First of all, I'm a newbie to this forum and have read many, many threads on this board and on creditboards and the myfico forums for help on rebuilding my credit. Please be kind as it is my first post, but I think I'm at a point now where I can ask more educated questions on my personal strategy. ALOT of details follow below and I thank you all in advance for any guidance. Here's my situation: 1. I was sued by a CA and OC in 9/2009 with differing results even with a lawyer. The CA case was dismissed with prejudice and the OC case we filed a 'stipulation' to settle (but didn't ask for anything having to do with my CR). Further, the CA case was for an OC that shows as a transferred charge-off, while the CA shows a current balance with TU. My lawyer hasn't given me copies of any of the paperwork filed in court or received from the plaintiffs. 2. My car was repo'd in 6/2008 but I got it back within 5 days and still pay on it after having had a few more late pays very early this year. 3. I settled with Amex on the advice of my lawyer after they sent me an offer to settle for 30% of balance over 2 years. This appears as a charge-off on all 3 CRs with a balance and past due amt. The TU DOLA of 4/2008 differs from the EQ DOFD 10/2007 and EXP "Past due as of 10/2007". Was it re-aged on the TU CR? 4. I have 4 more collections on my CRs, 2 of which relate (as far as I can tell) to 2 of the OC accts mentioned immediately below. 5. Besides the OC acct mentioned in #1 above, I have 3 recent OC accounts that show as charge-offs that were purchased/transferred (Best Buy HSBC, HSBC, and Beneficial Natl Bank). I don't recognize the Beneficial acct on the TU CR but it looks like the Best Buy HSBC dates/amounts from the EX/EQ CRs. 6. There are also 5 unauthorized hard inquiries from 8/2008 - 4/2009. 7. Personal data errors: outdated employers, 3 incorrect & several outdated addresses, and a couple incorrect name entries. Note: All of the revolving accts above are well within the SOL for my state and those that were sold/transferred have a past due amt=0. ************************************ So, I'm quite confused on where to start. (My goal is to be able to buy my first home but I currently have a middle score of 575 with Experian.) A. I've read that Personal Data errors should be disputed first and that even all but the earliest and most current addresses should be disputed. Any thoughts on this? Should these be done via the online dispute process or do these still require the CMRRR (I would always use CMRRR with a CA or OC)? It seems like it would take a long time if I disputed these separately and waited to do these before I disputed anything else. B. It seems I should have copies of all of the docs filed/received in my court cases. Can I use the dismissal documentation to delete the CA listing on my CRs? Can it do anything for the OC listing from whom that CA got the acct? C. Currently I don't have enough $$$ to PFD or PIF, where should I focus my energies since my baddies are all recent and w/in the SOL? Again, many thanks for any help/guidance offered.
Any help out there? Should I break this up? Anyone have a tip on how to get a response or am I just totally off-base with my questions? Waiting for some advice before I make my first move. :-\
Welcome to the forum. You may want to try breaking up your questions into some shorter posts. Then, hopefully you'll receive a better response from the forum to all your inquiries. To start out, I would personally stay away from the online disputes and stick to CMRRR. And I think it's always a good idea to address any incorrect personal information with the CRAs before tackling the negs that are really hurting your credit score. Yes, it will take some time, but that should be expected when you begin this process. Unfortunately, nothing will happen fast.
