First, I have to say that I stumbled upon this board and I am so happy for that! I have been lurking for about a week and I have read posts all the way back to last spring.....hours of reading!! I have already learned so much from all of you! Thank you! Now....here is my situation. I had awesome (800+) credit until 3 years ago. At this time, we had a family emergency and our debt skyrocketed because of this. Then, I had to quit one of my jobs and we fell behind. In the past 3 years, I have many, many late pays on my reports. We are caught up now and have been paying on time for just over a year on most accounts and for the last 5 months on the rest. It is hard for me to understand that, credit wise, we would have been better off doing bankruptcy, but I chose to pay everything. I wish that could be recognized in my scores. BUT...I guess we all have our wishes when it comes to our scores! My biggest problems are late pays, too much debt (too close to CL or even over CL.... my debt more than tripled in the time we were having problems with our bills from late fees and interest) and two charge offs. One charge off is paid (silly me for not trying for a deletion) and one charge off is large and unpaid. I have 2 accounts with this cc company. Last January, I was trying to work out reduced payment plans for both accounts. One account I have been paying on (timely) for over a year and this account is now below the credit limit. At the time I was making arrangements for the first acct, we negotiated a settlement for the second account. I told them I needed the settlement terms in writing before I would send the money. After they did not send me the settlement terms in writing, I called again and was told the person would call me back. A couple of days later I got a letter saying my account has been charged off. This was in 4/01. Since then, I have written numerous letters to the cc company telling them I am willing to negotiate a settlement or pay monthly payments (please keep in mind, I knew nothing about this process before this. I realize I may have already shot myself in the foot). No response from them. Finally, in Oct '01, they responded saying that NCO has the debt. I wrote a letter to NCO requesting validation of the debt with a complete audit. I also enclosed copies of all the letters I had sent to the CC company. No response from them. I called the cc company 2 weeks ago and got a very nasty man who told me that NCO has my account. I called NCO (against my better judgment) and was promptly told they turned the debt back to the cc company. I called the cc company back and spoke to someone who said they NEVER buy back debts and was going to look into it and call back. He never called back and when I called, I was told he was unavailable. So, what now??? I just don't know what to do!! Another side question.....as I am paying down my debt, I have been decreasing CL thinking less available credit would be better. But, is it actually hurting my scores....looking maxed out? We want to build a house with in a year and I need to raise these scores! Thank you!!!
Gillian, I've got 3 words for you... DISPUTE, DISPUTE, DISPUTE. If the CA nor the cc company "has" the debt, dispute it with the CRA's. If the CA and CCC don't respond, it's outta there! Same goes for the late pays. You may also be able to "grovel" your way into getting the 1st (paid) charge-off removed. I'm waiting on a response from my creditor before I take that route. But try and dispute the 1st charge-off too. I'm sure others will have similar/different opinions, so just keep your eyes on this post. Smitty If it weren't for electricity, we'd all be watching television by candlelight!
Smitty, Thanks for your reply. I did dispute this and actually just got word tonight that the cc company verified it. NCO removed their tradeline. I think I will dispute again with the information that the cc company says they don't have this debt. Thanks!
Gillian- I would dispute all of your late pay accounts (as well as that screwy CC chargeoff). Ok First off who are the late pays with (CC Company names?) You may want to consider sending Doc's "goodwill adjustment" letter to the creditors you have paid on time for the past year, although I would hold off on the ones being paid on time for 5 months. Find out what you scores are, the charge offs (paid and/or unpaid) are what is hurting you the most, dispute those with the CRA's as not mine. Hold onto those letters you sent to NCO and the CC company, cause if the CRA's say they "verify" the account you MAY have them on violations. If YOU can't verify it, how can they? When you get your scores, come back and post them!!
Hi KHM! Thanks for responding. I actually do know my scores. They are -TU 596, Eqf- 554 and Ex- 577 (so hard to write after what they used to be!). I have disputed both charge offs. They have both come back verified. And....the paid charge off know shows I owe $1!!! So, I will be addressing that today. The unpaid one is with MBNA. It is a large sum of money (last listed as $6700) so I can't imagine they will just let this go! I am planning on sending MBNA a validation letter today. My late pays (and I mean many!!) are with the following creditors: MBNA, 1st Usa, Citibank, Discover and Sears (2 accts). The 2 Sears accts are the two I have been current on for 5 months. The others have been over a year. I will send a Goodwill letter to those creditors (well, except MBNA....I don't think they will give me anything!). How many lates do creditors usually delete? Only one? Obviously, I would be looking to delete the most recent ones. Thanks again for your help!! PS....Did I read in one of your posts that you live in NH? That is where I am, too.
I'm in Manchester!!!! Ok I don't think, by law, MBNA has to respond to your validation. Only a CA would have to, not the original creditor. Also if MBNA hasn't sent a CA after you, I would lay low for a little. When was MBNA charged off? I think the SOL in NH is 5 years (not positive) check out www.cardreport.com to find out. I think others on here have had good results with Citibank and the goodwill letter. Doc had great luck with Sears, but I would wait a few more months before sending it to them, dispute with the CRA's as never late. Glad to see I'm not the only NH girl on here.
Thanks again!! Ok, so I won't bother with the validation letter. It is a fairly recent charge off (April 01), so it is not going any where too quickly. I would imagine that they will send it to another CA now that NCO doesn't want it. Here is a potentially stupid question (I am still learning here....never had to deal with this before!). This charge off says $0 balance, sold or transferred to another company. There is (currently) no CA listing it. If another creditor pulls my report, how do they know if the account is paid or not? I understand that if a CA listed it, it would be obvious that it is not paid. However, with no CA listing, how does anyone know the status of it? Thanks for the info on Citibank....I will send that today. I will wait on Sears, but I think I have a good shot with them. A rep once told me once I get current, I can ask for late fees to be credited to my account as well as deleted from my report! By the way, I am North of you...up right outside of Lebanon. Small world, huh? G
Right now your MBNA is looking like a paid charge off, seeing as it has a $0 balance and no CA is reporting it. I would call Sears and see if they could CREDIT your interest over the last 5 months OR stop any interest from being added. Make up some sob story, hubby had to go in for surgery and you don't want to become delinquent so could you stop any interest charges, SOMETHING. Maybe not that story, cause it will look like you aren't prepared for surprise situations, but you get the idea. Good luck!
