Ya'll...I learned something super important today...and I wanted to share for your thoughts. I had a fantastic credit day..I took care of issues that had been months in the working...I mean, MONTHS! One was my student loan that was reporting "Claim filed with government" on my Exp...I've been fighting this since Jan..with Sallie Mae telling me they'd fix it, then no change, then they'd fix it, then no change..and they'd send me these stupid generic letters (we are updating your report) that didn't give me enough to fight it myself...well, today, with the mortgage looming, I refused to get off the phone until they faxed me a specific letter..I mean, I just hung in there. Called back until I found someone who would help..asked for supervisors of supervisors and kept saying to people, "My house depends on it..I'm sorry, I have to insist"..over and over and over..and now, I sit here with a letter stating that I was never in default, no claim was ever filed with the government! That was one! Now, I've been trying to get this accomplished for 6 months..so I'm thinking what was the difference today? DESPERATION! They were NOT going to screw up my loan...and I didn't give up. So, it now occurs to me that I lacked that before..after all, I had time..so I accepted wait and see answers...blah blah....so I've learned something. I will address each issue like it is IMPERATIVE that it be corrected..not tomorrow, not next week...but TODAY! It makes all the difference!! For instance, today, they said to me, we will fax that next week..and I said...No...you won't...I need it today..my house is on the line...I didn't scream, I didn't yell, I just hung strong...and I asked for supervisors..whatever it took... So..now I know the secret..it's simply to refuse less ! Ok, am I crazy or does this make sense to you all??
Nana-- YOU GO! Great words of advice, too. I don't think I'd let THEM know you're desperate - just let it be the candle under your hind-end driving you to accept nothing less than exactly what you asked for. Good luck, mj
NanaC: A wise man once wrote, live every day as though it were your last day on earth. To me, that means that I should not put off until tomorrow what I can do today and it also means that I must do all that I can to make it happen today because there may be no tomorrow. But of course, I have a 50-50 chance that I will live to see the light of day, so I try not to do anything to blow it either. (LOL) But you are so right, persistance is the key to getting the job done. My wife often says that I am a bullheaded old German. I guess she must be right even though I am much closer to being a Heinz 57 than a German.
There's a lot to be said for this philosophy..it will really impact my treatment of the rest of my credit issues AFTER I close..LOL...
Good, but in the meantime, you are still following the advice, just applying it in the direction you have chosen for the present. What's wrong with that?
Tenacity, what a beautiful thing. It drives my wife crazy that I am so focused when it comes to credit and not persistant enough in taking out the garbage..lol
I tell you what..I'm tempted to do something like pick an item and make that item my "item for the day" and do this. Heaven help the CRA's adn CA's and original creditors after I close...I'm focused!! LOL
You gonna be like the little maggot. In dead earnest! LOL Hey! I love it. We all need to be that way.
Thinking more..the AHA's! It's scary when I do this but I've been thinking more about what I've learned over the past year..and I think my personal philosophy has evolved to become "Attack from all sides - whatever gets the job done." There has been lots of discussion here about who to dispute with. I have had a lot of success with going after them all...albeit, in a sort of order. (CRA's, CA's, Original)...Also, I did it myself and used junum (though not necessarily at the same time)..I found working on the CA's and original creditors while junum worked on the CRA's was positive...again,using everything available worked for me.. Another "aha" was that I recently found I got faster deletions from the CRA's when my letters were not of the form letter type but said what I wanted in my own words without threats, average time 2 weeks. This bums me out because I enjoyed the threat part (J/K)... With the CA's, I hate to admit it but LizardKing's letter has been really effective. When the CA's mess up...I found the Attorney General or State Agency has been a great help! An FYI, the Illinois Dept. of Regulation does their job but WAY too slow.....allowing you to be harmed for months before prosecuting. The CO AG takes about 30 days and issues letters of admonition which have always been followed by deletions by the CA. I also found the BBB when used for the CA's seems to bring on an action by the CA...it's kind of timing that tells me this,not anything formal. so I'm thinking outloud here....the big AHAs!
Re: Thinking more..the AHA's! With the CA's, I hate to admit it but LizardKing's letter has been really effective. ***************** I suppose it doesn't make much difference why you hate to admit it. I do too, and for very obvious reasons, but there is one thing that should be pretty obvious and that is that if all you said in a validation letter is: "I disagree with this bill. Please prove it is correct." That would probably get the job done too. So it apparently isn't so much what you say in a validation letter. Use the KISS principle to the extreme, get fancy and make it 100 pages long or whatever. But what is important is what happens after you send the letter and how you handle the situation after that. And there is a whole range of scenarios that can take place. Each one requires a different response to get the final outcome that one needs to defeat the creditor/ca. And the one thing that is for sure, and that is that the validation letter is neither a wooden stake to drive though the vampire's heart nor is it a silver bullet. That's something the newbies and the inexperienced need to learn real quick.
More thoughts on this Hey, everyone! I'm becoming more sure of my theory on this. On Friday, I got another deletion on hubby's credit simply because I refused to get anything less. Here's the story..Hubby and I lived in apt. complex. Hubby's 2 brothers also lived in same apt. complex. We found something on credit report and disputed in 10-00..knowing it wasn't ours...have been fighting it since then...reported it to state dept. that regulates them..blah blah. Haven't made much progress. Finally, on Friday, we get a call from state (where it is in the prosecution process) and they are still dragging their butts and I got fed up. I got on the phone..and I called the corporate headquarters for the original creditor and the corporate headquarters for the collection agency. I got 2 people at the second headquarters who couldn't care less..rude, one screamed at me though I promise I wasn't screaming. Finally kept asking for supervisors and I got one..this guy was totally different. After a few seconds of investigation, we were able to determine that the bill was a brother's bill, not hubby's. It was deleted (with a letter stating so faxed to us) that day. I can't emphasize this enough...you must just say "Enough" and keep going until someone listens to you and corrects it..supervisor after supervisor. Hubby is entirely clear now on 2 of 3 CRA's!
Re: More thoughts on this NanaC: Glad to hear of your success and how you did it. Your story should be a lesson for all, to be sure. Persistance is one of the attributes it takes to get the job done. There is no getting around that. Sadly enough, it's also one of the attributes that far too many folks lack. I suppose that's why they hire others to do it for them thinking that the person they will hire will already know how to do what you have done and will do it for them since in their own minds they obviously (to them) do not have the knowledge or the tenacity nor the time to get the job done. So they pay someone else to do what they should have done for themselves and probably would have done had life's pressures left them the time. However, I think you must and already have admitted that you had one little advantage available to you that often times is lacking and that is the fact that you were right and they were wrong. You were therefore armed with a knowledge that those you opposed did not have and your only problem was to make the other parties aware of that fact. Knowing that you were right gave you an advantage not always true in many other situations. The additional problem that others have that you did not is the fact that many if not most of those items they would like to see disappear are true and factual informations. That little fact robs them of the ammunition you had in your favor. That little hurdle plus the guilt trip associated with it puts many other folks in a position of feeling greatly handicapped, and that is an uncomfortable position to be in When it comes to dealing with that kind of situation, most folks are in the unenviable position of having to try to fight a battle of wits when only half-armed. (LOL) That is when they truly do need someone who is well equipped to do battle for them unless they are willing to put in several months of study to learn how to do it or can find someone to teach it to them a step at a time. Glad to hear of your success and also hope that it gives inspiration to others.
