Hello people. I have been working on my credit for about a year now (it was horrible). My scores with all three CRA's were in the 500's. I used Lexington Law Firm to do some of the work, while at the same time making many phone calls and trying to work with the people who origionally said "Wo wont budge". My Trans Union report which one year ago showed 12 negatives and a score of 512 is now TOTALLY CLEAN OF ALL NEGATIVES, and my score with them is now 689 (a few high balances on credit cards, but will go up when I pay these bad boys off). My Equifax report had an origional score of 530, and is now 658. It had 15 negatives, and now I am down to 2. Those two refuse to do anything, but I will get into that later. My Experian report had the most negatives 1 year ago at 18 whopping negatives (yes, I was a bad boy when I was younger). They have refused almost everytime to even investigate my disputes. I always got a letter from them saying "we think someone else is trying to dispute your negatives, and we wont get off our butt and do our job and we will continue to violate your rights as long as we can because we are the worst form of scum...bla bla bla." So, I decided to call the origional creditors and collection agencies myself. By being polite on the phone (and a little begging didnt hurt), just last week I got letters in the mail on their companies letterhead stating they will delete the negatives. Once those are gone, I will have 1 negative left on Experian. WOO HOO, that negative will fall off on it's own in 11 months, so I am not too worried about it. Okay. Now here is where I am stuck, and I hope you all can help. Equifax: 2 Negatives left (from 15 a year ago) Crescent Jewelers - I paid this through a collection agency many years ago. The CA does not show on my credit report, but Crescent Jewelers (the origional creditor) does. It shows as a PAID COLLECTION. They continously report it as accurate on this report although they failed to do so on the other reports thus getting deleted from them. I have called them, and they say "sorry, we will not delete it" we cant do that. When I tell them "Yes you can", they say, "well, we DONT do that". I dont understand why they are so bent on keeping this negative on, after all, they are paid. AFNI (Dish Network Collection Agency) - Unpaid $45 I have not paid this one. I think it is from a last bill that I never got or something like that. I called both the origional creditor and their collection agency telling them I would like to pay this, but I need a deletion in return. They both told me no way, we cant do that. Dish network does not appear on my report, but the collection agency does. Any suggestions ? Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to share in the joy of my progress over the past year. Once I get these 2 last nasty negatives off, I will be one happy camper. Thanks for listening, and please...Any suggestions would be great !
You must realize by now that some creditors are hell-bent on keeping derog trade lines on your CRA for the full 7 years. Sears and MBNA are two more. There is not really a lot you can do about that other than to just keep disputing with the CRA. All it takes is one slip - one failure to verify and off it comes, never to return. Your mistake was paying Crescent without negotiating a deletion. My position is - if you're going to be a negative on my CRA file for the full 7 years, where is my incentive to pay you at all? I have Sears and MBNA left on mine for 16 more months, then they are gone. As far as AFNI is concerned, the balance is so low it's not worth their time even writing the letter. Really... if you paid it off today, with the standard CA commission of 33% they would get a whopping $15!!!
When you say many years, how many? At the 7 year mark from chargeoff, it should fall off automatically.
I paid the Crescent Jewelers thing 4 years ago. Both of these negatives will drop off in 3 years. I cant wait that long : ) I would pay more (a lot more) for the $45 AFNI thing to be deleted. I havent paid it because I want a deletion, and they wont give it to me. Crescent Jewelers people are just aweful to deal with. Oh well. I will keep disputing with the CRA's, and hope that someone slips.
Just called AFNI again (hoping to talk with a person with a heart), and they said "NO WAY WILL WE DELETE THE NEGATIVE IF YOU PAY IT". I asked what incentive do I have in paying it, if the negative will stay on my report for a full 7 years after I pay it. They said, doesn't matter. If we turn it over to another collection agency it will be on for another 7 years from that time. Okay, question: If they do turn it over to another collection agency, can they still show a negative on my report ? If they are no longer in charge of the negative, can they still report it as a negative, or can it simply be deleted ? She got me nervous when she said that. They are absolutly horrible to deal with (as is Crescent Jewelers). Should I contact the origional creditor (Dish Network) again, and try talking with someone else there ? Cody
Just PRAY that they turn it over to another CA and re-age it. Re-aging is a cardinal no-no under FCRA and YOU will be able to sue them for $1000 and collect. So you owe these clowns about $45? I wonder how they will like writing YOU a check for $1000. Some collections people look at the 7 years FCRA time limit as a |light sentence" and would really prefer an indefinite time limit - miss a bill and you wear the Scarlet Letter (A big red "D" for DEADBEAT) forever. Some, and I suspect this person is one, are so insecure that they take pleasure in telling you to drop dead, sorta as revenge for you not paying your bill. $crew 'em. Let them do their thing, be patient and you, too, can join the "I sued my creditor" club. At this time I have already sued my crediors and ex-creditors (and collected) more money than I ever owed them.
well i have heard this situation 2 ways... (did you post this at creditinfocenter.com? sounds familiar)... this is not meant to insult you, but have you tried debt validation? i know you said you've been at it for a year, but i just thought i would ask... don't worry about their lies... they can't report for 7 more anything... neither can the ca to whom they may transfer... all lies... they are just hoping you will fold and say 'screw it' because it's difinitive of their disposition as debt collectors, regardless of their pay off (be it $.15)... it's just those pea green colored glasses they wear. but back to the ca still reporting the negative... the way i see it (and i wear glasses too) the ca listing can remain on your report for the 7 years, because you did owe them the money... based on the idea that 'negative items can stay on your report for 7 years' so you may no longer owe that particular ca if they transfer it... but i don't think anyone will be quick to remove the item... i have had collections that have been transferred removed because they old ca could no longer verify (since they didn't have my info)... but the new ca will have the info (if it didn't get lost in the transfer...) so i don't know if this helps, but maybe you have gained insight... good luck to you, i am so close myself just 2 negs on 1 and 1 on another...
Yes, I have tried validation. They slipped with Trans Union & Experian, but Equifax seems to always get a validation. So, if AFNI sells the $45 account to another CA, the account will not re-age ? I would still however now have (2) collections accounts though huh ? I would pay them today, right now, if they would delete it. Since they wont, I would still pay today if I thought it would not re-start the 7 years again. So....To pay today, or not today...That is the question.... Cody
keep in mind the difference between validation and verification... VERIFICATION is something that you request the CRA to seek from the ca... (disputes) which i think is what you were referring to in the beginning of your last post... so you have this account with only one cra? VALIDATION is what you request from the ca directly... this is where you count violations, hope they can't validate, and create the paper trail to use as leverage for the hopefully negotiated deletion... no, it won't reage the account a negative item can only remain on your report for 7 years (blah blah blah) this is a trick that can be accidentally interpreted as 're aging' a mistake that isn't seen by the cra's... your best bet (in my opinion) is to get credit expert/manager offered by experian (can't remember if that is the one that still verifies) but the fall off date is listed for you and it's very easy to read...this way you can monitor whether or not it has been reaged... no one is going to move the earth for that $45 dollars, keep bothering them and threatening them and eventually they will fold.
They said, doesn't matter. If we turn it over to another collection agency it will be on for another 7 years from that time. Deputy ===================== This is a violation. THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """""""""```~~~```'"""""""""
but the new ca will have the info (if it didn't get lost in the transfer...) kbean ============== If the first one didn't have it why would the next one be any more likely to have it? THE END ** *** ** LB 59 """""""""```~~~```'"""""""""
A strategy I had planned - but didn't have to resort to - for a small paid collections was to start costing them more than things were worth to them. Collect phone calls, calls to their 800# (costs them not you), postage due mailings, whatever. I would call and have them look up the status of my account - but transpose a couple of digits (oops that darn dyslexia acting up again!) so they'd be running around trying to find out my info and keeping a person tied up as long as possible (they can't make money when they can't collect.) If they got used to my voice I'd have friends call. I'd call from different pay phones so they couldn't wise up to my number... The key was to have some mid to upper level supervisor's name so that everytime I spoke to someone I would close with "please give soandso the message I called." This ensures one's efforts don't just get lost in the noise of everyday activities. I was also going to throw in a nutcase letter or two for good measure. I'm almost sad I didn't get to try it out ;-( As you can see if niceness doesn't work, I have no problem resorting to a scorched earth, take no prisoners, nuclear nightmare policy. Just pray I never become President 'cause "French Toast" will have a whole new meaning ;-) Good luck. 0
