Hello everyone! Thanks for providing such an awesome site. I am brand new here and have never posted on any forum ever before. I have been reading up on credit repair here and have definitely learned a lot but I am still very shaky and unsure of how to start my credit repair strategy. I am continuing to read up but would like to get started on something if possible. I have a number of questions and any answers are greatly appreciated! In a nut shell, i got my first 2 credit cards only a few years ago. I have one 30 day late on one (capital one) and another two 30 day lates on another card (HSBC). HSBC closed this account and it shows as closed by credit grantor on my reports. In addition I have a collections entry from National Recovery Agency for 299 dollars (the original creditor was water and power). This entry is 2 years old. I also have one capital one card that I opened this year that has a positive status. I guess my question is, is it correct to assume that I should start with the collection agency entry (they no longer call me)? And also should I write to the collection agency or the Credit Bureau? Do i need to correct old addresses first before I start (I'm a bit worried about this because I just got a new license with my old address still on it)? I would like to start asap as I have been unable to get any credit for some time now. Thank you so much!
As simply as possible. When a company assigns an account to a CA, the company will more than likely stop calling you, BUT you can, and more than likely WILL receive calls from that CA. It's good to in most cases contact the CA and CRA, but in a specific order. Now, the caveat is that you'll have the most protections when your communication is within 30 days of their initial communication, because the law says that THEN they must cease collection activity, until they provide you validation of the debt. So, in as basic terms, I would normally (if I were starting out), send via certified mail or FAX to the CA a letter that simply says "I don't know what you're talking about." The day that the CA receives this would be DAY 0. On DAY 1, I would send to the CRA via certified mail or FAX a letter saying that you dispute the trade line being reported by XYZ Co, for whatever reason. On some day between day 1 and 31, you should receive something from the CA saying "This is what this account is about, attached is the information we received from the original creditor." IF that doesn't happen, you SHOULD receive a letter from the CRA saying "XYZ Co deleted the trade line that you disputed." You don't want to provide them either the CRA or CA with documentation EVER, unless you can avoid it. So keep your license in your pocket, even when they ask for it.
awesome! thank you sooo much. I am going to get started. My one last thing to clear up is: Im not sure if the collection agency which reported on my report is still the same collection agency that was trying to collect the debt. I never received a notice in the mail from the most recent collection agency so had nothing in writing about the debt which they were trying to collect. so, if the one that is on my report has since sold the debt. . .can i still send them the letter asking for validation? once again thank you so much.
