we currently have 5 major cc in CCCS. We are and have been paying all on time for 18 mo. now. They all have lots of lates from '99-'01. They all add up to about $35K still. How do you get the lates off since the accounts are still active (Closed but still being paid off)? We've done the letters to bureaus and to the CC but nothing much changed. I'm afraid to keep doing the letters will put a "TransHawk" alert in our file. Also, we had an account with Kaufmanns (dept store card) that had 21x 90days. We paid it in full and then tried to get the lates off with the same letter writing but to no avail. I had agreements for lower payments during those bad times but they never informed me that it wouldn't help my credit. I told them that was the whole reason for negotiating the lower payments! We are finally coming out of our bad time with steady increasing income. But our scores are around 585 with all 3 bureaus. I'd like to pursue getting the lates off without further damaging our record with HAWK alerts...anybody have any suggestions???
Well, there's only two options-ask the ccc to delete the lates (do a search for 'goodwill letter' on this board) or dispute the lates with the CRAs. I have never heard of any other options. As with hawk alert, and similar flags, wait a while in between disputes, make sure you give a defined dispute reason (never late, not mine, wrong date). You should not have a problem. This is my opinion, I am sure some more experienced creditnetters have some good advice too.
Thanks Queen Bee! My cut and paste fingers have been flying with the "GoodWill letter", "nutcase" letters etc. There is so much good info. here. I can't believe it took me this long to find this site! Thanks again!
Goodwill letter: Date Name of Old Fully-Paid Acquaintance Address City, STATE ZIP To Whom It May Concern: I am formally requesting that you validate all tradeline notations you have submitted to the three major credit reporting agencies by â??NAME OF COLLECTION AGENCYâ? or â??NAME OF ORIGINAL CREDITORâ? for me, YOUR NAME, for account number XXXXXXXXX. Due to possible inaccuracies in these CRA reports, I must demand that the validation I hereby lawfully request be in the form of a notarized statement by a person with original knowledge of the debt as it was constituted and who can testify that the debt was incurred legally, was not subsequently disputed as a result of returned, faulty, or recalled consumer products, was not utilized as a profit-loss tax deduction during the period it may have been payable, and was not claimed as a loss with any insuring entity during the period it may have been payable. Please be advised that I am not requesting a verification that you have my mailing address; rather, I am requesting validation, i.e., competent evidence that I had some contractual obligation sans consumer protection encumbrance which incurred the original claims associated with this tradeline. I have enclosed two documents which will verify my address: a photocopy of a [YOUR STATE] Driverâ??s License and a photocopy of a recent [NAME OF UTILITY OR TELEPHONE COMPANY] statement. Please know that you have 30 days from the tracked and confirmed delivery of this lawful notice to either answer these demands or to remove the associated negative tradeline notations from the CRA reports. Any other action may constitute evidence of your intent to abridge one or more civil or other constitutional rights. Please be further advised that continued unsubstantiated reporting of possible inaccuracies to third parties may provide a basis for criminal complaints being filed in accordance with FDCPA, FCRA, and other federal statutes. I look forward to a timely and amicable resolution to this matter. Sincerely yours, Your Name Address City, STATE ZIP
QUEEN_BEE, that was not the Goodwill Letter. You posted the Nutcase Letter. Goodwill Letter: http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=125035#post125035 Doc
Nope Andrew...I was a Syracusean (sp?). Yeah, Kaufmanns is definitely regional. For those of you who've never heard of them, they are owned by the May company...Hechts, Lord and Taylor, Filene's, Strawbridges, etc. I probably should have negotiated the lates (21x 120 days) before I paid them. Perhaps I'll go right for Doc's nutcase letter. I've done my own version of the Goodwill and gotten nowhere. Invaluable stuff here guys...my eyes are about to fall out of my head but I LOVE getting smart about this stuff!!!! Thanks again all.
