The CA used my old last name. Should I continue to use that old name on my validation letter. I don't want to really give them my new name, then they'll easily find my phone number. If I don't use my current name, could that cause problems down the road?
Wow never thought of that - Excellent question, that needs to stay at the top until hashed out. Bump.
I'm very new so I may be wrong, but I had old addresses removed from EFX and TRU and then diputed over the phone some of my old accounts with a different name and they were deleted. Sorry that I don't have any experience with the CA's and letter writing. That's my next phase. Melissa
I am of the school that says don't give them any more information than they already have, so my vote would be to keep your old name in communication with them. You are not committing any fraud, so there is nothing to be afraid of on your end. If the CA really wants to find out your new name all they have to do is pull a CRA report and it will be there. It reminds me of when I lived in New York City, I had my telephone number listed under the last name of "Humperstumper". Whenever I got a call asking for Mr. Humperstumper I knew it was a telemarketer. You might consider asking the phone company to list your number under another name (sorry, Humperstumper is taken) so that you will (a) know that the CA will not find your phone number and (b) know when a telemarketer is calling.
And what if some poor soul is trying to find their long lost Humperstumper relative to see if they will donate a kidney???? LOL that was funny.
Thanks for the info. I guess your right. If they really started looking, they would realize that my has changed. I think I'll use the name they have. Do you want to hear something funny? (If I could even crack a smile over this - I would lol) After I opened the letter, I tried glueing it back closed and considered mailing it back with WRONG ADDRESS - DOES NOT LIVE HERE- written on it since the name was wrong. But then, you could tell the letter had been attempted to be resealed. I really wish this thing would just go away. It's so depressing.
Re: Re: CA used old last name? You (the original poster) are looking at this situation in the wrong way. It's not something to get depressed about - it's something to be EXCITED about. I am not aware ofa CA in the country that at some time or another does NOT violate the FCRA or FDCPA. This is an OPPORTUNITY to nail them at it and collect your $1000 from them. Here's my story in a nutshell: I had a business that netted me $100,000 a year. It was a personal service business. Inn 1997 I got seriously ill and almost died. By the time I wa sable to get back into my business, it was gone. my income had gone from $100K to ZERO in 4 months. None of my creditors would cut me any slack and give me the time I needed to get back on my feet. I had sterling credit befotre I became ill, and was forced in Bankruptcy afterwards by my creditors. In the years since I have filed so many suits against my ex-creditors for FCRA and FDCPA violations that I will have, by the end of this year, collected more in settlements and judgements against them for those violations than I owed them when they forced me into Bankruptcy. I WISH I had a bunch of CA's after me. At this point I'm reduced to suing for soft inquiries and non-permissible purpose Account Reviews.
Re: Re: CA used old last name? flyingifr, Your right, I shouldn't look at this mess as if it's the end of the world. I do thank you and everyone that has given advice, I feel so much more comfortable having some knowledge. Lucky for me I didn't throw a payment in the return envelope and send it off immediately. That's what I felt like doing because I was so scared that after 10 years they were looking for me. And, also because I just had my credit report pulled up and it actually was considered good-that's a first. And, thank you for sharing your story. I've typed up my validation letter and I think it looks pretty good. I'll wait a while longer just to make sure I haven't left anything out. I guess now I need to have my credit report sent to me to see if the CA have posted anything. OK, another question. This is going to show how LITTLE I know, but could someone please give me a break down on the credit score. I've seen several members post what looks like their score under their signature. Thanks again!!
Re: Re: CA used old last name? As a general rule: FICO under 600: Don't waste your time applying for credit, you won't get it except from a guy with a violin case on the corner who calls interest "vig" and who considers "Collateral" to be your kneecaps. Your credit is trash. Start some credit repair. Dispute every derog and see how many fall off by not verifying. FICO 600-625. You should qualify for some low end credit cards like Cap1. Take it easy and remember, you're still in credit-repair mode. At this point one aw-$hit will wipe out all the atta-boys in your credit file. FICO 625-675. Your credit is recovering and you should be able to dump Cap1 for some better cards that have lower interest rates and no fees. FICO 675-715. If you still have that Cap1 card and they haven't waived the fee and lowered the interest rate you are a fool. The upper-end cards (Citibank, Amex, etc) should be aggressively pursuing you. FICO 715+: Just sign here, it's yours.
Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? Come on, what "bad advice" did I give, dear? I am not giving advice, I am simply stating what I did to improve my scores. By the time I realized how deeply in debt I was, about 2 years had gone by. I simply made the decision not to pay my debts and to wait for my federally granted rights to have all the negative items deleted from my report. Yes, it took 4-5 years but those years went by so quickly. At the 6th year and 6 month mark, I began calling the CRA's to have items removed and, voila - they were gone! =) No pain, no tears, no nail-biting, no letter writing, no hand wringing. I simply let the law work for me and the law says 7 years, then delete. Sorry if you don't agree with that but it worked for me. *smooches*
Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? From what you have told us you did NOTHING to improve your scores. How on earth can you sit here and tell people to follow your lead? It is BAD advice! It seems that you are either too LAZY to take care of the things you need to regarding your credit or you had NO clue as to what to do. Either way you should NOT give advice to others because from the steps (or lack of) that you have used for your credit problems I find it hard to believe that your reports are not littered with collections, judgments etc...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? Exactly! I did nothing! I let the law work for me. What part of that don't you understand? Again, by the time realized how far into debt I was - I had a car repo and several credit cards maxed out - I realized I could not pay these debts if I wanted to - so I didn't. Do you follow me so far? I decided not to pay my debts. 9 years ago, I read an article on bad credit and I learned that the federal government gives us all a 2nd chance after 7 years. Our reports are wiped clean. So I decided to wait the 7 years (actually, by that time I only had about 4 years to wait) and not apply for any new credit (except for my car which I got at a very high subprime rate but which I have paid on time). At the end of 7 years, my record was wiped clean. If there were any judgments against me I know nothing about them. They are not on my reports. I did not "sit on my hands" all that time. I actually worked and paid my rent and lived a productive - albeit creditless, life. When I got my clean Equifax report, I immediately applied for a Cap 1 card which I received. I have since received 2 more prime cards which all carry a 0 balance. I have had the pleasure of watching my scores rise to the level they are at now. There was nothing for me to do in those 4 years but wait. I could have agreed to pay my debts but those terms would have extended me past the 7 year limit. What would be the point of that? I paid nothing and my credit is now clear. You want people to put themselves into more debt to pay off debts for the next 10 years when it isn't necessary. I'm sorry if you had to pay all your bills on time and I didn't and now my scores are better than yours. But that's the law. 7 years and that negative stuff is gone for good. I am proof of that. Please believe it because they aren't. *smooches*
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? If it such bad advice, why am I sitting here with great scores? Post your scores. *smooches*
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? How easy is that to LIE about? hmmmmm lets see I have....... EQ= 781 EX= 750 TU= 763 Oh my lord we have the EXACT same scores!!! It seems that our "Narrow minded" method here at CN really does work HURRAY!!! By the way you may wish to check out Georgeâ??s scores. He has NEVER had a negative tradeline in all of his credit life. So even IF your scores were true it really proves NOTHING!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? EQUIFAX 665-739---I ASSUME I WILL NEVER SEE 800+ How many ACCOUNTS, WHAT APPROX. TOTAL LIMITS and how long is the HISTORY for 781??? If it is 1-2 years, limits of $5,000 total and 2-3 accounts..THAT MEANS NOTHING!!! If it is $100,000+ 10+ accounts 10+ years IT MEANS SOMETHING...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? Assuming that you both had the same history then it would mean YOU are getting screwed by FICO! (if her scores are REAL)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CA used old last name? Yes, but how old is George? My credit is basically new. All my bad credit dropped off my report at around the same time. George has had credit for 28 years! There are a lot of factors that go into the FICO score. We don't know George's credit history. How many credit cards has George had? I only have 2 - in the last year or so. Both paid on time, never late and carrying zero balances from the day they were opened.
