I'm new here and I'm hoping to get some help. My husband and I want to clean up our credit...we have a few dings on our reports, most of them being a couple of years in the past and paid off. So I have a couple of questions and I would truly be grateful for any help you can offer.. For me... I pulled my credit report a few months ago and found out that I have an outstanding bill. The original creditor was PAC BELL and it looks like the original balance was $318 but the total balance due now is $603 because it's showing that it was placed for collection in 2004. So it has been assigned to a collections agency.. I just never knew it was on there until I pulled my report. I'd like to get ahold of PAC BELL and find out my original balanace minus fees, interest, and penalties.. .and then demand to know in writing the amount PAC BELL collected from selling my debt, insurance payment on my debt and the amount written off on my debt. Then subract all that from my original debt and offer to pay that.... ....my question is... it's been so long since this account was opened and it's already been assigned to a collection agency. What do I say to them or do when they ( PAC BELL ) refuse to deal with this issue because it has already been assigned to a collection agency? Do I have to go the the C.A. ? Next...lol... I lived in some apartments a good 5 years ago and I moved out but there was damage done to the place from a roommate.. either way,I got stuck with the bill on my credit...it was placed for collections in 2004 and was paid off but it's still on my credit report. I want to have it taken off, if possible. How do I do that? Do I call the apartment place and ask them for the agency's name to which I make this request or do I ask the collection agency who handled the debt? Then!... I was a cosigner for a car.. the car was repossessed in 2002. Got it out of impound and paid the whole car balance off. So the car is paid for but it doesn't say that on the report and it's still on the report that there's a repossession. Is there anything I can do to get it taken off my report? My husband... Had a credit card with B of A in 2004... we were irresponsible and went over the limit and didn't pay because we were stupid... his report says it was charged/written off..I don't know what that means.. I thought we paid that but anyway I want to have that taken off and don't know how. How do you do all this? Who do I write to?... especially when the accounts have been assigned to a collection agency already and the original creditor keeps referring you to the C.A. ? I know this was super long and I really do appreciate any advice you all can give me. Thanks!
I assume you live here in California - When in 2004 did your Pac Bell bill and your B of Acredit card become delinquent? Did anyone, original creditors or collection agencies EVER hound you? If not, then they probably won't go after you anymore, because the statute of limitations expires after 4 years here in California. They will however stay on your credit report until 2011. That car repo will stay on your credit report until 2009. Negative items stay on your reports for 7 years, even though the statute of limitations - period during which can be sued - expires after 4 years. Now you may ask why the difference. Short answer: To keep your credit history in the toilet.
Right..I see.. okay... well, the only thing that isn't paid off is the PAC BELL and that was placed in collections in 09/2004. I never heard a peep out them and never knew I even owed anything... it was from a home phone I had like in 2001..I don't even remember.I don't mind paying it at all I just didn't know if I had to pay the whole $603 vs. paying the original balance minus all the fees, interest, insurance payout, etc... or do I not have a choice at all and I have to pay for all those things too? B of A was opened with collections in 03/2004... I know we payed B of A but I don't understand why it doesn't say that.. it just says it was charged/written off. Pac Bell... Est. time of removal 05/2009 Apartment place... ET of removal 12/2009 Car repo... ET of removal 08/2011 So everything has been paid except the PAC BELL which I will pay by the end of Feb. So I have no choice but to let the dings stay on my credit until those specified years? I can't do anything? I heard that there's some law stating that you can write to the creditors three times, with certain guidelines and timelines, and they are supposed to take it off. Sounds a little too easy but ...
You should not pay anything until you determine that it is your debt (they must prove it, you don't do it for them), that the amount has been correctly computed, and that the entity you are paying has a right to collect the debt. Absent those three items, don't pay OR PROMISE TO PAY anyone a penny. Do you have the separate report from each agency, or are you looking at one of the online trimerge reports. If it's the latter, you need to get the individual reports from each CRA so you know exactly how each bureau is reporting it. I don't have time right now to respond in detail, will be badk later if no one has stepped in to help you.
Thanks! No, mine is from TransUnion and my husband's is from Experian.. I got them from the " one free credit report per year " thing. So I need to get all three? What do you mean, I need to know how each bureau is reporting it? I'm sorry...I think I should know more about this stuff than I do. I'm 25 and this is the first time in my life that I've ever pulled a credit report. I screwed up some in my late teens early twenties but have tried to stay on the straight and narrow now. I have no credit cards or debt now except for the PAC BELL thing. They should stress this stuff more in high school or something.... what charge offs are, interest, payoffs, etc. I'm not familar with any of this stuff and I should be. Thank you very much for your help and for being patient with me and my dumb questions.
Yes, you should absolutely get all 3. Some creditors do not report to all 3 CRAs, and you will be surprised that even if a creditor reports to all 3, they sometimes report differently.
Okay, I'll get all three.. but I don't understand what it means for me. Let's say it's reported on one but not on the other two. What does that mean? What does it mean if it's reported differently on each one? Isn't it still bad?..or ? Thanks for your help!
I hope that isn't sounding bad. I just truly am clueless and I don't get how it affects me. I will definitely get all three soon because I trust what you guys say more than my cluelessness..lol
Not all creditors pull the same bureau. Some will pull Transunion, some will pull Experian, some will pull Equifax. For a mortgage, some car loans, and even some credit cards, they will pull all three. So if you clean, for example, your TransUnion, and you apply for a loan or credit card from someone who pulls Experian, you may be shocked to be turned down for things you cleared from the other reports.
Oh, I thought that once you have it taken off your credit, it comes off period. So I have to do it for all three? Does that mean that I have to request that the original creditor or collection agency take it off all three?
If it's on all three you have to dispute on all three. Sometimes a collection will drop very easily from 2 reports, but you need to fight like hell to get it off the third. It takes patience and persistence to get your credit cleaned up. A little luck doesn't hurt either.
I'll try to do a little more detail where I can, but I'm not the expert at everything. I'm sure some of the others will be by to help later. We've already discussed getting all three reports for both of you, which is the first thing you need to do. Don't rely on one of the trimerge (3-in-1) online. You want the individual reports from each bureau. Several things here. First of all, you need to find out the Statute of Limitations (SOL) in your state. This could already be out of SOL. Don't ever trust a CA or JDB to tell you the truth. It doesn't matter when it was placed for collections. When was the last payment? When did the account go delinquent? If you're sure it's been paid, you'll need to dispute it with the CRA. That's why you'll need each report. You need to see if something is reporting wrong that you can dispute. Hopefully, they won't verify and it will come off. If it's reporting accurately and they verify, it can stay on your report for seven years from the date of delinquency. So, when you get your reports, you can let us know how it's reporting. It was a repossession--that is accurate. Again, when you get your reports you will need to see if there is some part of the information which is reporting incorrectly that you can dispute. But just because something is paid does not automatically mean it comes off your report. Negative information can be reported for seven years. Again, just because it's paid doesn't mean it comes off your report. It was charged off when you didn't pay for a certain period of time, usually six months. Even if you paid it off later, it was still a charge off. But, as with the others, there may be inaccurate information that can be disputed. The original creditor will usually refer you to the CA. If the debt has been sold, it legally belongs to the CA now, and the OC cannot collect at all. If it's been assigned, the OC may be able to pull it back, put many will not. A lot of these items will need to be disputed through the CRA, at least initially. When you get the reports, we can deal with them in more detail. It will probably be better to do one or two at a time. One thing you do need to remember is that negative items can be reported for seven years from the first delinquency. So, unless you can find incorrect information to attack, you may have trouble with some of them. However, the older they are, the less impact they have on your score. For now, make sure you are paying everything on time. Try to stay within about 30-35% of your credit limit. Don't close accounts because that will shorten your history and also decrease the amount of available credit used to compute your usage ratio. So if you no longer want to use an account, unless it has annual fees, don't close it. Instead, use it once every few months for something minor and pay in full when the bill comes. That will keep the account active. Even if it has annual fees, if it's one of your older accounts and you have a short history, you may want to keep it anyway. While you're waiting for your reports, the best thing you can do is read, read, read on this board.
