First let me say thank you to all of you for your help! I've been relatively quiet on the board, but your posts have been extreemely informative and helpful! I canâ??t believe how much progress weâ??ve seen in just a few months. In February we were being sued by Amex over a recent CO and we figured out that we were going to have to relocate this summer. Both our scores were in the mid-to-high 500s and I couldnâ??t imagine how we would get a mortgage at a reasonable rate. Now our second round is coming to an end and we are running out of time before we have to apply for a mortgage. Looks like application will be in about two weeks! We are going for stated income, so we need our scores to be as high as possible! My PG Faco scores are EQ-682, EX-671 and TU-646. I know these can vary significantly from real scores, but given whatâ??s left on my reports, I think they are relatively accurate, i.e. within 15 or 20 points of the real scores. My wifeâ??s PG Faco scores are in the low 600s due to Amex CO with a balance still showing. Iâ??m not sure how close these are to her true scoresâ?¦ they are probably overstated! Anyway, we are looking for the highest bump in scores possible in the next few weeks: Here is whatâ??s showing and where we are at: Amex: CO was paid in a settlement about three weeks ago to avoid court. It is still reporting balances ranging from $5,835 to $6,264 on all three CRAs. Settlement did not include deletion, rather update to paid settlement. TU just reinserted this TL last week after deletion in March. It is still in reinvestigation with EQ and EX with a deadline of 5/18, but I donâ??t think weâ??ll get deletion. Clearly TU reinserted illegally. If they had verified for real, it would show a $0.00 balance! This pisses me off in a big way! What the heck do I do to get, at a minimum, an update showing paid/settled? Iâ??m threw hoping for deletion before we apply for a mortgage! Both our reports still show: 1) Two CCs, Bank One (was First USA) and First National Bank and with balances of apx. $8,200 each showing. Shell/Citi card with balance of $1,200 showing. Two auto loans with balances of $6,200 and $12,000 showing. These were all paid off two weeks ago. Any way to push through balance updates? 2) Bank One CC above is listed on TU as â??Cancelled by Credit Grantorâ? with an $8,200 balance. This account is open! Does this drag our score down by looking like a collection account? Is this why my TU Faco is lowest? 3) We have three stubborn lates showing on each of the CRAs for Bank One and Shell/Citi. I disputed these in the first round and I donâ??t think these are going to fall off in second round. I sent out goodwill letters to the CEOs of each on Friday. How long do goodwill letters take to show up if they works? Anything else we can do? 4) Bank One CC shows a new late for April on EQ. This is BSâ?¦ it was paid on-time! If I was still-a-flake (as opposed to Beenaflake) I would never have known this was paid on-time! Do I dispute with Bank One, or wait and see if the goodwill letter works. Additional Steps Weâ??ve Taken for Highest Possible Score Increases: 1) We took a $30,000 secured loan with our credit union last Tuesday. I will pay it off this week with the hope that, a) it will show up soon and b) that when it shows up it will show up paid to give us the highest possible bump! Does paying it to early run the risk of it never showing up at all? Any other thoughts or ideas that might push our scores up? Again, thanks for all your help and advice! Jim
Jim... it looks like you have a firm grasp on what you need to do and are doing it. Now you get to play the waiting game which is the worst part. I would call Bank One and have them update their records about the April 30-day. Usually I agree with letters for every occassion, but in this instance since you are looking for faster results I don't see why trying to get it straightened out on the phone could hurt. I would, however, tape the call for your records and then follow up with a letter that states "as we discussed in our phone call on May 11th, I am just reiterating that you have agreed to..." Waiting for credit card balances to update is killer. I dont' think there is anything to do to push them through faster, but there are wiser people than me on this board who might know better. I have to say, with paying down the amount of CC debt you did, I think you are looking at a nice score boost when they do come through. Good luck!
Thanks Shelly! Any thoughts on the Amex settlement update? Maybe send a verification to them, so at least they are forced to update? I dunno! At a loss on this one! And TU reinserting... That'll be a letter flying out on Monday! Unfortuately, it seems like I'm looking at waiting for the CCs to update! Any other ideas out there! I feel so close and yet so far!
Getting updates shouldn't be that difficult. Call the cc's and ask them to fax you a statement showing your current balance. If they ask, tell them it is for your mortgage broker. Then fax these statements to the cra's. Usually they will update within about 5 days. Same for Amex. If you have a settlement agreement in writing, fax it to the cra's.
Thanks LKH! Good advice! I'll get faxed statements from the CC Cos. and fax them to the CRAs! Not sure I want to send anything re. Amex that would verify this account to the CRAs. It's still in dispute and will be again! I guess I need to wait and see if Amex drops off in disputes. Then figure out next move to remove!
