I apologize for going over old territory. I read the information in the library, and I read the newbie FAQ's, but now I only feel more confused and overwhelmed! I have quite a few blemishes on my reports-most are 5-6 yrs old. A couple will be coming off in the next year. My goal is to be able to buy a house in the near future, so I need to get some of this stuff taken care of. On the advice of someone in the credit biz, I have disputed everything, a couple at a time. I now wish I had done my homework, and started somewhere else. Anyway, I feel this is not the best approach, and need to rethink a plan! All the debts are paid off, so would writing letters be a good place to start? And if so, do I write letters to CRA or to the creditors? I have a couple of CC's that are all kept current every month, and a car loan that's never been late (at a very HIGH interest rate) We need to get rid of that car, but we'll take a gigantic loss on it! We have some student loans that my dh is working on. He is consolidating, and getting a forebearance on--(I don't really understand it, but they should show current when he's all done!) I guess I need to know what I should do first in regards to all the old paid off debt-there were quite a few 120 day lates that are just plain ugly!! I also need to concentrate on paying a couple of my dh's bills that are in collections. They are rather small-but any advice would be great!! Again, I apologize for going over old information. I keep reading, and searching, and my eyes are starting to cross. I'm getting way more stressed than when I started. I keep feeling that my dreams of getting a house are further and further away! TIA for any advice!! Tracy
The highlight of this is that some creditors only keep records for the past 25 months. So if you were to dispute those accounts with the CRAs as 'NOT MINE', the OC probably cannot verify for lack of records, thus getting a deletion from the CRAs. I would start with the CRAs first by disputing as 'NOT MINE'. If you do that to no avail, then get started with the OCs (original creditors). Send what the CreditNet family calls the "Nutcase Letter". Do a search on the board for 'Litigous Nutcase' and 'Son of a Nutcase'. Dispute these as "NOT MINE" with the CRAs. Negotiate for deletion in exchange for payment and get it in writing before sending any money. I hope I answered your questions.
Thank you so much for replying to my message. I have disputed the old paid debt w/ the CRA's as not mine. Many of these have actually been paid off for years. So far, I've only heard from EQ, and they've been verified. I figure the letters are next. Only 1 went to a CA, the others are being listed with the OC. Ok, so I start the nutcase letters with the OC and CA--what if that doesn't work? What would my next step be? How many times do I send letters to them? Once a month? Thanks so much for helping me!! Tracy
Dear Tracy, May I suggest that before you do anything more you put yourself on a 1 month waiting period, whereby you; 1) Do a LOT more reading 2) ask a lot more questions 3) Learn who the knowledgable people are 4) Make sure you're right before you proceed. This is an area where it's very easy to make mistakes but too important to do so. Create some new threads and be specific as to your situations. We'll do our best to help but do give yourself a little more time.
I totally agree, and have already decided to do that. I just got word that one of my old accts just got deleted from Exp. so that's a plus. I won't know for another 30 days on a couple of others. I figure if I wait until the end of July--I'll have all the update CR's, and I'll know exactly where I stand. That will also give me enough time to read, and research, and make a game plan! Thank you so much for the advice. I know that in the next months, I will be back for more!! Tracy
Only that some are more knowledgable than others. If a game plan is created it should incorporate a lot of different opinions and ideas and a tremendous amount of personal research. Wasn't implying anything Love, sorry I didn't claify that. Your advice is always valuable.
Tracy, I don't have any advice for you but I did want to say I am nearly in the same boat as you... I am in the phase where I am reading up as much as I can and pretty shortly I am going to bombard this board with questions.. I am slowly getting myself organized with the right tools to get this party started (printer, cork board, envelopes, lots of stamps ectectect) this fixing my credit feels like I am in the Pentagon preparing plans for war.. except I have no idea what I am doing
