I have a friend who has a good deal of collections. They range from accounts with from Cross Country Bank to Providian, Xact and International Check Service. I just submitted disputes online for those accounts and also from the inquiries on her report. She has quit a few, 20 something of them. I started with the earlier ones, all more than a year old, in hopes they will just likely delete them. Are there any methods and or suggestions you all would have for using in the dispute process. This is merely the beginning of the credit repair process for her and I would like to gain as much insight into doing this correctly as I can, because I have good credit and have never experienced how to deal with the collections. Should I also have her deal with validations, etc. She has some accounts that are in collections for around a hundred dollars and others close to 1000. Will those accounts with lower amounts come off more easily? Any and all information, as always, is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys and I know I can count on you all.
Also, I added her as an AU of my Citibank Dividend Platinum Select w/ the $5000 line in hopes this will report on her bureau and help raise her credit score somewhat. Will this help any, if at all? Also, I am considering adding her as an AU onto my Sears and Sears Mastercard. Do they report to the bureaus. I also talked to sears about adding her as a joint user, as I am assuming this will look even BETTER on her report because she would have full account privileges. I am not giving her any cards though, just letting my good payment history brush off a little. Sears told me if I added her as a joint account holder, they wouldn't even pull a bureau for either of us. All they would have to do is send out a letter for the both of us to sign along with our social security numbers. Insight from others into this will be helpful also. Thanks!
Matty, just a thought. I don't know this person so don't take this the wrong way. Suppose you did make her joint user. You say you aren't giving her a card. What is to stop her from calling Sears and saying my card cracked and I'd like to get another one? Could happen. I think I'd stick with the AU and no card.
She isn't that type of person. She is a very good friend of mine and just wants to get her credit back on track. Good insight though, maybe I will just consider doing the AU. Does Sears report the AU account and will this help the credit score for her because my account is in good shape and has never been late?
I have a lot of good credit history. 3 CA's and 1 120-day overdue CC tanked my TU score to mid 500's. Hopefully when these get resolved it will bounce back up. I would guess adding her would have neglible effect on her score until a lot of the bad stuff came off. Once you that is done, it might help speed the recovery process. As the other poster said, be careful though. Love is nice and all that but don't be blind. Your GF may have all good intentions right now but she has a long history - how do you know she is truly cured from CCitis? p.s. - I'm just a simple newbie so take anything I say with a shaker of salt.
Very true there. I don't really want to be placed in a situation where there is so much debt I can't repay it and run crying wolf to my parents. I think I will stick to AU's. I just thought the joint account thing would have more of a dramatic impact on the person's score than an AU would. Are there any other collection dispute tips or advice? Thanks. -Matty
don't let love blind you. This type of thing almost always turns out bad. It rarely even works with family members. I say don't co-sign or add anyone as an AU w/card unless you are 100% prepared to pay for whoever/whatever it is you are co-signing/AU'ing on when the person decides to screw you. hehe that made sense before I typed it.
Yes, I totally understand that. Also, this lady is not my girlfriend. She is 33 years old and I met her a few years back and I practically look up to her as a mother figure. I am at her house a lot and just go to her for advice on many life situtions I'm not willing to discuss with my parents. Also, I'm NOT having sex with her, she's married and has 2 kids, who are wonderful, and I love it that they look up to me. It gives me a little insight into what being a father will someday be like. Anyhow, back to credit, I will likely add her as an AU to the accounts, because you all have made some good points here. Secondly, no one has really responded as to how I could best go about helping her dispute and hopefully have some collections removed from the credit reports. She has some knowledge of the credit system, but not as much as I do, which I gratefully thank this board for giving me! If anyone has any more advice on how to attack the sitution, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
