I've noticed some significant changes in the postings on this forum over the last few years, and lately I've noticed a lack of "success stories". These were always a great psychological boost to members, and a method of sharing celebration. So, let's spread some good news and hope, "Got deletions"!?!?
I'm down to the last few stubborn ones, so I guess I'm that 80% of the work for the last 20% thing. However, while I'm not having the weekly successes I did when I first started, the bigger picture is a great success! Since joining this forum, my credit scores haven't zoomed through the roof, but I've had to do a lot of things that generally hurt your credit which has otherwise muted the gains. I have opened 13 tradelines in the last year. 11 just since December (KIDS, DON'T try this at home!). Three of those have been a mortgage, HELOC, and installment loan with the rest being credit accounts mostly related to my work and investments. Who could survive a credit onslaught like that?? I joined this forum in March, and have been able to get 7-8 derogatory items deleted from each bureau. I've gotten status changed on a couple, and all that has offset the effect of all my new accounts and actually netted me GAINS! My real FICO scores in November 2006 were TU-691, EX-599, EQ-638. Currently, they are TU-690, EX-675, EQ-658. To me, that's phenomenal considering that currently my utilization is near 80% (That will change next month - I do USE my credit), and I've got all the new accounts lowering my age. My thanks to those of you in this forum who have helped me get this far. I've got more to do, but when my utilization is down, all my FICO's are 680-720!
More success pending... Thanks to tips and info I've gotten from here and elsewhere, I've cleaned up all three reports, and boosted FICOs from low 600's to pushing 700 in 6 months. I have an FDCPA suit in the works so we'll see how that plays out here in a couple of weeks. All I can say is the defendant has been my best witness so far (I hope they aren't saying that about me . Stay tuned!
Excellent! Great successes! Good luck on the FDCPA suit, it is nice to hear about all the positive results! Keep up the good work!
well i dont post all that much for help every once and all though i read it almost everyday in the past year i have gained 4 credit cards orchard bank 1200.00 apr 0% one year applied card 1400.00 apr 12.99% one year househould bank 950.00 apr 0 % target 200 bucks 4 months then 500 apr 22.99 hmmmmmm now upgraded to target visa with 2,000.00 @ 12.99 % loan through citi fianicial @ 5.5 new 07 dodge pick up truck citi again @ 7.5 i want to thank each and everyone that has posted on this board i will always read it..I went from a 540 score to 680-720 in less then a year
I have a few surprising recent successes, probably achieved through methods not necessarily sanctioned by everyone here (I have yet to write one letter and myFICO has gone from 499 on 3/30 to 659 as of today). Anyway, a few weeks ago, I disputed online with EQ 2 paid collection accounts, a 30-day late from January on my Crap1 (32 days late, missed Crap1's reporting cutoff by 2 lousy days and they wouldn't budge on reporting it)., and my $2119 CO from Dell. The dispute itself raised my EQ FICO maybe 2-5 points. I still have not received an e-mail reply from EQ stating that my investigation has been completed, but I have noticed that one collection went from paid to disputed to gone over the last 3 weeks. The 30-day late went from there to disputed to gone. And the Dell CO went from there to disputed to gone as well. The other paid collection still says disputed. As of today, my EQ went up 83 points to 659. And based on reporting dates listed for these accounts for TU and EX, they shouldn't show up again until 9/30 or 10/1. So I'll have to make sure I have my mortgage broker pull the final report before 9/30. For EQ anyway. I may have to ask him to wait a little to pull the EX and TU...
I've had some succuss, but I'm still fighting the battle. Before I found this site, I did some things that are not recommended to do, but I think in a way, it's not such a bad thing - I paid several items on my CR without asking for validation. I just grabbed my CR and paid what I could at that time. (One of those things did turn out to be not my debt, and was later deleted) But a few years after I did that, I was able to get them removed. I joined this site in June, 2006, and at the same time I joined TrueCredit and MyFico. I kept both for a while, but then chose only one of them, and still use it today. I also started to keep track of my scores then, and they aren't much better now than they were over a year ago. I disputed several items, and got most of them deleted, which sounded like a good thing. But my scores took a big hit, and it's been a slow recovery. Then not long later, I went through some hard times and my CC utilization was high (still is, but that will change next month). Also, reports kept telling me that I needed at least 2 more credit cards but I never did anything about that, until recently. I want to buy a house. A few months ago, I got pre-approved but it wasn't enough to buy anything here. The loan person told me the same thing - get 2 additional CC's. Since then I got one, and am looking at getting my 2nd. (I have another thread here about that). I am hoping that with the 2 new cards, paying down the cards I have in 1-2 months, and a little more time (a few months or so) that my credit picture looks a lot better. Now, with the credit crunch, I don't know if I'll be able to get a house in 6 - 12 months. Also, I had a brief, 2-week period where there were no baddies on my CR. But then, out of the blue, 2 negatives appeared at the same time, and they were items from 10 years ago - of course this hurt my score. They are old, but they have fresh "reported" dates. (Can I get those removed with a dispute, since they are old?) It just seems to a constant battle, and as soon as I get a little ahead, something else pops up. It feels as though the 3 CRA's dig up old things to throw at me when they see my CR looking pretty good, almost like they don't want to see me succeed. June, 2006 - Aug., 2007 TU - 653 - - - 689 EQ - 617 - - - 638 EX - 645 - - - 635
You should dispute the ten year old items, if they are this old, dispute as "Past Reporting SOL", please investigate "Date of First Major Deliquency". Also, if they were ever on your credit report before, this is illegal without notification of reinsertion. Keep up the good fight, you have made progress, and sometimes the hardest fought battles are the sweetest victories!
^^^ Those 2 old accounts are the subject of another thread, but I haven't gotten advise on those - maybe you can help. My qurestion is about SOL and time barred or freezing SOL on these 2 accounts. I'm trying to find the best way to deal with them. Both accounts are from another state. When I moved out of that state, would the time freeze for SOL purposes? Could they still be within SOL, in that case? This info is from my credit monitoring report: 1. Acct. #1: Date opened = 10/1996 Reported: 8/2007 $198 (That "reported" date is a frsh date every month since Spring, 2007) It was not on previous CR's in the last several years - I don't know prior to that. I left that state in Fall, 1997. It's being reported by the OC, not a CA. Account #2 is from a bottom feeder CA, and reports an "opened" date of 2006, but this account is from the state I left in 1997, so that opened date has got to be from earlier than 1997. Could the 2006 opened date be the date the CA got it? They are also listed twicew on my CR: One entry for one CRA, and one entry for the other 2 CRA's. 2. Acct. #2: Date Opened = 8/2006 Reported Date = 8/2007 (this date is fresh every month since Spring, 2007) $77 I wouldn't mind paying them just to be done with them, but then I think if there are other old things like this, they will start to emerge because I will then be known as an un-educated consumer who pay things she doesn't have to and they will come out of the woodwork from wayyyyy in the past. I want to know how to deal with these using the rules to my benefit. I'm educated enough to know that there's a way, but not quite enough to know how. Thank you!
Looking at the dates below, these accounts should be past SOL for both reporting on your credit reports, and for LEGAL action for debt collection. It is highly doubtful that there is a SOL shift for your relocation, but you should check the laws for the state you moved from and to. Sometimes an SOL does start over if you move, and your new state allows a restarting. Yes, the 2006 date could be the "opened" date for the new CA, but the "old CA" tradeline should be removed if they have sold the debt. There should be only one entry for a CA for this account. But, (see below), if the original deliquency goes back to 1997, then none of the accounts should be reporting on your credit reports. First, if you haven't already disputed theses tradelines with the credit reporting agencies (CRAs), then you should dispute as "Past Reporting SOL". Secondly, you should request "Debt Validation" for these accounts, specifically requesting "Date of First Major Deliquency". For relief from the "PITA" factor (Pain In The A..), you may want to pay these off just to prevent having to go through all these steps again. Most likely the CA will just sell off the debt to another CA. But, request documentation that the matters are closed, and that these should not be reported to any credit reporting agency. This should be a straightforward case for you, but it will involve some legwork with letter writing and disputes. Good Luck...
^^^ Thanks for the advise! But I still need to know more details on the "how." What exactly should I add in my dispute? Jusat "Past Reporting SOL? That questiona about requesting Debt validation - is that slo with the CRA? How do I find this info? Is there a web site? A Keyword to search? To the CRA's or who? Are you saying I should disopute with the CRA's as out of SOL, and that in that same dispute, I should ask for validation of the debt, and also ask to prove "date of first deliquent", and also include a staement saying never add this to my report again, and to send me something in writing that this will be granted to me?
Sorry, sounds like I confused you more than I helped! I'll try to detail it out for you. You need to dispute the accounts/"tradelines" on your credit reports to each of the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs), the best disputes are the simplest, so..give your dispute "reason" as "Past reporting Statute of Limitations, please delete", and no more. You can dispute these "on-line" with the CRAs, or you can do it with a letter (samples posted here on the forum, and on the FTC website, and even the CRAs have sample letters), and even over the phone. Keep it simple, keep your notes and documentation. Debt Validation is done only with a Collection Agency (CA), it is NOT done with a CRA, or an "Original Creditor (OC)". A Debt Validation Request is demand for evidence that you are the correct person that owes this debt, and that the amount claimed to be owed is correct. It is best to go to your own state's website, and look it up. Search under keywords of "consumer, credit, commerce, credit reports, debt collection, etc.. You will also need to determine how your state classifies your debt, you will see "open ended accounts, written contracts, etc. If this is a credit card, it should fall under an "open ended" category. Again, you should dispute the accounts/tradelines on your credit reports w/the CRAs for the reason of "past reporting SOL, please delete". You do NOT request debt validation from the CRAs. You request "Debt Validation" from the Collection Agency (CA), for evidence of your legal obligation to pay this debt, in this amount. You should request from the CA the "Date of First Major Deliquency" (this date should be reported by the "Original Creditor (OC), and supplied to the CA). As for the statement/documentation that the matter is closed, this would come from the CA, NOT the CRA. This "Letter of Statement", should be requested IF you decide to pay or settle this debt. Hope I've cleared this up for you, if you need anything further, don't hesitate to post your question..
I'm stuck awaiting receipt of a copy of a letter written back in 2003 by a law firm. It needs to be dug out of a warehouse somewhere, and they said it could take up to 6 months to retrieve, although I don't believe that. Until then, I'm pretty much just treading water. But once I get it, the info here should help get it resolved quite handily. A suit is probably needed, tho.
Since May of this year when I started my hard-core repair work, my TU score went up 86 points, my EX score went up 41 points, and my EQ went up 44 points. I got DH's one and only negative deleted for a score jump of 110 points. He now has 2 credit cards and his score goes up every month. This board is invaluable.
equifax deleted everything neagtive, tu and txp deleted a co, and 2 ca. just need two more ca deleted off these two, which I think will happen soon I wrote one of the ca threatening to sue because they didnt validate. thay sent a letter saying the account is closed now just waiting for it to drop off , if it doesnt I will just dispute it.This board has helprd me take my credit scores from 520s to 650s in 5 months.
