Hi I am just beginning this long journey. I have been thinking about this for about 6 mo or so and reading some stuff here and there. Over the past couple weeks I have read everything I can get my hands on and decided we need to get serious. I am a stay at home mom with school age children so I am thinking or should I say hoping that I will be able to devote most of my mornings to this. I thought thru my reading here and there I had learned so much, well.............after my SERIOUS reading in the past couple of weeks I have come to realize I am really uneducated when it comes to this stuff and am more than willing to learn more and take any advice I can get. My husband is in the military and we will be moving again in 7 or 8 months, we would like to buy a house at our next duty station if we are there for any length of time (so I guess we are looking to buy maybe a yr or so from now). Anyway to say the least our credit is a mess some of it due to a medical condition, some of it due to simply not being able to pay our bills during a rough financial time, and some of it simply due to stupidity and biting off more than we could chew. There is a bankruptcy, collection accounts and original creditors many of which are reading inaccurately as being still open, late, or still pursuing collections all of which were included in the bankruptcy. There are a couple of things on there than we totally do not recognize. I guess the first place to begin is to have our old addresses removed and then try to start sending dispute and or validation letters. I am bewildered at the amount of information there is and any help or guidance is greatly appreciated and more than welcome. Thank you (ahead of time)
just take it one step at a time. The first thing you need to do is get a current copy of you and your hubbys credit report to find out exactly whats on them. if your not already signed up for a sevice you should try privacy guard its $1 for the first 3months then 89.99 for the rest of the year but you can cancel within that first 3 months and still only owe $1. you then need to figure out what needs to be deleted because it is inaccuarate. you can have this deleted by just writting a letter to the cra's try to just keep it simple the first time around with them. saying something like i do not recall ever having an account with discover card this is not my account will you please investigate should get the job done. dont worry many, many, many people on this board have been in your shoes. you can probably improve your credit quite a bit in the next year before your ready to buy your house, However it will take time. basically all you can do is keep reading this board and learning as much as you can about the whole process. also checkout www.creditboards.com www.artofcredit.com and www.creditinfocenter.com they are 3 other good sites with lots of info. also check out this link to PG for the discount rate i talked about http://www.privacyguard.com/Default.asp?ref=pgNCBonlnmrk01 JD
I got our credit reports about a week and a half ago, reviewed them and made a list of inaccuracies. I have read all of the INTO posts and numerous others on this site as well as the others you have mentioned. I am not real sure if I am completely straight on some information such as: Do you start by verifying with the CRAâ??s or do you first send a validate to the CAâ??s? If I should validate with the CAâ??s it is well beyond the 30 notice that is stated at the bottom of any original letters received (the notice on the bottom that says unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid) can you still send the validation letter and if so are they required to validate? I am also a little confused as to how specific to identify the inaccuracy of the debt and if I am too specific does it lessen the chances they will delete it? I do know I canâ??t do all this at once and can only dispute a few trade lines at a time. There is so much information to absorb sometimes I get mixed up and try to go back and look something up but then canâ??t find it again. I just would like to know so I can learn more. Anyway thanks for the help I really appreciate it.
Read the validation thread a few more times . See what it says about the 30 days. You don't explain with validation you demand an explanation. Send the VL to the CA CRRR.When you get the GR CARD back send the cra a dispute CRRR>
First thing keep on reading. your credit didnt just go bad overnight so its going to take a while to fix it. You are however on the right track you want to send a DV to the CA. Take one of the samples off of here but modify it to fit your own needs. then as lbrown said wait until you get your green card back then send just a simple dispute to all the cra's that the CA is reporting to. Couple things to remember are 1. In your letter to the CA make sure you dont give them any more info then they might already have, IE. SS#, Date of birth, Middle name, or your signature( Dont sign anything you send to them). It is up to them to prove that this debt is yours, dont help them to do so. 2. Make sure you send everything Certified mail to the CA. This will prevent them from saying i never got it. It cost about $5 bucks a letter but it becomes invaluable if you ever need it. 3. When sending letters to the CRA i would just keep it simple the first go around. Just saying something like i do not recall opening this account will you please investigate. Also , i know some might disagree, but i dont bother sending it certified mail to the CRA's the first time. Just remember you need to be persistant and keep up on all promises of action that you make in your letters to the CA's. It will take time but you can acheive good credit again and buying that house in a year should be no sweat. Most importantly read everyday, its well worth the work in the end. JD
