OK, I'm trying to raise my credit score but I don't know where to begin. This is LONG but I've numbered the questions so if you just want to respond to one questions and ignore the rest or only answer a few, any help is appreciated. Just list the number in your response and I'll check back to see what it's corresponding too, Thanks!! So, I have two accounts to the same collection agency that we paid off at different times last year. I'm looking at all 3 of my credit reports and only one account shows a zero balance on only one bureau, another one it is just blank and then the final bureau doesn't even show the account. So Question #1 is a blank balance the same as a zero balance? However one report under Payment Status it says "Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department" and the other says "Collection Account". According to the collection agency who I just got off the phone with the status should say paid in full. On this particular account we did not settle, we did pay the full amount we owed. Question # 2- Should I be writing the bureaus to have this changed?? And is there a way I can call them instead of waiting for snail mail? I'm a stay at home mom right now, I have no problem calling everyday to be the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, I just want to raise my credit score which has been tanked!(524, 530, & 544 depending on the bureau). Also, this account began showing the hated red KD boxes on the experian report ever since february, even though we paid the account off last September. Question #3- What can I do to have this fixed?? On to the second account. All three bureaus list the account balance as the balance we settled for. The collection agency says it was a settlement however, it was not lowered until we sent in our copy of the leasing agreement that showed some information they were given from the apartment complex differed from ours, and we shouldn't have been being charged what they were trying to charge us. So according to the collection agency, who I just got off the phone with, the account should have a $0 balance and the payment status should say paid in full. The person in charge of our accounts said that the information they updated in December when we made our last payment would not list anything about a settlement or what the original amount they were trying to receive was. So, Question #4- Again should I write(or call, or email or w/e) the bureaus requesting this balance to be corrected to $0 and the payment status changed to Paid in Full ( It currently reads the same for the two bureaus mentioned along with the first account. The third bureau lists it as Unpaid!!! It's been paid for almost 6 months now!) Also, this account has on the Experian report quite a few KD blocks as well as ND blocks, including after we had the agency off in December. Again I asked the representative at the agency and she said this would be due to the fact that the bureau had not updated the account to paid in full. Question #5- Is this true? How can I have this corrected? They show up even during the months we had an agreed upon payment arrangement and were making the monthly payments. Continuing on, On my very first credit card, like a lot of dumb kids at 18 I charged it up and had it closed on me. I ended up paying it all off and have all OK boxes except one 60 day box back in 2008. Question #6- Should I give a "goodwill" letter a shot and see if the bank would take that off? Or can they take it off now? Would this help improve my score at all or is it not worth the time? Everything else shows up fine, $0 balance, paid in full, closed etc on all three bureaus. Finally I have two accounts, one with TXU and one with Verizon that say Paid, charge-off. Question #7- What does that mean? Is that hurting my score? The Verizon one on Experian has two KD boxes for Feb and Mar of 2009 and then an OK box for April 2009 and nothing after. Equifax shows OK boxes since Mar 2008 til Feb 09 and then nothing. For TXU it has one KD box from Experian for April 2010 and then OK boxes from Equifax from July 2008- Mar 2010. Question #8- What can I do about these accounts to improve my score?? Oh and one last question(#9), I have a few federal student loans that end up getting passed around from bank to bank and the old banks are still listed on my credit reports with notes saying the account was transferred. Is this hurting my score??
Welcome to Creditnet! 1,2,& 3.) If you didn't settle and they agreed to update to "Paid in Full", then that's what your credit reports should indicate. If they don't, dispute it through the CRAs. You should also request that the CA update how they're reporting to the CRAs, since they're the ones providing the information. Also, dispute in writing- it's better than trying to call. 4 & 5.) Dispute through the CRAs in writing and request that it be updated to Paid in Full. You should follow up with the information furnishers as well to make sure they're correctly reporting. 6.) Can't hurt to try a goodwill letter. And yes- it would help your score if they removed the 1 late pay. 7 & 8.) "Charge off" means they wrote off your debt- it's an accounting term. They do hurt your credit scores, even though you paid them off. There's not much you can do to get them removed now. It would have been better to negotiate that before you paid them off. You can always send a goodwill letter requesting that the charge offs be removed. Of course, they don't have to do anything since that's exactly what it was for them. 9.) If these are listed as separate collections, then yes- they're hurting your credit scores.
