Hi everyone. I've been lurking here and on a few other boards for a while and I've decided that I like this forum the best. So I'm just going to put my personal business out here for all to see (this is a big step for me). LOL Anyway, my husband and I are in the beginning phase of house buying. Right now my fico score is 564 and his is 618 (from myfico.com). Lenders in our area won't even talk to you if you're lower than 620. I'm not sure where to begin so if you will bear with me, I'll explain my current situation. Currently on my credit report: Credit Management (CMI) - $479 - for an old cable bill. I sent them a PFD letter 4/2012 offering to settle account for $100. They replied that their client does not accept settlements on accounts. (Question - their letter says that this acct. was turned over to them on June 4, 2010, yet on my credit report it states that the date opened is 12/2011, date of last activity is 1/2012 and under account history it states collection as of Jan 2012. Can I use this discrepancy to make them delete?) I.C. System Inc - $242 - old utility bill. No biggie, I can pay this if I have to. Date opened on credit reports is 1/2008. Nuvell - $9,997 - balance owed after auto was repo'd and sold at auction in 2007. This reports as a $0 balance on one credit report and $9,997 balance on 2 reports. Shows up as $0 balance on the particular credit report that the mortgage company pulled. Date opened is 4/2007. Credit Collections - $122 - old insurance bill. Opened 10/2007 - sent PFD letter 4/2012 and they replied that the FCRA requires that they provide the credit bureaus with accurate info and they are prohibited from deleting the account. I *think this is untrue? Again, no biggie and i can pay it off if I need to. Midland Credit Management - $1,330 - old account with cell phone provider. This account was with Enhanced Recovery Company until this week when I received a letter and phone call from Midland. I will send a DV letter Monday for this one. And lastly, Credit Solutions Corp - they purchased a debt from HSBC auto that was for $12,632. I sent them a settlement letter and they agreed to accept $1,500 for the debt and in exchange they reported the account as paid to 3 CA's which they did. Whew, there you have it . . the good (not so much), the bad and the ugly. Here are the steps I've taken so far in this journey: Opted out for both of us removed all old addresses from the 3 CA's Removed all versions of my name except for my legal name Applied for Orchard Bank secured cc for hubby and one for me. We have paperwork, just need to send back in with the $200 each. Had the only negative item on my ChexSystem report deleted (it had been paid but they had it as unpaid) We do not currently have any credit cards and in 3/2012 we purchased a car for our daughter (with crazy interest rate). We've made every payment early and we are planning to refinance at the end of 1 year. Now, if you're still reading this (thank you!), please advise what I should do next. Specifically looking for suggestions on how to handle the above collections to have them removed and at the same time looking for things I can do to improve our credit scores. Thank you in advance for your suggestions. I feel so lost in this process. I think I'm on the right track and then I read another post and get confused.
Welcome to Creditnet! First, when did you apply for the Orchard Bank card? Capital One recently did away with the Orchard cards, so you may want to verify that you still have access to them. If you do, then good. Get them activated, start using the cards responsibly and begin building positive payment history on your credit reports. That's the best thing you can do for your scores at this point. If you no longer have access to the Orchard cards, we can recommend some other cards that might work for you given where your FICO scores currently stand. Now, regarding the baddies, here are a few thoughts: Have you disputed the cable bill through the CRAs? If there are some inaccuracies on your credit reports relating to this debt, that should be your first step. Regarding the old utility bill, how is this currently showing up on your credit reports? Is this with a CA now? Nuvell- have they come after you to obtain a judgment for the balance yet? What kind of communication have you received regarding this? Credit collections- what they told you was true about reporting accurate information to the CRAs, but that doesn't mean they have to report everything. There's a difference . MCM- DV letter is a good start. Let us know how they respond. CSC- nice work!
Have you disputed the cable bill through the CRAs? If there are some inaccuracies on your credit reports relating to this debt, that should be your first step. Have not done this. Should I just send a letter outlining the discrepancies and ask for deletion, or do you suggest a DV letter? Regarding the old utility bill, how is this currently showing up on your credit reports? Is this with a CA now? Yes, it's with a CA. Shows up as collection account with balance of $242. Nuvell- have they come after you to obtain a judgment for the balance yet? What kind of communication have you received regarding this? No, they have not. We have not heard anything out of them in a few years. I'm afraid to wake the beast on this one. Not sure what to do. Credit collections- what they told you was true about reporting accurate information to the CRAs, but that doesn't mean they have to report everything. There's a difference . Yeah, I know. They are being hard to get along with. I think I'm just going to pay this one. Not worth fighting for that little amount of money. Although, I will offer to settle for less if they will take it. MCM- DV letter is a good start. Let us know how they respond. Will do. CSC- nice work! Thank you! Orchard Bank - My letter is dated 6-4-12 and hubby's letter is dated 6-8-12. We have 30 days to send in deposit to get cards. Thank you for answering my post! I appreciate any advice I can get.
Cable Bill: DV letters are for CAs, not CRAs. To dispute, send a letter to the CRAs disputing any inaccurate information. If you haven't DV'ed the CA yet, you should do that too. Utility Bill: If the SOL hasn't expired, DV them and then shoot for a PFD if they are able to properly validate the debt. Nuvell: I would lay low on this one for now as you work on cleaning up the other negative accounts. If they do reach out to you out of nowhere, then send a DV letter to get the process started. Credit Collections: I would try offering payment in full for deletion at least one more time. For such a small amount, it would be a shame to end up with a paid collection on your credit reports.
Cable bill: DV letter going out tomorrow. Utility bill: SOL is out, now what? Nuvell: will lay low Credit collections: 2nd pfd letter going out tomorrow. Thank you for the advice!
If the SOL has expired on the utility bill, send the CA a letter stating exactly that. You'll likely never hear from them again. Of course, that doesn't mean it will fall off your credit reports yet. You may have to wait a few more years for that to happen. When are you planning on buying a house?
We hope to be able to buy in the next 3 to 6 months. We may have to put it in my husbands name since his fico is way better than mine. I'm working as hard as I can on mine though. I have another question for you . . . if one CA sells your account to another CA, does the original CA have to remove their info from your credit report?
I see. Well, an underwriter isn't going to like any unpaid collections sitting out there. If your husband can qualify using his income and FICO scores alone, it sounds like that would be the best route to take. Also, more than one CA can report collections for the same debt. This actually happens quite a bit as debts get sold between different CAs. There's nothing that requires a previous CA to remove their info. from your credit reports.
It sounds like you working very hard to repair your credit. Once you have finished up removing the negative items on your credit you should also think about adding positive history to your credit report to give you credit scores an extra little boost right before your home purchase. Just ask a family member or a friend to add you as an authorized user to one of their existing credit card accounts. The longer the payment history and higher the credit limit the bigger to the boost will be in your credit. Just make sure they have perfect payment history on their credit card and they can maintain a low balance (10% of the credit limit). Thanks! Heather with BoostMyScore.NET
Well, I go to check the mail today and hubby and I both have a letter from GMAC saying that we owe over $10k on our account. The letter offers to settle for $4k. I'm assuming this is for the Nuvell account because the account numbers are the same. We've never received any correspondence from GMAC. I'm assuming GMAC and Nuvell are the same? I believe this account is past the SOL but I want to make sure. Which date do I go by? The date opened is 4/2007, reported since: 6/2007, Date of status: 8/2009, last reported: 8/2009. Collection as of 8/2009. 90 days late as of 11/2008, 60 days late as of 10/2008. Help! Am I past the SOL or not? I believe it is 3 years in NC.
GMAC used to own Nuvell, but then they eventually shut it down a few years ago. For the SOL, you want to determine when the DOFD (Date of First Delinquency) was. Based upon what you show us here, I'm assuming that probably happened sometime around the summer of 2009, which means the SOL in NC wouldn't have expired quite yet.
I'm so happy! I had hubby go online and dispute the Credit Collections (HSBC) w/Equifax as being closed and paid off and they deleted it! His credit score went up quite a bit. I feel like all this hard work is finally starting to pay off. Thank you all for your help and great advice. I have learned so many things by reading this board and I am very thankful to all of you who spend so much time sharing your experience with beginners like me.
Joshua, I just looked at my equifax report and it states that the date of first delinquency for the Nuvell acct. is 12/2008. So, wouldn't that mean that the SOL ended in 12/2011?
If I dispute a collection with the CB and they delete it can the CA put it back on my record, or is it gone forever once it's deleted by the CB?
the cra should be in contact with the ca when you dispute the collection, so if they decide to delete the collection, the ca would be notified. however, i have heard of cases where a cra deletes the TL but then the debt is resold and relisted!
BUT legally the CRA is required to notify you in writing if the entry is re-submitted by the data furnisher.
