I have a couple of questions.. I got a copy of my equifax credit profile and there are some things wrong. First my name and address are wrong. I changed my name back to my maiden name after a divorce three years ago and I no longer live at the address on my report. Also none of my employment history is there except for a part time job I had like three years ago. Should I dispute these things, or do they not make a difference concerning my score or anything? Next under collection accounts, I have none listed but I get bills from collection agencies all the time. Should I just be glad that none of them show up? Or should I dispute this also? Now for the hard part... I have three Credit Card accounts listed. It's been a while (about 3 years) since I've paid on two of them. One was settled with the credit card company and the other two have been passed from collection agency to collection agency.. I am assuming that once an account has been sold to a collection agency I no longer owe the credit card company the money, but owe the collection agency? Can I dispute these credit card accounts listed? Should I pay the collection agencies that send me bills or the credit card companies themselves, or just wait for it all to drop off? I want to get my credit report cleared up. I was young and made some mistakes and went through a messy divorce and got stuck with all the debt. Now I am older and have a steady job and I want to one day buy a car and house and all that other stuff you need good credit for. Below is what equifax says about my accounts with all identifying info removed.. Capital One xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Individual account date opened: last activity: 03-1999 Account and status: Revolving charge off high credit limit: $301 terms: balance: $1066 past due: $1066 date reported: 05-2002 prior paying history: 30 days past due 01 times; 60 days past due 01 times; 90+ days past due 04 times; CHARGED OFF ACCOUNT CREDIT CARD Cathering's/Cbusa Na xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Individual account date opened:07-1998 last activity: 07-1999 Account and status: Revolving charge off high credit limit: $175 terms:10 balance: $175 past due: $70 date reported: 04-2002 prior paying history: 30 days past due 01 times; 60 days past due 01 times; 90+ days past due 04 times; CHARGED OFF ACCOUNT MBNA America xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Individual account date opened:05-1997 last activity: 09-2001 Account and status: Revolving pays as agreed high credit limit: $0 terms: balance: $0 past due: date reported: 01-2002 prior paying history: 30 days past due 04 times; 60 days past due 02 times; 90+ days past due 08 times; SETTLEMENT ACCEPTED ON THIS ACCOUNT CREDIT CARD So does anyone have any advice on how I can clean up my credit report? thanks
My first advice would be to read the newbie FAQ. Do a search and read the board for a few days. You will find that the FAQ answers a ton of questions that you have and then you can get a good start. Many of the thing that we would tell you is in the FAQ.
