Greetings, I've been poking around reading posts on this excellent forum for a month or so now and have been impressed by the breadth of knowledge generously given in help of others. I now believe it's time to introduce myself and my credit woes in hope of a more solid understanding and plan of attack on how to proceed. This whole situation is completely overwhelming and confusing (perhaps, I suppose, intentionally) and I greatly appreciate any assistance provided! Back-story: 2007 was not a great year for me. Divorce, then unemployment, then defaulted on my student loan (it was either that or my car, which I was living out of at the time) and now I find that my ex-wife ran up some charges in my name by staying in the apartment I moved out of and not paying the utility or phone bills. Come several years later. Iâ??m somewhat back on my feet - stable for a solid year now with a good job in my career, a bank account in the black and go to look at my credit. To my surprise I find many delinquent accounts from 2007 - most of which I have no knowledge of - and a Poor score rating (581 on Creditkarma, 650 on Transunion's site which I pay the $14/mo for). So I did the logical next step in my mind and disputed the accounts through TUâ??s site. They all came back â??meets FCRA requirementsâ??, but this was before finding this site and I did not know the proper procedures so Iâ??m not sure if they verified correctly/legally. I donâ??t have any immediate reason for fixing my credit like many people who post here do: I don't plan on buying a house or (hopefully!!) a new car soon. Iâ??m just finally in a good place and want to work on my credit. Now to the heart - These are the accounts listed on my report as Adverse: CA: CBCS. Original Creditor: Duke Energy Formerly Cinergy Account Type: Open. Loan Type: COLLECTION AGENCY/ATTORNEY Placed for Collection: 06/28/2011 (when Duke sold it to CBCS?) Removal Date: 11/2014 Balance: 0$. Original Amount: $741. Status: Account Paid in Full; was a Collection Note: Mentioned above. Paid this off as I could not open new service with an outstanding debt. Hate that it shows as adverse even though I did the responsible thing and paid it off in full, but live and learn. CA: HSBC BEST BUY Account Type: Revolving. Loan Type: CHARGE ACCOUNT Date Opened, Updated and Closed: 06/18/2007 Removal Date: 05/2014 Balance: 0$. High Balance: $1,173. Credit Limit: $2,000. Status: Account paid in Full; was a Charge-off Account Sale Info: ACCOUNT SOLD TO EMCC Note: No idea what this is. Iâ??ve never had a credit card (even a store-specific one like Best Buy). CA: I C SYSTEMS OC: BANFIELD PET HOSPITAL Account Type: Open. Loan Type: COLLECTION AGENCY/ATTORNEY Date Updated & Closed: 11/09/2011 Removal Date: 10/2013 Balance, Original Amount and Past Due: $211. Status: In Collection Remarks: ACCT INFO DISPUTED BY CONSUMR, MEETS FCRA REQUIREMENTS; >PLACED FOR COLLECTION< Note: We had a dog & used Banfield at the time when we split, but he stayed with me and I kept up with the bills for them. I disputed through TU because of this. It drops off later this year, though. CA: WELLS FARGO Account Type: Revolving. Loan Type: CHARGE ACCOUNT Date Opened: 12/20/2005. Last Payment Made, Date Paid and Date Closed: 01/31/2008 Removal Date: 07/2014 >Maximum Delinquency of 120 days in 11/2007 and 12/2007< Balance: $0. High Balance: $1,500. Credit Limit: $1,500. Payment Received: $0. Status: >Account paid in Full; was a Charge-off< Remarks: ACCT INFO DISPUTED BY CONSUMR; MEETS FCRA REQUIREMENTS; PURCHASED BY ANOTHER LENDER; TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER OFFICE Note: Not the slightest what this is. Iâ??ve never done business with Wells Fargo. CA: SPRINGLEAF FORMERLY AGF Account Type: Installment. Loan Type: SECURED Date Opened: 12/22/2005. Date Updated: 04/05/2013 Last Payment Made: 03/19/2007 (which is bizarre as I have never paid anything to them. Also the "Payment Received" field says $0 â?? same as Wells Fargo) Removal Date: 03/2014 Balance, High Balance and Past Due all say $654. Status: >Charged Off Note: Iâ??m guessing this is the company Wells Fargo sold their account to. The dates match, but not the amount. This one Iâ??ve not disputed yet because I found thereâ??s a brick & mortar store for this company in the town I live in now and I was thinking of going in there to talk to them. I now know from this site that is a bad idea. Should I send them a DV letter or wait it off? CA: VERIZON WIRELESS Account Type: Open. Loan Type: TELECOMMUNICATIONS/CELLULAR Date Opened: 10/17/2007. Last Payment Made & Date Paid: 02/21/2012. Date Updated: 02/29/2012. Date Closed: 03/02/2010 Removal Date: 09/2016. Balance: $0. High Balance: $96. Payment Received: $96. Status: >Account Paid in Full; was a Collection< Remarks: ACCT INFO DISPUTED BY CONSUMR, MEETS FCRA REQUIREMENTS; PAYING PARTIAL PMT AGMT Note: I found this account when I went to open a new line with Verizon. I was not sure what this was, but my ex did have a Verizon phone in my name so I assume it was that. I disputed at first and it came back Verified, so I contacted them and paid in full. It irks me that it says "PAYING PARTIAL PMT AGMT" because I paid the bill in full - as you can see by the High Balance and Payment Received being the same amount. Does this affect my score even more adversely? I wish I had just left it be and let it fall off, instead of doing the 'responsible' thing and paying it correctly which apparently reset the removal date. -_- Now for the big daddy - the Student Loan. This one is quite confusing and frightening. I wish it had not come this far, but it was quite literally either this or become homeless (which, granted, I was for a time... but at least out of my car). Iâ??m now too scared to contact them w/o knowing what I'm wading into and being fully prepared first. It started with Sallie Mae. I have several smaller 'Satisfactory' Accounts with them from paying as agreed up til 2007. Now I have one large Adverse account from them and a larger Adverse account with USAF: CA: SALLIE MAE Account Type: Installment. Loan Type: STUDENT LOAN Date Opened: 09/05/2007 (when I defaulted, I guess) Last Payment Made: 04/25/2008 (incorrect... I've never made a payment after defaulting; I've never been able to until now) Payment Received: $0. Date Updated & Closed: 12/15/2008 >Maximum Delinquency of 120 days in 02/2008 for $480 and in 11/2008 for $1,249< Balance: $0. High Balance: $15,292. Status: Current; Paid or Paying as Agreed (How can it be â??Currentâ? with a Balance of $0. Shouldn't it say Charged-Off since USAF took it?) Remarks: DEBT BEING PD THRU INSURANCE; CLAIM FILED WITH GOVERNMENT Note: The 'claim filed with government' part I guess is why my federal tax returns have been getting confiscated for the past several years. But it makes no sense since (I think) they sent the account over to USAF. CA: United Student Aid Funds c/o Sallie Mae Account Type: Installment. Loan Type: STUDENT LOAN Date Opened: 12/05/2008 (which would gel with when the Sallie Mae one closed). Date Closed: 02/28/2009. Date Updated: 03/31/2013 Last Payment made: 03/07/2012 (guessing/hoping this is where they received my Federal Tax Return because I've never contacted them/paid monies to them directly). Payment Received: $0 (hm... if tax return it would have been over $1,000) And surprisingly: Removal Date: 10/2014. Normally I would think this was just an error with TUâ??s reporting format and every account has this date, but the Sallie Mae one does NOT. Does this mean it will go away late next year?!? Wonâ??t get my hopes up, but that would be incredible. >Maximum Delinquency of 120 days in 12/2008 and in 02/2013< Balance: $25,197 (almost $10k more than my original debt with Sallie Mae!!!) High Balance: $16,679 ($1,387 more than my Sallie Mae debt ended at) Pay Status: >In Collection< Remarks: >PLACED FOR COLLECTION< Note: I received (4/1/2013) the letter for this year stating my Federal Tax Return ($1,076) was applied to my debt. The CA is listed as: U.S. Department of Education, c/o Sallie Mae, Inc. The account number referenced does not match with any one that shows on my report. For those falling off soon Iâ??m leaning towards waiting them out as I have no particular reason to rush my score increase. That way there is no chance of messing up and paying them, then it being stuck as adverse on my report for even longer like with Verizon & Duke. Do I need to do anything on my end when the Removal Date is reached or will they fall of automatically? For the student loans Iâ??m looking for clarification of who actually owns my debt and thereby who I need to contact and work with. Afterwards, hopefully a course of action on how best to proceed can be formed. For example, I just paid SOMEBODY over $1,000 with my tax return and have been doing so for the past few years. That should count for SOMETHING and lend an amount of leverage/willingness to work with me. Also, my girlfriendâ??s brother was in a similar situation last year and they agreed to drop all charges outside the original debt if he paid on time consistently for a 9-month period. Is this normal? How can I get them to do this for me? Lastly, I have 3 Inquiries (one of which I know what from â?? applied for a credit card from Chase). They are from 05/16/2012, 02/16/2012 and 10/21/2011. Arenâ??t these supposed to fall off after a year? That is everything. Quite daunting! Iâ??m sorry for such a long post, but I didnâ??t want to leave anything out that may enable an eagle-eyed person whom is more versed in these difficulties to spot a discrepancy that might help me out. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading all of this and an even bigger thank you for any help you can provide! This has actually been a small weight lifted off my shoulders just getting this all written out, somewhat summarized and posted. Now please excuse me while I go find some Ibuprofen
Welcome!! First of all let me say it's good that you are worried about this before a big purchase comes up! It's much easier/less stressful to fix things without having a time crunch involved. I will tell you up front I know nothing about student loans so I can't be of much help there (I don't want to give you the wrong information) As far as the other items, most of them seem to be falling off within a year or so with the exception of Verizon. Everything will be gone by 11/2014. Personally if it were me I would just let it all fall off. If you really want to get them removed before then, it's possible! I would start writing GW letters to the creditors that you already paid off asking them to remove. Usually if it's paid and there were some extenuating circumstances (divorce) then they will remove. I am in the middle of doing a major credit overhaul for my husband. He went through a bad divorce a few years ago and his credit is paying for it (gotta love ex-wives!) Anyways lots of the people he has contacted have been understanding and willing to remove as long as it's paid. I would definitely call Verizon and see why it's showing partial payment, maybe they can do something for you. Also I would suggest writing a DV (debt validation) letter for the Best Buy account. Like I said personally I would just wait it out, I would be to afraid to disrupt any of these things and "wake a sleeping beast", but it's your personal preference. You will find everyone on this board is really helpful and can offer good advice, more in-depth than my advice for sure.
Welcome to the board! If this were the OC, I'd suggest a goodwill attempt. But since it's a CA, I'd suggest a DVL. Yes it's paid but consumers are allowed to request validation at any point, paid or not. Considering the age, they may simply delete the account. Another DVL. If this account was opened fraudulently there should be a zero chance they can validate this. You may need to take the extra step in filing a police report or signing an affidavit that the account was fraudulently opened. You could go the DVL route, or like you said just wait out another 5 months if you rather save yourself the paper, ink and certified postage. Wow. This is a little different from the other account though...this was opened while you were still married, it appears. In that case, IDK how the law applies to whether it was fraudulent or not if it was your ex opening these accounts. (I'm sorry if I am assuming here, but I felt as though you were alluding that these accounts may have been opened by her). If it does not fall under fraud in that case since she did this while you were married, you can still DV this. This says installment loan, WF was revolving. It's not the same type of account. The date does match as you said, which is odd, but it could be that whomever opened the one on 12/22/05, opened the other as well. Don't bother going into the store. Everything needs to be in writing. I know I sound like a broken record, but I would suggest another DVL on this one. But regardless of whether these delete or not, I would suggest putting fraud alerts on all of your reports. What this does is opt you out of promo offers, but more importantly it requires whomever reviewing your file to take extra precautionary steps in verifying it really is you applying. Paying off a balance does not reset the removal date. The compliance date stays put unless you make a partial payment, and then default again. But you didn't, so date of first delinquency doesn't change. With a fall off date of 9/16, this account defaulted sometime in late 2009. You paid it off ($96) in Feb 2012.....if the date reset, it would be there still 2019. This would be your GWL. Google high executives, CFO, CEO, etc....or try planetfeedback.com (if it still works these days) to attempt to get it removed. Don't bother with customer service. No, they will just be deleted. Sorry I am not responding about the student loan....I don't have much experience with those. Hard Inquiries fall off after 2 years. 3 is nothing. I knew people who had 23. and once again, welcome to the board.
Mindcrime has given some very good advice! I know it seems like a lot but if you make lists of what you need to do, prioritize, and stay organized, you will have success.
Agreed. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Start with the accounts where you have no knowledge of opening. You should see a high success rate in removal of these. Then move on to those that will stick around the longest. By the time you're through these two account types the 'almost ready to fall off's'...might just have fallen off.
Wow, thank you both for the welcome and such prompt and helpful replies! Mindcrime, your breakdown especially is useful and helps to section them off into manageable pieces. One question I have that has bothered me since looking around on this site... people keep mentioning different types of letters, but I haven't been able to find them. Both of the links in PsychDoc's stickied Credit Repair Primer - The CreditNet Sample Letters Library and The Creditnet Library - are dead. Is there a new location for sample letters? Again, thank you both so much! Edit: I forgot to thank you for the clarification on the inquiries - guess those will start dropping soon too. Also, in looking at Nave's FAQ, I've found the forum with the sample letters in the MEMBERS-ONLY subforum. Now time to work on getting these figured out. If anyone has any ideas on the student loans, that would be fantastic!
Now that Iâ??ve had some time to digest all of the information and suggestions, I would like to ask some clarification questions. 1. Since I have already disputed all of the non-student loan debts except Springleaf and they all came back â??Meets FCRA requirementsâ??, am I still allowed to send a DVL? I was under the impression they were basically the same thing. Or rather, I guess I am allowed, but more specifically are the CAs still obligated to respond after Iâ??ve already disputed? 2. When sending a DVL, do you recommend the basic â??I am disputing the alleged debt referenced above. Please validate this alleged debt and submit proof of validation to my address above.â?? one submitted by sparq in 2009 or the moreâ?¦ in-depth one submitted by pbm from 2001? 3. I appreciate your clarification of the Verizon debt. I suppose the ex continued paying it off for a time while she kept using the phone. I am unfamiliar with GWLs, but I see PsychDocâ??s template from 2011 and that should be fairly easy to modify for my needs. But what do you mean by planetfeedback.com? I see that site is current and operational, but I donâ??t fathom the usage in this context since it is more of a public complaints/compliments board. I donâ??t know that I would be comfortable posting the debt with my actual real name and account numbers on a public board (which Iâ??m sure Verizon would need if they were to actually do anything with the reporting if they decided to be nice). Also, do I still need to use certified mail when sending the GWL or just cast them out and hope (or use e-mail)? 4. I also appreciate your clarification on the WF and Springleaf accounts. So it sounds like you believe these are two separate accounts (and I owe even more than I thought, which is great)? I will definitely DV Springleaf then. Hereâ??s the weird thing, though: The Wells Fargo dispute through TU was recent (it was maybe 2 weeks before I found this site), which came back â??Meets FCRA requirementsâ??â?¦ WF hadnâ??t reported since 2011 and then reported 4/11. But the weird thing is that the Springleaf one had not reported for years and then suddenly reported on 4/5/2013. I figured it was because they were from the same loan, but if theyâ??re separate that is just weird since I havenâ??t had ANY communication with them. I guess this is more of a statement than a question. Just found it odd and wanted to share. 5. You mention putting fraud alerts on my report and I can appreciate that suggestion. I do get alerts when there is a change on my report via TransUnion, but I also see there is a â??Credit Lockâ? function on that site that says â??Prevent others from looking at your TransUnion credit report & help stop ID thieves from obtaining credit in your nameâ?. It is included with my Credit Monitoring subscription, so I have gone ahead and done that as well. However, I donâ??t have the affluence to do this for all 3 bureaus. Is there a cheaper option? Thank you very much for all your guidance! P.S. a small happy note: my TU score has risen 5 (655) points since I checked it last Friday! Weird, since I don't see any differences in the comparison report, but hey, I'll take it. Speaking of increasing score... would you recommend going through the hassle of opening and maintaining a secured credit card (I'm sure the only one I'd be eligible for with my score) or wait until all these are settled/drop off and open a regular credit card next year?
Disputing a debt is done through the CRA's. Sending a DVL is done through the CA. DV does not apply to the OC's. And yes, you are never disallowed from sending a DVL to a CA. The CA will have to respond one way or another. Either by deleting or actually validating the account. With a dispute through the CRA, the CA takes about 3 seconds to say "Yup, we have Mr. Cred Woes in our files...yup". DV requires more. I suggest the newer one, but personalize it some. Don't just send the sample LTR as-is. I happen to like to refer to section 809 of the FDCPA, others leave it more plain. The pbm letter, which was great in its time, is likely well too known by every and any CA around (not that a consumer is not allowed to use a sample LTR when requesting DVL, it just looks better if you're not flagged from the get-go as someone using 'our' services With Planetfeedback.com the letter posted publicly can be modified from the LTR sent to the company (i.e. removing account numbers, names, etc. -- in fact PFB tells you to do so I believe) Whether it will benefit you, IDK. A decade ago it actually had some pull. If you can find an e-mail to an exec, then give that a try. If not, you could mail it delivery confirmation (which confirms delivery but doesn't require a signature) IMO it's a little less intrusive than certified RRR. Sorry, but yes. Springleaf from what I see is a personal loan business in PA. I don't think this is a CA. Actually, you won't be able to attempt DV with Springleaf if they're not a CA and have nothing to do with the WF loan which I don't believe they do. .....Okay that is weird about both accounts not updating for over a year and then both in the same month. You may need to contact the OC and dispute the account as fraud. Request copies of the contract and proof of any repayments (were they cash, checks, credit card payments?). It's free to put fraud alerts on your reports. When I did it on one, that first CB sent the alert to the other two automatically for me. A secured card credit would be a good plan of action. Just do some homework on them. Stay away from those that charge nonsense monthly maintenance fees on top of annual membership fees or setup fees. APR doesn't matter if you don't carry a balance. In a year when you're ready to start shopping for a prime card you should even be able to get your secured card, unsecured. Plus, the good credit will help. Consumers have gotten turned down for new CC's with reasons like "too few revolving accounts".....having a secured card (or two if you have the means) would help get you around that, and boost your score some as well. I think members here have talked about Bank of America being a good secured card to go for, or if you belong to a CU or a bank that does them, that could be an option as well. Just make sure whoever it is, that they report to all 3 CB's.
Here's a list of the recommended secured cards on Creditnet: Secured Credit Cards For People with Bad Credit - Creditnet.com It can also be worthwhile to go through your local bank or credit union, too. Just remember to confirm w/ them that the secured card they offer reports to the 3 biggie CRA's. (So yeah, basically everything mindcrime said above)....
