Sup folks. After 15 years ignoring the importance of my credit score, I'm finally in a position to start focusing on my credit head on. I've searched around the forums and can't seem to find a really good answer to my question. I had some relatively benign collections debt lingering in my credit report for some years. Most were unpaid video store bills or cell phone bills. All of our credit cards are/were in my wife's name so my good credit is limited to a 15k paid care note (no lates) and some small bank loans (about 8 total). I have no CC's on my report and no revolving accounts. My FICO is 596. I have since paid off all collections debt (totaling about 1500.00) and have no outstanding debt what-so-ever. My problem is; It's been about 2 months since I've paid these off. All of them are still on my credit report as negative unpaid items. I submitted disputes on all items about 2 weeks ago but have seen no change thus far. My question is, how long should I expect to see the results of my repayments on my credit report? And when all is said and done, will I be in a position (score-wise) to apply for an unsecured card to start the rebuilding process?
They have 30 days to respond,need to know how old are these accounts,and when was your first missed payment.
The following items are the ones I'm referring to: -------------------------------------- Account Name CREDIT COLLECTIONS Account # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Account Type Collection Department / Agency / Attorney Balance $230.00 Date Opened 2/1/2003 -------------------------------------- CREDIT COLLECTIONS Potentially Negative Closed Account Name CREDIT COLLECTIONS Account # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Account Type Collection Department / Agency / Attorney Balance $65.00 Date Opened 8/1/2002 -------------------------------------- Account Name CREDIT PROTECTION ASSO Account # XXXXXXXXXX Account Type Collection Department / Agency / Attorney Balance $199.00 Date Opened 10/1/2002 Account Status Closed -------------------------------------- Account Name CREDIT PROTECTION ASSO Account # XXXXXXXXX Account Type Collection Department / Agency / Attorney Balance $164.00 Date Opened 10/1/2002 -------------------------------------- Account Name MIDLAND CREDIT MGMT Account # XXXXXXXXX Account Type Unknown - Credit Extension, Review, Or Collection Balance $113.00 Date Opened 12/1/2005 -------------------------------------- Account Name NATIONAL CREDIT SYSTEM Account # XXXXXX Account Type Collection Department / Agency / Attorney Balance $45.00 Date Opened 2/1/2003 -------------------------------------- Account Name PINNACLE CREDIT SERVIC Account # XXXXXXXX Account Type Unknown - Credit Extension, Review, Or Collection Balance $343.00 Date Opened 3/1/2008 -------------------------------------- Account Name VERIZON WIRELESS Account # XXXXXXXXX Account Type Unknown - Credit Extension, Review, Or Collection Balance $343.00 Date Opened 3/1/2005 -------------------------------------- All of these items have been paid. However, here they remain on my credit report. Some of them haven't been updated since 2003 (the oldest). I think only one of them has a history of being "updated" as early as last month, with no reflection of my repayment. I have even received a "bill" for the "Midland Credit" one after years of no contact. Once I paid the balance, they sent me a bill stating that I owed them the same amount. To be honest, most of these happened in/around deployment times (I was active army, constantly on the move), not making excuses for my failure to pay, it's just that it's hard for me to remember when these bills would have appeared as "late" or unpaid prior to going to collections. Most of these bills are a result of shifting around the country for 8 years and losing track of old video store or cell phone bills. Also, currently I'm a student with very little income. My immediate plans are to finish college and build my credit while in school, so that when I graduate and get ready to utilize my VA home loan, I'll have sufficient credit. Is a tradeline possible or even a good idea given my current situation?
First Thank you for your service in protecting our country.On the cell phone the sol is two years to collect money from,as far as i can tell most or going to fall off your report some time in the next year.If your still in the service you might talk to legal services,you might dispute them as to old.
I am out of the service, and in college. I have gone through the "online dispute" process through experian to see about getting these updated as paid. While I'm in school, would you recommend I look into getting a tradeline for a low/medium amount to help rebuild my credit? Would I even be eligible for one? Thanks for the help
Any type of credit you can get will help.If their paid and should a balance thats incorrect.do you know if any were judgements by default.do you remember when the last payment was made to any of them.Do you have any proof of payment?
All of my payments were over the phone, using a debit card or check. For some I was given a "reference-number", but for others I was not. The only proof I have of repayment (other than the reference numbers) are my own bank records. None of them have even bothered to mail anything to me to notify me my bill has been paid (one of them even sent me a bill! lol). I believe that tomorrow I will go through the list again, and call all of these agencies and request again to receive a letter by mail (maybe throw in a reminder to update my payment with the credit credit bureaus.
Bank records are enough proof.There might be some violations on their part.hopefully some others will chime in,but you might dispute again as there still showing a balance
Don't expect a paid chargeoff to help your score much. The best thing you can do is to get some revolving credit on your report. Have your wife add you as an authorized user to some of her accounts. Make sure they have a fairly long history and no late payments, and preferably a usage ratio of less than 30%.
Did you by chance get any of this in writing BEFORE the payments were made? If not, you may have an uphill battle for dispute but they still have 30 days to respond. Did you pay the creditors directly or did you pay a collection agency (something I don't neccessarily recommend. Let's just say I learned a few things the hard way).
