Don't know if anyone remembers me or been around since 2003, but I used to come here a lot trying to figure out how to get out of the jam I was in. Was laid off, could not find work for 7 months, and got so behind on credit card payments, etc ... that it got ridiculous and everything snowballed from there, they would increase the interest rate, tack on extra charges, and when those new charges and interest rates when tacked on that month sent the balance back over the credit limit -they would also tack on the over-the-limit fee as well ... that there seems illegal enough. I tried to fight them on that, but they told me if I wanted to avoid the over-the-limit fee, that I should send in a large enough payment to bring the balance down low enough so that any extra finance charges or higher rates will not send me back over the limit .. sounded like B.S. to me .... anyhow, I digress. The real issue I have is that I saw no other way out after a lengthy attempt and ended up filing Chap 7 in Feb 2004. Included in that were 3 Capital One credit card accounts. They had always shown since then as Included in Bankruptcy, unrated, closed, etc ... just like all the others .... now, all of a sudden, they have started reporting the accounts as 120, 120, and 90 days past due for the 3 accounts respectively. Two are showing Last Updated or Last Status as of 10/2006 ... which to me seems like they shouldn't be doing that. It shows most promimently on TransUnion and as expected, my TransUnion FICO is less than the other two. I did he online dispute (had first ordered my free annual reports through that official website - forget the actual address att ...) anyhow that link led me to the 3 bureaus and I ordered the reports ... Equifax and Experian appeared about as expected ... but TransUnion was showing these 3 Capital One accounts as now being currently 120 days past due! I did the online dispute that came with the online credit report ... and a couple weeks later it came back that TransUnion verified with Cap One that it was accurate. I sent another online dispute saying they are still wrong. Couple of days ago I got a letter from TransUnion saying that since they already verified the Cap One info as accurate that my dispute was frivilous and was not going to go any further. How can I sue Cap One and/or the Credit bureau's? I'm going to try and attach a Word document in which I have pasted some screenshot jpegs of some online reports I have pulled and highlighted the areas I'm talking about. Also, because of a bank in the past I had dealings with got some info stolen, I was sent notice about it and allowed to get the Chase Credit Alert service free for a year. I just today got an Alert Notice from them informing of new Negative Information ... and what it listed was that 2 of the Cap One accounts were reporting me as 120 days late! It said it was reported from TransUnion .. and I'm thinking that the Chase Credit Alert is owned by TransUnion - not sure though. Edit Below: P.S. Ok, how do I attach a file to this post? I clicked on that window below that says "Manage Attachments" and then used the Browse textbox and located the file on my PC and then clicked the Upload button .. it appeared to upload somewhere but I have no idea where ... how do I actually "attach" that file to this post?
What are your FICO scores? Can you show that these changes are both depressing your scores, and causing financial damage? Have other creditors recently raised your rates, reduced your credit limits, or notified you that they intend to do so? Have you recently been turned down for credit?
Ontrack is right here insofar as you must show some damage in order to successfully plead under the FCRA. Sounds as though you have liability established for Capital One & Trans Union (under Cushman) so you now need to establish damages (if you haven't already). Then, you would need to draft your Complaint under s-2b for Capital One and the various provisions applicable to the CRA's. You file this in Court (I recommend the trial level state court but I'm in the minority), attach your Summons, and have the clerk to either SOS process or send it to their registered agent in your state (I prefer SOS).
Thanks for the advice! Yes, my FICO is lower now than what is was several months ago ... even though it should be higher because I have been able to obtain 2 credit card accounts since about May of this year, and have charged about $600 on one and $300 on the other. the $300 charge I have paid down to zero already, and the $600 is down to about $150 or so and I have always pad more than the minimum and always before the due date. They have been reporting on my credit file for about 5 months now as positive. I got these back when my FICO's were around 620 EQI, 632 EXP and 639 TRANS ... or there abouts. I know these are low, but considering the way my credit history was the 9-12 months before Chap 7 and with the Chap 7 on there, I can accept these scores for now and have no reason to complain. It does seem though that they aren't recovering as fast as I thought, or that they have really SLOWED up in their recovery. I haven't applied for credit lately because I'm worried about being turned down because of the big dip that my TRANS FICO took. One of the current credit cards I have now (WAMU) provides a free FICO score from TransUnion. It took 3 months having the account before the scores started showing up, but for the last 3 months it was showing 601, 602, 602 ... I'm also worried because of the dip that WAMU may decide to cancel the account or raise my rates. I just pulled a recent report from Privacy Guard and the FICO numbers from that are 639 EQI, 634 EXP, 609 TRANS. Privacy Guard usually seems a little generous so I don't know how accurate this is. But, I do see that my TRANS FICO has dipped and I think because of the Cap One junk on there now ... so is that enough? Or do I need to go ahead and apply for credit and either get turned down or get a lower rate because of the TransUnion score .. and then use that to fight against them. Truth is, I really don't even care to sue anybody if I could just make them stop reporting as though I have currently or recently been 120 day late, 120 days late, and 90 days late respectively on those 3 Cap One accounts. Also, anyone know if I can post an attachment or Word doc? I have created a Word doc that includes some jpg screenshots of these reports. I would like for you to look them over and give your opinion. I need to get my daughter another used car, her old one quit running and I have a little saved up cash, but also want to get about $1,000 to $1,500 loan from the bank to help pay for a car (I have about $2,000 to spend and so am looking for a $2,500 to $3,500 car for her - yeah I know cheap ... but that is all this Single Father can manage att...) I also figure this would help establish some credit as well getting a small bank loan and paying it off correctly ... but like I said I'm afraid to apply because if I do and get turned down then there will be that Inquiry/Credit Applied for entry on my file and will most likely bump my scores down some more. P.S. Before Chap 7 when struggling with all the accounts, being out of work, etc ... my scores were around 585 to 599 for all three ... after filing Chap 7 they dipped as low as 480 and 509 and 520 or so I believe ... or maybe even in he high 300's ... I can't remember. I didn't even check again for about 6 months to a year, and when I did they were up to over 600, like around 618, 620, 610, etc .. or so ... I was amazed ... but since then ... they have practically stopped going up and even seem to fluctuate down and then back up a little ... yet I've not had any negative entries since the Chap 7 and even now have 2 new credit card accounts reporting positively for the last 4 or 5 months ... but FICO not going up .. so I'm confused ... and I still am making good payments on my car load to GMAC which was IIB but I kept paying so have been able to keep the car. ... and this also makes me think it is the way Cap One is now reporting those old accounts that are IIB that are killing me now. Again, thanks for all the help! P.S.S. And still have my house mortgage (which I didn't include) and have always paid that ... (But, it is only reporting to 1 bureau or maybe even none now ... it's hard to track cause it was sold and transferred several times ... is there a way to cause them to report to all 3 bureaus so that this recent good payment history will also show up?) I know I ramble a lot and ask a lot of questions, but I've been out of the game for so long because I knew after the Chap 7 that I was damaged badly and will be for a while ... but now that I've got 2 new accounts and seem to be consistently over 600 n my scores ... I'm starting to hope that I might be able to start "healing" my credit file and finding ways to bump it up.
You would need to go ahead and get declined for credit in order to be safe in terms of litigation. The problem is that it will be hard to get declined solely for the Capital One inaccuracy alone. With a BK, Capital One would have a compelling argument that they alone did not cause you damage. However, Capital One is, well, frankly, a rather easy mark as of late. They are typically good for 2.5k to 6k per case and their posture is to try and settle before even filing an answer. Please be advised that this may not be true in all jurisdictions. It sounds as though you don't really want to litigate and that's perfectly fine. If all you want is to get them to report accurately, consider filing a complaint with the Virginia Corporation Commission: Bureau of Financial Institutions, http://www.scc.virginia.gov/division/banking/index.htm. They hold Capital One's charter and a typically able to resolve this type of issue. If you want to go directly through Capital One, give me a PM and I will give you some contact I know in their legal departments.
Well, After 2 attempts at online dispute to TransUnion for the incorrect way Cap One was all of a sudden reporting as currently 90 and 120 days past due for something IIB back in Fed 2004 ... and get 1st reponse "they verified as correct" and 2nd response as me having " frivolous dispute" I sent a typed letter to them and demanded they use some common sense. I asked how in the world can THEY themselves be reporting that this account was IIB in Chap 7 back in Feb 2004 ... and yet also reporting the exact same account numbers as being 90 and 120 past due as of Sept and Oct ??? I said there is no reason for them to have even called Cap One in the first place to ask for verification ... that their own records could have told them the info was incorrect ... Anyhow, just checked thru Privacy Guard (haven't gone to the actual TransUnion site yet) and it's corrected in PG and my FICO for TU went from 601 or 602 ... can't remember now what I said, maybe it was around 609 or 612 .. but now it is showing 641 ... so I think that has helped ... it is back in range with EXP which is showing 639 ... but now Equifax is shafting me! They all of a sudden are showing a card that was also IIB back in Feb 2004 as now being currently in Charge Off status ... and then in remarks as Paid off but wa written off as a loss or sold to someone or Collection and Skip or something like that ... now my EQI score has dipped to 596 because of this. I believe all these CRA's are all banded together cause it seems that one or the other is getting something wrong which has the effect of bringing down my scores.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this but Capital One, and the less ethical card companies, can actually ruin your credit for you. Here’s what they do: You card limit is, say, $1000 for simplicity. The largest balance you’ve ever had on the card is $250. Your current balance is $200. Most cards companies would place your % of card balance at 20% ($200/$1000). Capital ones calculates your % of card balance at 80% ($200/$250) because it’s the “most you have allowed yourself”. The ONLY way to “fix” this is to at sometime have actually maxed out your card. Why do they do this? It makes your credit worse and therefore less attractive to OTHER card companies. What a wonderful way to keep a customer.
Cap One doesn't calculate the % of card balance, but since they only report high balance and current balance, FICO uses high balance in place of credit limit when no credit limit is provided. Knowing that, you respond accordingly. You run up the balance initially, such as by using a BT, possibly even the one associated with the opening offer. You then readjust your various balances as appropriate to minimize your cost of borrowing. In all cases, to diversify your lender risk, you don't want total debt to be near the limit on any card, or near the total limits across all your cards, and neither do your lenders, as indicated by how FICO scores your risk vs. your debt to available credit. Don't let stuff just happen. Know where you are, what you can afford, and manage your own finances so your lenders don't have to.
I would rather people actually NOT screw up things like Visa Signature cards (and Neiman Marcus) in their petty quest against Cap1. It's a solveable problem, so why stress over it?
Why stress over it? Here's why: I'm getting totally pissed with the whole Credit Card and Credit Bureau industry. I was telling you that Cap One is not reporting correctly on my TU report, as IIB and Not Rated, Closed, etc ... instead of of 90 and 120 days late. But Equifax in the same month starting have a past account that was also in the Chap 7 from Feb 2004 that has always reported correctly at IIB, now all of a sudden as reporting Charge Off, Paid off Collection for Less then Total Amount ... or something like that ... that it was sold or transferred and that this new agency collected on it, but for less than what was owed, and closed it out ... this just reporting on the Oct 2006 on my Equifax report even though it was showing correctly ever since around April of 2004. WTF!! Then, yesterday I finally received a hard copy from TransUnion and it showed the correct info for Cap One now, but now they are also showing a past credit card acount as a Collection, Settled for Less than what was Owed, Charged off and closed. WTF!! What do these 3 CRA's do, get in agreements with each other and with the credit card companies and once a consumer finds a mistake, disputes it, gets it corrected - that they then decide to screw something else up .... just to continually keep my scores down and my ratings bad and never allow me to "naturally" heal my credit past? WTF!! I knew it would be a long, hard road back after the Chap 7 but I was basically forced into it because of a job loss and because all these credit card companies refused to work with me or let me pay interest only for a while till I got another job ... and instead jacked up their late fees to like $49 and $59.. as well as the Over Limit fees and jack my rates up to 23%, 28%, and even 33% .... and in that some month that they jacked up the rate, the extra finance charges sent my balance over the limit .. then they hit me with a $49 or $59 Over the Limit fee ... ... and so when I expected to own around $55 or $65 for a payment that month instead it more was like $125 or more ... and EVERY card was doing this ... so not only would I have to pay $125 .. more than double what I expected ... but I would have to really pay about $185 or so just to pay the balance down far enough so that next month's finance charges didn't send me over the Limit again and incur yet another $49 or $59 Over Limit fee. They got me a couple times like this as well ... I told them I thought they couldn't charge me the Over the Limit fee if it was because of finance charges ... and they told me they could ... I told them it was not fair because they jacked the rate from 18% to 29% that same month without telling me and the extra finance charge sent me over ...they didn't care and basically told me they could do what they want ... So ... I struggled with this for over 9 to 12 months I believe ... paying more and more money to each of them every month ... yet the balances were never going down but actually going up every month ...even though I was paying more and not putting any new charges on there myself ... and it got to I couldn't pay off of them each month and tried that "Snow Ball" thing and threw lots of money to the highest interest or balance card and tried to get it down about half way and then do another (actually was paying on maybe 5 out of 7 each month) ... and miss a couple payments on about 2 accounts ... and then just keep rotating around trying to pay it all down ... ... and the whole time they kept jacking rates up and up and late fees and over limit fees up and up .... it was a dame sick game they were playing .... ... I would bet my life that with all the extra fees and charges that I paid over that 9-12 month period ... that I paid WAY OVER what I initially owed on the cards and what I charged up ... I bet I probably paid back about twice what was the orginal balances were when I first lost my job in 2003. Yet, the balances kept going up and up and there was just no way I could ever pay them down, CCCS and places like that would be of no help, they could not negotiate much better and my 9-12 months of late and missed payments would not be helped simply by going to a CCCS type of place ... and the credit card companies knew they were making it impossible for me to pay off these balances ... .. so in effect they forced me or gave me no other option but to file Chap 7. I hated it and knew it would effect me for a long time and it would be a slow road back ... ... but the SOB's are still after me by randomly reporting in-accurately to the various CRA's and rotating which past account is reporting wrongly, etc ... it has become a full time job just trying to keep up with who is screwing my at which CRA each month ... this is total B.S. and I'm getting exhausted. No wonder my score started at around 599 a couple of months after filing Chap 7 in Feb of 2004 ... and now almost 3 years later it is still just showing around 602 to 638 ... depending on which bureau it is. I never filed the house mortgage and have paid it like I should, filed the car but kept it and paid each month on it, have had no other debts or problems and even have had 2 credit cards since April and May of this year with $750 and $1500 limits respectively, chaged up about $350 and $550 on each respectively and always paid early and more than minimum and now the $750 card is paid to $0 balance and only have $75 balance on the $1500 card ... ... it seems when I should be increasing like crazy ... the past credit card companies and the CRA's are conspiring together and doing crap just to keep my report looking like shit and keeping my FICO down ... I'm SICK of this CRAP!
So in other words, Cap1 not reporting a credit limit had nothing to do with any of the above. Got it.
Most who have not tasted this food have no idea of the bitterness left in your mouth.The sheer fustration of battling "cust-non service" is well beyond "the twilight zone"..Its only a concept to those uneffected,to those who are entangled .....its a living nightmare. Ever wonder which mental institution is suppling the help?. "will work for bus fare out of town" ..............Humor helps you survive this ordeal.
FedUp I have the same situation going with Cap 1, and a IIB account that was discharged in 2001, and a 2nd Cap 1 account. I am still trying to figure out how to handle this situation, I will be monitoring your thread closely See My Previous Thread : http://consumers.creditnet.com/Discussions/credit-talk/t-please-help-bankruptcy-related-66778.html
Please note that this thread is almost a year old. I don't think there will be any updates. Why someone is bumping old threads with nonsensical statements is beyond me.
