Newbie: 3 Paid collections and 1 charge-off now what....PLEASE HELP!!! Hello All! I am a 23 year old 5 months pregnant female full time student that is desperately trying to get her credit score up. I own my house (thanks to the subprime lending market, luckily I have a normal 30 year mortgage with a low interest rate) and would like to open a HELOC by the time the baby is born so that I may have it just for emergencies. My credit scores are: Equifax 582 (last month 618 don't know what happened there!) Experian 519 (this is ridiculous they have all these accounts on there that are paid on time as late!) Transunion 578 I had 3 very small collections on my reports and 1 charge off. Let me start from the beginning. I will try and make this quick. In 2003 my ex-a hole- boyfriend opened a verizon account in my name and never paid a bill. Come January 2004 NCO Financial called me regarding the debt totaling $1388.86. I was young and uninformed and instead of filing for fraud, I made payment arrangment with the jerks. They made me cry and harrassed me even telling me because I was in undergrad then I could obviously get "mommy and daddy" to pay for my debt problems and that I was stupid. I refused to deal with them anymore and did not pay for a year. The account went back to Verizon in 2005 as a charge off and thats where it has been. I am in LA and was affected by hurricane Katrina so my address and mail was in limbo for 6 months. When they found me they tried to make an arrangement for $1100. I agreed only if they removed if from my report. They refused. So i didn't pay. Luckily I still got my house after the storm with this bad debt on my report. Last year I started paying and reduced my balance to $760. I talked to a nice cust serv rep on the phone who allowed me to have it reported paid charge off on my report if I send a cashiers check for 105 which would be around 60% of the 1388 and therefore they have collected more than half. I asked for the agreement in writing first then I sent the check. So now it is reported paid charge off. But my score hasn't gone up. The other three collections happened prior to the storm and because of all the paperwork lost I didn't even realize I had them until I checked my report 8 months ago. It totaled like 320 and I paid them in full. Should I dispute those paid debts and get them removed because I never received mail from them because they all had my pre-katrina address? And is there a way to get a paid charge off removed? I don't know if the nutcase letter is for me? HELP!
What is there to dispute? They were your debt. They were paid, although, they were paid late. But it's all accurate according to your post. Unfortunately a paid CO has the same negative effect on your score as an unpaid CO. From a potential creditor's perspective, you didn't make your payments on time which, to them, is more important then you made them eventually. So it goes. Not to bust your chops, but from what you posted, it sounds like the CRAs are reporting accurate information which is what they are supposed to do, even if it's not particularly favorable. The time, unfortunately, to get them deleted is BEFORE they are paid. Now, if you can find an inaccuracy, you might be able to get them removed, but more likely, they'll just correct it. Unless you're willing to go "nutcase" (which may or may not be effective), you might just have to let these grow old. After a couple of years they'll have less and less effect on your overall score so long as all the current information is excellent. Recent history carries more weight, score-wise, then old info.
I'm not sure about the hurricane katrina aspect, but you might just try a simple dispute with the CRAs first. If that doesn't work, plead your case with the companies stating your hurricane katrina status. If it was me, I'd try to dispute a few and see what happens. Good luck.
Thanks I think I will just try and dispute the collections. I applied for a card and the only reason I didn't get it is because of the collections. Last year it was the collections and the charge offs. Oh well. Thanks for everyones help!
Hi debtslaya, I understand how you feel and what you are going through. Don't despair. With the baby coming, getting ready for that is the top priority, but you can use the next 3-4 months to get ready to restore your credit. The FCRA says that you are entitled to a complete and accurate credit report. The credit restoration process takes time and persistence. If you're looking for a quick fix, in all likelyhood it won't happen. If I were you, use these next few months to gather all of your credit info and organize it. If you don't have current credit reports get them and make copies of them. Carefully go through each copy and highlight items that are inaccurate, incorrect and/or misleading. These will be the basis for future disputes. Here's a summary of what you posted: 1. "In 2003 my ex-a hole- boyfriend opened a verizon account in my name and never paid a bill." Did you give him permission to do this? How did he do it? Is he the father? 2. January 2004 NCO Financial called regarding a debt totaling $1388.86 3. Debt reverted to Verizon in 2005. You paid 60% of the balance resulting in a PAID CHARGE OFF. What was the date? 4. "So now it is reported paid charge off. But my score hasn't gone up." -- A PAID CO is as bad as a CO, that's one of the reasons that your score did not go up. 5. "The other three collections happened prior to the storm and because of all the paperwork lost I didn't even realize I had them until I checked my report 8 months ago. It totaled like 320 and I paid them in full." -- Were these with the Original Creditors (OC) or with Collection Agencies (CA)? What are the dates and the amount for each? Post the missing information and let's see if we can help you. C
Hello Conan!!! Hello Conan and everyone! Thanks for the reply. I am so glad I found this board. I understand it is going to take time to get everything resolved, but I really want to get a lot of the big stuff out of the way while the baby is still in my stomache because once she comes out I know all I'm going to have time to change diapers! To answer your questions: 1.) I did not give my ex permission to open the Verizon account. I actually have no idea how he did it. I'm assuming at one of those "authorized dealers" at the liquor store. You know some of them don't check anything, they are just trying to make a buck. And no he is not the father thank goodness!!! My bf now is trying to help make this better because it upsets me that I can't even get a new car if I wanted. 3.) I paid the charge off on September 7, 2007. I have the receipt and everything. It has been 30 days and is reported on my CRA reports. 4.) I wish I would have found this site a month a go because I would have tried a pay for delete! GRRRRR I'm trying to do the right thing and still get screwed. Whats the point of paying it if it doesn't even help! I mean verizon already wrote off the debt as a loss. 5.) I don't currently have the paperwork in front of me but when I get it I will post the rest of the info. Again thanks for your help
Rest of Info Ok Here Goes: These are the collection accounts: Southern Credit Recovery: $50 Paragon Way Inc: $120 Alpat Co, Inc: $130 They are currently showing as paid on my credit report. Thanks!
