Well, I've been sort of in hiding for a month or so (not posting, not even lurking), but I thought I'd share my results from my first round of validation/disputes: Experian - 5 deletions Equifax - 6 deletions and, drum-roll please Transunion - 15, yes 15 deletions We're talking entire accounts here! I'm so excited I can't stand myself! I've got quite a bit of work to do on Exp and Eq, but on TU all I have left are my student loans (which are being consolodated and should change to positive accounts next month) and one account each with BofA and JC Penney. Both of those have been paid, but are reporting as unpaid on TU (but paid on other CR, go figure). I haven't checked my scores yet, I'm waiting for my student loans to be updated, but I'm hoping at least TU will be a HUGE improvement. Oh, and for anyone in SoCal, one of my co-workers (who's on vacation right now, lucky girl!) just refinanced her house at 4.8% for a 15 year fixed... with a 618 middle FICO!!! All she had to pay out of pocket was the appraisal. She's bringing me the info on her broker on Monday, so if anyone is interested let me know, and I'll pass the info along!
Congratulations on your first round activity. I can't wait to get started myself, I should receive my CRs some this week.
Good luck to you "born". I hope you like organizing, writing and reading!!! It can get pretty overwhelming (at least it was for me). I knew my credit was crap, but had never really took a long hard look at what was on there until January of this year. Knowledge is power!
That is amazing, i guess that kinda of throw's a curve to those people that say only do about 4 disputes per angency at one time. Good job, just out of curiosity what tactics did you use???? If you would rather not post them on the board i understand. Maybe ou can let me know privatley. Either way let me know. Thanks
t_sims, I don't mind sharing with the board, that's what its here for! If it wasn't for reading other people's posts I wouldn't have what success I have had so far. If you would like to see my letters, let me know, I'll be happy to e-mail them to you. So here's my tactic: I have no patience. And with 15-20 negatives on my reports, I knew I wouldn't be able to wait it out long enough to do only 4-5 disputes at a time. Having worked for a huge company (in customer service), I was pretty confident that the chances of the same person at each CRA getting all of my disputes is virtually none, and many computer generated warnings get ignored by the average CSR, so I decided to dispute/validate EVERYTHING. I modified a validation letter to my situation and each CA, and both faxed and mailed it. I created a modified psuedo-validation letter citing the FCBA and FCRA to send to each OC. After these were out about a week, then I disputed everything online with each CRA. I've kept track of the responses from each CA and OC so I can keep proof of violations. On Monday I sent out 30 day ITS letters to each CA and OC that haven't fulfilled, or even attempted to fulfill their legal responsibilities. And I fully intend to take these things to small claims court if need be, so I'm not playing a bluffing game. I've been on both the giving and receiving end of a small claims suit several times before, so I'm comfortable with the level of proof that I've amassed. None of my listings were over $2000 (most under $1k), so I'm guessing few of these creditors are going to pay a lawyer to defend such a small amount, especially when they have several clear violations. Its a gamble, but I'm willing to take it. Have I disputed debts that I knew were mine? Absolutely. Have I gotten legitamate debts removed from my reports? Yup. I have no scruples. I know this and I'm not afraid to admit it. For me this is not about being morally upstanding. This is all about getting my credit in shape so I can buy a house where my daughter can ride her bike and have a swingset. Period. Hope this helps!
Kismet, My email is on. Mortgage info would be helpful. Congrats on the first round. My first round was the easiest. The others are a dog fight.
Bigmon - I'll give you the mortgage info as soon as I get it. AtlantaGA & Beenaflake - I'll definitely post my letters this evening. I'm at work right now and don't have them on this PC.
AtlantaGA and Beenaflake - After reviewing my arsenal, I have 7 letters for different situations. I am more than happy to share with anyone who wants, but I think it would be irritating to post 7 letters on the board. If you are interested in recieving them, please e-mail me at a_hyperbole@hotmail.com Here is a list of the genre's of letters I edited/wrote: Inital contact letters: 1. General CA validation 2. General OC FCBA "validation" 3. If an OC is reporting accurate (paid) info on one report, but inaccurate on the others. Follow up letters: 1. If the CA never responds 2. If the OC never responds 3. If the OC in situation 3 responds with "We're reporting correctly" 4. If the OC responds with a "Fraud Alert" information form (this happened three times, so I figured I'd better come up with a letter for it) 5. If the CA responds with bogus validation (print out, etc.) Let me know if any of these are of interest. Also, if you want some letters, please let me know how many is safe to attach to one e-mail. If you have a dial-up, I don't want to bomb your e-mail! Tre, I just e-mailed you some similar info...
Just wanted to let everyone who e-mailed me know that I just finished sending letters to those who requested them. Happy reading!
Doc, I don't know if I got your e-mail or not. I've responded to everyone who's written, so if you don't have a message from me, I didn't get yours. Thanks!
I just emailed the request minutes ago. (Don't go to any trouble if it's inconvenient in the least.) Doc
Combined 1st round results for the wife and me: Equifax: 21 deletions and/or positive status changes Experian: 7 deletions TU: Just starting with them. Has anyone had any success faxing disputes to the CRAs?
