This is my first post and I'm really lost. I've done a bit of reading through the FAQ's, the letters, some of the posts - but I really need some direction. I promise to try and be as brief as possible yet provide you with the essential details. Any advise is greatly appreciated for you see, until tonight, I didn't realize that we had recourse out of this nightmare. 1993 - 1998 We resided in CA. 1998 - 2001 We resided in IN. 2001 - present, We resided in MI. Good credit until 1995 when we were affected by seveal employers going BK themselves. Then oldest child had many medical issues that while we did have insurance, the companies messed up the billing - giving over to CAs and then landing on our credit report. Not having the faintest idea what to do, we filed for BK 2x -- never completing either (we wanted to try and pay off our debts.) In 2000 we filed for BK and was discharged in 2001. While in Michigan, we purchased 2 vehicles and paid them off in 2 years. (one was about 13K and the other 10K). Our delima ... We want to buy a house. My DH's credit scores are as follows: (only he has an income) EFX: 591 / TU 0 / TRW 503 On the credit report, it does not show the vehicles we bought and paid off (in good standing too!). It shows the 2 BK's we retracted - can we get those removed? It shows a judgement that was paid and included on our BK - before they ever got the judgement. Can we have this removed? It shows that we have an outstanding balance from our previous mortgage (which was on the BK, not reaffirmed - but took them a year to process it). We have a letter from the ML stating that we don't owe the stated balance on the judgement. Because it was part of the BK, can we have the judgement removed entirely? There are multiple (3) "unknown lien" that were included on our BK - but show up several time with a $1.00 varience. I have no idea what to do about this. The judgement on the foreclosure and the paid debt that was also covered on the bk but still shows up on the credit report as a judgement both show up several times for the same amt. Why? Can this be changed? Same with the 2 eronious and 1 valid BKs. There are several balance owed items that were reported back in 2002/2003 (from CA) that were on the BK. There is also accounts that were opened & reported back in 1998 still showing up and were also on the BK. The mortgage that we had is not only showing up as a judgement, but also as a regular debt stating a balance. There is some that we know what to do about - like 2 that we don't know -- not ours and one that was a medical bill of our adult son's... but he's on our insurance and I've already disputed these. Then there are some non-balance things that go back as far as 1994 (again from CA) In my reading, I read something on not paying "collections"... and something about even when you pay, it stays on, which we have a situtation with a few of those also. My last issue that really gripes me is this one: We filed our taxes in Mar/April of this year and got $ back. We used H&R and took their Peace of Mind Guar. on a fluke. Well they or the IRS messed something up and we were over paid by $400. We did the 2 day turn around so the bank that issued it contacted us and told us we had about a week to pay it back OR ELSE. We contacted H&R and it was covered under the guarentee and we notified the "bank" that had issued the refund that H&R would be paying them. Beyond the fact that they harrassed us on the average of 2x day, they turned it into the CRA's as derogitory credit. H&R has now paid them (last week) and we're STILL getting calls. Here nor there, how ever do we get this off our CR? They (this "bank") stated that they would "fix it" once payment was posted. As you can see, I'm so overwhelmed and don't know what I can and can't dispute - we really need to get a loan to buy a new home (we have 4 children and are newly licensed to be fosterparents and need a larger house). We need to do this FAST and I'm encouranged to find this site, but saddened too to know that this could have been fixed long ago - at least from what I've read. Heck, I've seen some postings where their scores went up much faster after a BK and ours are still lagging. Please.... I'm sorry for the length but I really need direction. Thank you!
Hi there - I am not an expert so can only provide you with general suggestions. First, contact all 3 CRAs and have all your previous addresses removed, leaving only your present addy. When that has been done, begin disputing tradelines with all three CRAS. It sounds like you have a lot of misreporting going on, and much of it will probably fall off fairly easily. If you still have misreported items after a round of dispute, post back the specifics here and the gurus will be able to help. Once you get the tradelines deleted, it's time to start working on the BKs. Check ALL the details of the BKs on your report - if anything is incorrect - the amount owed, date of discharge, ANYTHING, dispute it as not mine. Just keep trying - apparently those are harder to address and you've got 3 of them to worry about. As for the HR block/IRS issue, that sounds like it will be a more difficult matter. The bank that issued your refund is not bound by your agreement with HR Block (unless it is owend by HR Block). Menaing YOU are responsbile for repayment, as the loan was in your name, and they don't care where the money comes from. You could try begging and pleading with them to take the item off your reports - if they do a lot of business with HR they might do so as a courtesy. you should check the terms of HR's guarantee carefully - is there a time limit in which they are requried to cover any mistakes? did they not meet the agreement in any way? If they did not move as quickly as they were supposed to, you might have grounds for some action against them. Otherwise you'll have to try to get it removed by disputing with the CRAs. Good luck to you Poochie
Also, you should contact the lenders for your good auto tradelines ans ask them to report the loans to the CRAs. And you may have a claim against the firm that got a judgement against you while in BK - I believe this violates the automatic stay issued during a BK. You should contact your attorney if possible to get him to issue a letter. Otherwise you could dispute it and if that fails, and ITS letter might be in order, but someone here who knows more would have to give you the specifics.
Poochie -- Thank you for your reply. I'll send a request now (is online ok?) to update the address and employer information. I've spoken with the auto dealership and they stated that it was reported on May 21 ... but I couldn't get a straight answer if it was to all CRAs or just one. They were vague on that one. If they don't, do you know if I can send it in myself or do I need to request that the CRAs obtain it? Thanks again for your information! Shanyl
I'm bumping this to see if anyone else has any further advise plus to ask about the tradelines? I'm looking at a report that was pulled by a potential mortgage lender and they grabbed info from all three CRAs, but I don't see the tradelines that everyone is talking about. Would it be just the basic info at top or is there suppose to be one listed in each creditor's section? Thanks! Shanyl
A tradeline is an account that's listed on your credit report. It can be a credit card, a mortgage, an auto loan, or an installment loan. But each of these accounts is called a tradeline. I really don't know anything about bankruptcy and accounts that have been reported in bankruptcy, so I don't know how much I can help you. As for the tax issue, try to get the check number or some proof that HR Block has paid the bank. Then call the bank and very nicely ask them if they can take it off your credit, since HR Block has admitted that it was their mistake, and I believe they guarantee it. Try to get something in writing from Block as well. Then dispute it with the credit bureaus and maybe the bank, since they've been paid, won't verify. Then it will be removed. That's one reason I do my own taxes and wait for them to send me the refund. This year was very interesting. I filed a handwritten form and still had both refunds, state and federal, back within three weeks. The state only took about 10 days.
Thank you Hedwig! Well that would explain why I don't have any tradelines because the only creditor with which I established credit with after the BK doesn't report. (Well they didn't but I've asked them to and they stated they did on May 21). I have a few collections due to income being cut - and I'm working on those. If no tradelines, then I can't dispute them as not mine? Collection accounts don't have tradeline correct? Sigh. As to the tax people (like you, I've done all of ours in the past which is exactly why I took the peace of mind guarantee -- I was nervous) they've cashed the check and now I'll call them and see if they will correct it. Shanyl
Actually, collection accounts are also tradelines. Anything that reports credit--in this case, adverse credit, is a tradeline. If you dispute as not mine, you may get them deleted. I don't know if that will help much, since you don't have any older accounts for your history. But you can try.
