First things first. I'm a newbie. Let's just make that clear. I've been poking around the message boards for a couple of weeks now, reading the various FAQs and posts and whatnot. This is an incredible resource. Kudos to all of you who share your time and knowledge and experience so that everyone else can benefit from it. So, onto my situation: Until a couple of months ago, I figured that my credit was horrible. I'd been a college student -- no income, easy-to-get credit cards, you know the deal. Had quite a few paid charge-offs in my past. In the past couple of years, I'd received unsolicited offers from Capital One for an unsecured credit card. The rate wasn't great (14.9%), but I figured I had nothing to lose, so I sent one of the offers in. Got approved for $500. After a year or so with Cap1, I was shopping for a laptop and applied to three different places -- Best Buy, Gateway, and Dell. Got approved at all three, for CLs of $1500-2500. A couple of months ago, I got an offer from Fleet Bank. Better terms (lower APR, no annual fee) than Cap1...so I sent *that* in. Got approved for $6,000. At this point, I thought that maybe my credit wasn't so horrible after all. So I finally got up the nerve to pull my credit history. I went online to myFICO and spent the dough for scored reports from all three bureaus. Scores are: 667 for TU, 669 for EXP, 670 for EFX. (BTW, it took me a *week* to just figure out what those three abbreviations meant. See? I'm learning...) There are still some paid chargeoffs (3) on all three reports. Also, there are a rash of recent "hard" inquiries for credit apps (the store credit cards and the Fleet card) on my some of my records, mainly TU. Those are listed as my main negative factors. Anyway. My credit isn't *horrible*, but it's not great either. I'd like to do what I can to improve it, but what? A quick look at the records tells me that all the negative stuff was my doing -- I incurred the debts, I fell behind, they got charged off, I paid them off. And the inquiries...well, those were because I was applying for credit at the time. In a nutshell, I don't see any inaccurately reported information. Just stuff that I don't like seeing on my credit report :/ So where do I start? A great deal of the posts I've read have to do with disputing information in a particular entry. But what can I do when the information is accurate? What do I dispute then? Also, much of the advice seems to focus on situations in which people are currently dealing with collection agencies. Do I have any leverage when the debt has already been paid? Finally -- and this is where I reveal my newbieness -- what's the exact sequence I would go through, if any, for trying to change an entry on my record? Should I be aiming to have the negative stuff changed to a positive, or do I want it deleted entirely, as if it never existed? That's all the questions I have for now. I am "enjoying my newbie stage," as the FAQ advises. And I am reading as much as I can. Some of this stuff is confusing, though, especially when there's so much shorthand involved... Again, thanks to all those who contribute to the board. I would never have imagined I could find so much useful (and free!) stuff in one place. It's been an eye-opening experience so far, believe me Thanks in advance, Sisko
Wish I had your scores...... (sigh...some day) I too am still a NOOB, and the most info is in the first couple of posts on the board, the "immortilized" messages. It explains everything you need there, the rest of the board is food for though, Its like adding gravy to mashed potatoes... you can't have one without the other. The letters are the key, currently in my situation, I have had 1 judgement on all 3 boards get removed from EXP and EQU (still waiting on TU those pricks), I have had 1 bad account deleted (it was mine, and was only reported on EXP), I have had another account with a 30 day and 60 day late made to show NEVER LATE, paid as agreed !!! and now I am working on the infamous bumpage... My score has gone up about 50 points since last may when a mortgage company pulled my credit and told me that I need to fix it up... Time is the cure of course, but it is also the most frustrating thing. Good luck, with scores like that, you don't have much to fix.
OK - are you 100% sure that each and every baddie (paid collection) is reporting 100% accurately. Is the date you opened it correct? High balance? Date of Last Activity? Gotta change your mindset to get rid of them, and alot of times they will go away. 1. I would start off with simple disputes with the CRA's on the paid collections, such as "do not recognize". Some will not bother to verify, because they got what they wanted, some will verify, and sometimes some of the furnishers will update wrong (ack!) it happens, but there are ways to deal with it. After you weed out the easy stuff then you move on to the Furnishers themselves. But one step at a time. As far as the inquries, what CRA is reporting how many?
most info is in the first couple of posts on the board, the "immortilized" messages. It explains everything you need there, the rest of the board is food for though, Its like adding gravy to mashed potatoes... you can't have one without the other. =Mongrol ======= ========== New Member Must Reads.--------------------------- http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=350770#post350770 http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=314910#post314910 http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=352826#post352826 Sample letters http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/index.php?s= WhyChats statute of limitations http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-chat/WhyChatsCredit/ http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-chat/WhyChatsCredit/ statute of limitations http://www.edebtnetwork.com/content/collection_laws.asp""""```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""''' THE END ** *** ** LB 59""""```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""''' THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""'''
