will know better when you get the other credit reports.

    For example, if you compare, and the ones have a different date in any of the fields, I would dispute all three as having invalid dates, because you don't know which of the three dates is the correct date...

    If they can't verify the correct date, or they verify dates which are not exactly the same, they are violating the FCRA, for $1,000.00 per tradeline, per time that they verified the account... 3 tradelines, 3 disputes, $3,000.00 / month...

    Just because things look similar to what you believe may be accurate, doesn't mean that it's 100% complete, accurate and verifiable...

    I've seen accounts reporting a last payment date of the beginning of the month on one CRA, the end of the month on another, and the middle of the month on another... Which one is right? And believe it or not, it matters!

    Compare every single detail on all three reports, then create a dispute that lists every single difference...

    The CRA will pick one of those details to put on the form, and more than likely they won't ask the DF to verify all of the details; and there will still be errors left...
     
  3. Credit-Ed.

    Credit-Ed. Member

    Hey IDKHOW

    Let me just tell you that "waiting" for those items to "fall off" your credit report will have you waiting a lifetime! For the most part, the credit agencies does not follow rules to well. Therefore, you're able to dispute multiple items on your credit report due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Of course you can dispute these items yourself, may take longer, but have you ever thought about/signed up/looked into a credit repair program? There's plenty out here, but I mean a legit, successful program??
     
  4. IDKHow

    IDKHow Member

    "For example, if you compare, and the ones have a different date in any of the fields, I would dispute all three as having invalid dates, because you don't know which of the three dates is the correct date..."
    Thank you for the reply.

    So you're saying with each credit bureau, send a letter asking them to verify the correct dates for each tradeline in question? What about the continued reporting of "120" each month? How will that get that off of there or keep the creditor from continuing to report that?

    "If they can't verify the correct date, or they verify dates which are not exactly the same, they are violating the FCRA, for $1,000.00 per tradeline, per time that they verified the account... 3 tradelines, 3 disputes, $3,000.00 / month..."
    Who is 'they' in this instance: 'they are violating the FCRA...'?

    "Compare every single detail on all three reports, then create a dispute that lists every single difference..."
    So, in my dispute letter, I should make mention that, say in my EQ report it shows X, whereas this report (say, TU) shows Y and request that they validate and verify the information being submitted by this creditor.

    I just want to be clear about what you're telling me, Jam.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
  5. IDKHow

    IDKHow Member

    Hi Credit-Ed

    Waiting a lifetime isn't entirely true. As I believe I mentioned, some of these things will only be another 2-3 years. I have one thing that will come off next year. Would I like derogatory things to come off sooner than the report's estimate? Sure. I've never had to do anything like this.

    I have looked into Lexington Law and others, but the fees for the programs are generally outside my budget and it sounds like I can do what they do anyway. Lexington Law, from what I read, doesn't seem too highly rated; quite a few people being dissatisfied with their workmanship and results, plus the little-known one-month price cancellation fee.

    Many reports -- consumer advocate reports I've read, credit repair advice columns (like at bills.com) -- seem to purport that there is nothing exclusive about what the credit repair companies do that we can't do.

    I've looked at a few companies, but there is not one that I've pulled the trigger on. The viewpoints seem to be: people writing books about credit repair make it sound easy because of the time it takes CRAs to verify information, but who's going to enforce consequences for their laziness? Credit repair companies make it out to seem like it's a big headache, but don't worry, we can handle it all for you for a monthly fee/tiered service/other price.

    You can see how this is overwhelming.
     
  6. Credit-Ed.

    Credit-Ed. Member

    Indeed I can.
    When I say "waiting a lifetime", I'm not speaking literally. Point being, these "agencies" are not going to be on the clock with dropping derogatory items off of our credit report when it hits its time to "fall off". The items aren't even being verified, as they should be (according to the FCRA), when they are reported to these privately held billion dollar companies, that we call Credit Bureaus/Agencies. Therefore, why should we believe that these companies are gonna do their part with assuring that our negative items fall off in time?? We end up having to dispute, because about 80% of all credit reports have errors or obsolete items on them.
    I've heard about LL (company you mentioned) quite a bit & I'll keep the comments to myself since I can't give you my personal experience. We all can fix just about anything ourselves, with a little Google here and YouTube there lol, but me, personally, do NOT have the patience nor the time & don't like to be stressed. I asked you if you've tried/looked into any companies because I have a company that is AMAZING!! I want to send you the info so that you can do your due diligence if that's ok... No harm in checking it out. You can send me your email & I'll send you the info from there
     
  7. IDKHow

    IDKHow Member

    Credit-Ed --

    I sent you a PM just a moment ago, but it's not appearing in my Sent Mail. Could you let me know if you received it, please?
     
  8. IDKHow

    IDKHow Member

    I'm considering doing a Pay for Delete with the accounts that are in "charge-off" status, but I'm not sure. They are private student loans. If the SOL begins at the DOFD, then depending on when the contract was made or where it is governed, the SOL has either lapsed or I have another two years before that happens. (I'm not talking about the SOL of reporting to the CRAs but the actual SOL for collecting)

    I'm nervous to contact them again because I don't want to be sued. I can't pay the alleged total amount and I'm not sure that initiating a debt settlement now would be a good idea if they're just going to come back and try to get the rest. Help?
     
  9. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    "120" is CO status, it'll constantly be updated whenever the tradeline is updated.

    That can be another thing that sometimes doesn't get updated, and you would think "why would I want to dispute that?" but any error would be something to dispute.
     
  10. Credit-Ed.

    Credit-Ed. Member

    Hey!
    Just saw this reply, but I did receive it & sent the info from my primary email address (in case u see a name your not familiar with) but I did put "Credit-Ed. Credit Repair.Info" as the subject! Please let me know if you didn't receive it, it was sent Friday around 5ish. Thanks!
     

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