First off, I used these boards extensively about 3 to 4 years ago and I was able to improve my credit exponentially. When I started I had 15-20 delinquencies, and now there are only 1 to 2 with each CRA and they are so old that I thought I would just wait the last year so that they would come off. But, herein lies the problem. I submitted an application for an apartment today and the lady calls me and says she just wants to talk to me about a couple of accounts on my report. One was a Merrick account (they purchased my NextCard account) which I knew of but is from 2000 so I was just waiting for it to go away. I told her I didn't know what that was and had never heard of it. The other one, which is the one I had a question about, was a JCPenney account. I had opened a JCP account around the same time (1999) and wasn't able to get it taken off by asking for verification and whatnot. So, when she brought this up, I mentioned how I had seen that on my report and had tried to dispute it but it was so old that I was just waiting for it to go away. She said "no, this says November 2006." This took me by surprise and I told her I can't remember the last time I even went to a JCPenney (which is kind of true). But, I decided to check my report and sure enough, there was a collection account with Asset Acceptance for my JCPenney account. On EX, it says date opened is 11/06, date of last report is 1/07 and status is "this account is scheduled to continue on until June 2007." I disputed it as "no knowledge of this account." Should I be concerned? How should I proceed? Does that mean it will go away in June? This is just really bad timing as the agent called and informed me that another agent was showing the place and had someone who was doing the paperwork to get the same apartment. Blast!
Lying to get the apartment, very upstanding thing to do. Why dont you just pay them using a PFD letteR? Obviously they are your accounts by your own admission.
Collectman is it very upstanding to lie to people in your line of work so you can increase your bottom line?You of all people should not be calling others liars.
First, the JC Penny acct states it is scheduled to come off in June 2007, and it sounds like the NextCard falls off this year. But...I don't think this helps you get the apt.! If your goal is the apt., then ask the agent what you need to do to get it. You may have to pay off the JC Penny account. This will NOT effect its removal in June 2007. So, first determine your objective, if it i the apt., then confer with the agent and find out what it will take to get you in there. I would say that if you can show a good history of rental payments, you should be fine.
I ran into a similar situation when applying for an apartment. I put a cover letter with the application explaining that although my credit was poor due to past mistakes, I was remedying the situation and pointed out that my rental payment history was excellent. I got the apartment and I've used this approach twice with success. Also, sometimes you can get an apartment with poor credit my putting an additional security deposit. Maybe if you want it bad enough and your credit will prevent it you can ask if this would be an option. I think credit only plays a portion of what a landlord is looking for in a potential tenant. It doesn't matter how great your credit score is if you're a nuisance and leave the place a dirty mess. Good credit scores don't ALWAYS mean a person will take care of your property.
