I don't know where to begin. I thought my credit was pretty good and now I am finding out I am wrong. I got my score and my husband got his both through Transunion. Mine is 661 which I thought was good and his is 750 which I thought fell in the excellant category. Apparently I am in 'poor' standing and my husband is in 'fair'. I just don't understand this. I think my husband's problem is lack of credit but he just got a card approved with $2250 limit but a high rate so hopefully his credit will begin to improve. He has $500 on there and we've agreed nothing else is to go on there. The other problem I see is he had poor payment on a loan through a trade school back in 1997. If I remember correctly it was paid off in 2000. Is it legal that it is still showing on his credit? How can we get it removed? I have some things on mine I didn't know about. There's a medical bill that got sent to collection but was paid off a few months later and it shows that but says that it will stay on there til about 12/2009, 5 years after the date of service. Then there are 3 other things on there showing open that I am in the process of checking out because I thought 1 was already paid off and the other 2, I didn't know were even there. How long can these things stay there once they are paid? Can I get the collectors to remove them with payment in full? I am trying to find out how to get a free copy of my Equifax credit report online because I was recently denied the card my husband got. I can't find the link for it though. Any ideas? Also, there was a credit card and ex boyfriend scenario on there from before my DH and I even got together. I was about 19 then. I'm almost 32. My exBF signed every form known to claim 100% of the debt but apparently his credit was good enough to remove my name way back then. I would have to find the old papers from 1998 when we bought our first house but I thought the info had been removed from my report at that time. Last year I found it on there again! How can they do this after so many years? And I thought I read it was illegal for them to add such a thing after it had already been removed once. Any suggestions you can give to help me turn my score around quickly is greatly appreciated. I'm so frustrated because with the exception of 1 30 day late on a card I knew about, I thought my credit and payment history the last couple of years was awesome. Now with these collector things it isn't. There is also 1 30 late on a card that was paid off in 2003 from back in Feb. 2002 which makes no sense to me because we were through CCCS at the time! Can anything be done about that? There's a card that had 120+ days delinquency in 2000 but was paid off in 2003 so should that come off in June 2007? What IS the amount of time these things stay on your credit (when they are paid vs. not paid too!)? What is the best thing to do with credit cards? The couple we have now have only been opened in the last two years or so. Only one has a serious balance on it but has perfect payment history. Of course the apr is high and now I can't get approved for a card to transfer the balance to that would have a lower apr. That's how finding out about my standing came about. I closed this card because they irked me that they wouldn't lower my rate themselves. Is this a bad move? They said I could reinstate it within 90 days. I have one card with a $2000 limit I'll never use unless it's an emergency because the apr is high. Does it help me to keep it or should I close it? Any advice you can give is GREATLY appreciated. I would really like my credit AND standing to improve as soon as possible. What's realistic for that to happen? Sorry for all the questions. I just feel so lost.
I just looked at my husband's report again. I was wrong about his too... 1) a medical bill placed for collection and not paid in 2002 - I thought that had been taken care of with them 2) 1 30 day late (same card as mine) 3) an unpaid bill again I thought had been taken care of from 2002 (bad year - can't you tell?) 4) the tech school I posted about. That was 120+ days from 11/1999. It was paid in 5/2000. Does that mean, it the time frame is 7 years (is it?) that it should come off 11/2006? 5) Then there is his car loan from 1994 that was paid off in 1999. It says there is 1 30 day late within the last 5 months?!?! And that it would be removed in 8/2004. I put that one in to be investigated right away. Again, any advice is appreciated.
