Hammer or velvet--- A quandary

Consider all these items before I ask the question:

-Item: The last derogatory item on my TU report is a six year old paid collection from Macy's.

-Item: According to javan, Macy's responds well to a goodwill letter.

-Item: Macy's placed an unauthorized hard inquiry on my Experian CR in March 2002. I have had no interations with Macy's for years and certainly don't want an account from them.

-Item: I sent a rather menacing letter demanding they delete the unauthorized inquiry after it came back verified upon disputing.

-Item: I received a letter in the mail today in acknowledgement of my letter to them. The acknowledgement is dated June 24, 2002.

-Item: The inquiry does not show up as in dispute on my CreditExpert/ Experian report as of this morning.

So, I've got them dead to rights on three violations of the FCRA; the unathorized inquiry itself; the verification of that inquiry; and the fact that they have not instructed Experian to place the inquiry "In Dispute".

Opinions Please!! Try it nice? Roast them? One then the other if necessary? Something I missed? If any of you have posted or know of any letter that has been posted that might serve as a starting point for a letter, please provide links or enough clues (author, subject, etc.) that I can find it.

Thanks in advance!

 

It's been six months or more since I've done any kind of disputing on that account. And remember, that tradeline is on TU. The inquiry showed up purely at random on EX. I did absolutely nothing to prompt it. I see this as an opportunity to use their FCRA violations over a minor issue (the inquiry on EX) to prompt removal of a major issue (the paid collection on TU).

 

I wonder what she meant by that? LOL

Thanks for the feedback everyone, and especially for the bayhouse link javan. I'll get started in the morning.

 

Well, after messing with the wording for too long, I finally sent out (via e-mail) what I affectionately refer to as The Raving Lunatic Cousin of Nutcase letters. Macy's BTW, absolutely shot me down on the goodwill letter. I guess that only works if you are still a customer of theirs. Maybe I've been bit by the UYGF. Who knows...

I'm taking a gamble in a number of ways, I realize. I sent the letter in pdf format via e-mail (Got the electronic Return Receipts). And I'm not suing, though clearly I could. It's all about time. I don't have the time to spare from work and I am running out of time before the mortgage process starts. Since my scores have alreay reached the "Good Enough, but not great" stage (mid-600's these days), I am told by the loan guy that I can already qualify for the loan. Now I'm going for a safety margin. So, if I can knock them out quickly with my letter, which is a conglomeration of Nutcase, Knockout, and Intent To Sue Letters with some specific details thrown in, then it's a big help. If it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world. But I don't have time to let it play out it's normal course. The third big chance I took, was that I did all this fully clothed ;o), which seems to be against the trend here lately.

Wish Me Luck!

 

You're right of course. But, both companies did have the courtesy to reply as such and stated that if i would simply copy and paste the letter into the body of the e-mail, they would proceed. I did, and they both replied, acknowledging receipt and that investigation had begun. I'll go ahead and send paper back-ups just to be sure.

 

Well, I sent out the CRR's as I said. I haven't received the CRR cards yet. In today's mail I got a statement ( not really a statement, but not really a letter) from Chevron dated 7.10.02; the date of the original e-mail with pdf attached. It goes like this:

July 10,2002
.
Quixote
Quixote's former address
Quixote's City, CA 925XX
.
Account Number: XXXXXXXXXX


As requested, current credit information for the above referenced account number is given below:
.
Status Date: July 10,2002
Date Opened: 09/14/1998
Terms: Revolving
Balance: .00
Months Reviewed: N/A
Payment Experience: Closed Account
................................Paid 07/01
................................Delete Prior colltn/ charge off status

Should you have any further questions concerning this matter, blah, blah, blah...
.
.
.
<Hand Signed>
Recovery Operations

If that means what I think it means, then two of my three CR's are now (or soon will be) spotless. I'd call that a victory for the good guys, wouldn't you? The first documented victory for The E-Mailed Nutcase Approach! It's still on my CR's as of this morning. I'm thinking I'll fax this to EQ and EX Monday morning. I assume if I run a search around here I can find those numbers.

If it doesn't drop off quickly, and since we're going for the mortgage on 1August, I'm thinking this may be a candidate for that Rapid Rescoring Service I read about in another thread recently. Any thoughts?

 

A little bit bigger crowd around today, so I thought I'd bump this back up. Kind of interesting. At least to me.

BTW, as soon as I see the actual change in my CR's I'll post more specifics. You know how it is...

 

So I checked my Experian report this morning. Score is up 40 points!!! It now stands at 687. Next to Chevron it says "Paid/ Never Late". Hoowaahh! ZERo derogatories on EXPErian. I'll renew my EQ/CW membership later and get that score updated as well. So, e-nutcase worked! At least with Chevron.

The only "negative" on EX now is the fact that my Citi MC listing does not show a CL. So, my available credit says $0. Workin' on that. My only truly derogatory listing left is Macy's on TU. Working on that too...

 

Originally I was doing this to get a little extra cushion. Plan is to start mortgage process next week. I did it electronically on the chance that it might speed things up, which it obviously did big time. Turns out it was doubly important since I'm probably going to have to go with a low or no doc loan now, since I was laid off yesterday (I've got to stop doing that- these dang underfunded technology startups have a bad habit of going Poof!). I'm already well down the road to an offer with two different companies, so I'll live, but less than a week on a new job at time of app means I won't have a lot of paperwork (pay stubs, etc) to show. The new and improved scores are a godsend.

BTW, the loan we were going for was a non-neg adjustable at 4.75%. Stated income should be bit higher, not sure how much yet.

As Roseanna Roseannadanna said many a time, "It's always something."