I've been reading CN for quite some time, but would really like a few pointers for my specific situation. I graduated from college last year and up until now, wasn't so great at paying my bills on time. Because of these negative remarks on my credit reports, I can't get credit with anyone. I almost didn't get an apartment in Manhattan because of this credit. I needed my parents to guarantee the lease. Currently, my TransUnion CR shows two accounts that are unpaid and in collections. One is an electricity bill ($70) and the other is for an optometrist visit ($75). I spoke to the collection agency about my two unpaid bills (both are with the same collection agency in Wisconsin). They would NOT agree to delete the negative remarks if I paid. The TU CR also shows my Discover Card account, which I closed last year, as having paid in full, but late 30 days one time. My Equifax CR shows a phone bill that went to collections, but now paid in full. My Experian CR shows the paid phone bill account, as well as my Discover Card account that is now closed. It also correctly shows me as an authorized user on one of my dad's Citibank cards. The CR shows the monthly balances as well as open/never late. This is the only good mark on that credit report, but is it really a good mark? As I wrote before, no one will give me credit. I applied for an overdraft line at my bank and they denied me. Same story for an AMEX card and a Chase card. What can I do about the two accounts that are unpaid and in collections if the CA won't delete the remarks upon payment? I really appreciate any advice regarding my situation. Will my credit ever improve? I made some poor decisions in my college years, but now I am determined to pay everything on time and manage my credit well. Thanks so much, nycguy
Yes your credit will improve. Read the validation threads (Butch's and Humblemarc's) in the Hall of Fame Postings. Thats the process you need to follow for the unpaid collections. Have you done any disputes with the CRA's? If so, you might study up on the nutcase series (link in the FAQ's) for the paid collections. Read up on the goodwill letters for Discover. Read, read, read!!! LOL. There are lots of good techniques here, get a litigous mindset and get started! Amex and Chase are prime cards (I'm not near there yet either!). You are going to have to set your sights lower. Household, Capital One, etc. to rebuild. Do you have any money in savings? You might consider a secured card. There are good and bad out there, search around here, there are recommendations through out alot of threads.
niceguy, do you know what the DOLA (date of last activity) is on your accounts? You have 6 years and 6 months from that date and the CRA's legally must remove those accounts. If you start paying on those accounts then that will muddy the waters up a little. It will be a little more difficult to get the items deleted after it is re-aged. That's something to think about.
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-pls help! Ok. Well I don't think you want to wait 6 years for them to fall off so take the advice posted above and read the board for help.
I'm not really an expert on collections, but one thing I wanted to point out was that if the only negative thing about this discover card is a single 30 day late payment than it is doing much more good than harm on your credit report. You might want to try to do a goodwill letter to Discover to see if they'll delete that 30 day late, but whatever you do you want this account to remain on your credit reports (with or without the 30 day late). Brett
Thanks everyone for their advice and suggestions! I have one more question- I have two addresses. One is in Connecticut and one is in New York. In May, I requested validation of the debts and gave them a CT address. The CA (operating out of WI), told me they can't collect in CT, so they would refer the debt to someone else. Well, as of yesterday, when I posted to the board, the CA hadn't referred the debt to someone that can collect in CT. So, my question is this: knowing that the CA can't collect in CT, should I give them my CT or NY address when I start the process of disputing the debt. Thanks! nycguy
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-pls help! That's an interesting question. I see one of two things happening... First, the CA refers the debt to another CA that can collect in CT. The first CA removes their TL from your credit report and the trail to validate the debt becomes that much longer, so you have a better chance of the debt not being validated. Second, the CA refers the debt to another CA that can collect in CT. The first CA doesn't remove their TL from your credit report and now you have two collection TL's and double the fight to get them removed. In light of that, particularly if you think that the first CA can't validate anyway I'd suggest not letting them introduce another CA into the mix. HTH, Brett
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p nycguy, You're getting smart a lot sooner than I did! I trashed my credit in my 20s, too, but I was in my early 40s before I started learning how to handle credit responsibly. In fact, I'm still learning, as my presence on this forum demonstrates! So you're in a very good place to learn what you need to know, and these people have been fabulous to me so far. My "road back" started with a pre-approved mail offer for a JC Penney card. I sent it in and got a card with a $300 credit limit at something like 21% interest. I bought a stereo and paid it off over about six months, though I could have paid it all off at once. I wanted to build that credit history. A few months into my Penney's account, I got an offer for an Associates Visa. Still a lousy rate and a low CL, but it was a Visa. I kept the running balance low enough that the interest rate didn't sting too badly, but I kept using it and paying religiously to keep that history building. All of a sudden I started getting inundated with credit offers, and not just from the subprimes like Providian. Inside of a year I had Household, Chase, Citibank Platinum and Bank of America, with modest CLs but much higher than the Associates, not to mention better interest rates. Since then I've never asked for a credit increase -- they've been automatic, or offered with BT offers. I've called for reduced interest rates at least twice on all my cards, and gotten them (Household won't go below 13.49% for me, though, even if I threaten to walk -- I tried it twice). Now my problem is that I've gotten overextended and it's hurt my score, so Chase is jacking my rate and I'm fighting it with the help of the folks on this board. But I'm keeping the payments going in on time if I have to sell the furniture to do it! I'll get my balances down and my score will improve. Your score will improve, too, and probably in a much shorter time than you think. This forum is full of people to help you with good advice -- listen to them and do what they tell you! The thing to avoid is a mindset that you're a beggar coming hat-in-hand to the CC companies begging for credit. They have only one thing to sell: credit. You are the customer. Without you they have no business. Rest assured, you will be granted credit at some point, and that's your starting point. You're better armed than I was at your stage because you were lucky enough to have this forum to come to. When I was in my 20s there wasn't an Internet. In fact, Bill Gates hadn't even founded Microsoft yet.
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p One other thing that you have going for you using the NY address is that NY has a law that the negative accounts have to be removed in 5 years rather than 7. Saves you two years. Of course, we hope we can get your reports cleaned in less time than that. If the CA won't delete for payment, ask them if they would agree to just not verify information after you paid. Then, after paying it, dispute with the CRAs. If the CA honors your request (get it in writing), they won't verify and the CRA will remove it. Sometimes they'll do this but not delete.
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p Hedwig, I think it's 6 years in NY. I'm in NY and last time I checked, it was 6 years. They may have changed it, though. Where do we go to find out?
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p I'm not talking about the SOL, I'm talking about CRAs reporting information. The SOL may be 6 years, but I'm sure I read here a while back that the reporting period was 5 years. Search the board, I know a year or so ago there were some postings about it. You could also check the NY state web site or call an attorney that deals with credit matters. It should be in consumer credit laws, and it will be the time for reporting negative information, not the Statute of Limitations to collect a debt.
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p Ah. Well, that's good news, then! I will check it out. Thanks for the tip.
Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p Hi everyone, First of all, thank you all so much for the advice. I'm just beginning on this journey of credit repair and I wouldn't know what to do if it weren't for this community. I explained my situation in the first email. After reading many hundreds of posts, I've come up with the following strategy and wanted your feedback. 1) First, I will send a validation letter to the collection agency (please see my question on this point below). I'm hoping that they don't validate the debt and it ends here. 2) 1 week later I will send a dispute letter to CRA. 3) Cease and desist letter to CA. 4) Estoppel letter to CA. 5) No proof , intent to sue and complaint letter to CA and OC. As I stated in my previous post, the collection agency is in WI. I have a CT address as well as a NY address (I can use either address). I spoke to them in May and they said they could not collect in CT, so they would transfer the collection to an agency that could. As of September, they hadn't transferred it. Is my best shot to keep the CT address that the CA will send the validation to, hope that the CA gives up because it's too much of a pain to transfer this debt (it's under $100)? Thanks again for your feedback! nycguy
Re: Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p Hedwig, Really? Where can I find out more about the 5 years? I thought it was automatically always 7 years for everyone (50 states) in so far as how long the CRA reports? Doing a search now ... and thanks for any info. you can provide. Madame Walker
Re: Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p The Federal law is seven years. States can make it more restrictive but not less restrictive. I'll try to find the info, but if I were you I'd start with the NY state website.
Re: Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed credit-p http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=44&a=53 ... is the link! Found it in this thread ... http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40811 Madame Walker
Re: Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed cred That link to the NY State website didn't help me at all. Did anyone find anything about NY having a 5-year limit on reporting for CRAs? All I saw was 7 years.
Re: Re: Re: 24 y/o & destroyed cred Do a Ctrl+F on that page for 'five'. It's under 'S380-j. Prohibited information. (f) (iv) accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years; or accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss, which have been paid and which antedate the report by more than five years;'. Also, do remember that the key word here is paid. Hope this helps. Madame Walker
