Hello everyone. I'm a really stupid person who never bothered to check her credit report until now, when I need to buy a house. (Yes, I know, I'm incredibly stupid, but better late than never, I suppose.) So I found lots of things wrong or questionable. I've read all kinds of stuff on this site & think I have a plan of attack, but wanted to review that with those more experienced than I. Plus, I'll have some questions as I go along. First, I went out to annualcreditreport.com to get my credit report from all 3 agencies. I could only get it from Equifax; the others said they "couldn't confirm my identity." Oh, and I should mention, these two also think I'm deceased. First Question: How do I get credit reports if they think I'm dead or I can't confirm my identity supposedly enough for them? Would I have to write them a letter about that? If so, any wording you'd suggest? Continuing on, here's what I see on my Equifax report: TYPE OF NUMBER OF TOTAL BALANCE ACCOUNT ACCOUNTS OF ACCOUNTS Mortgage 0 $0 Installment 1 $0 Revolving 4 $1,541 Other 3 $250 Total Accounts 8 $1,791 Number of Open Accounts 0 Number of Closed Accounts 8 Total Accts in Good Standing 1 Accts Currently Past Due 1 Negative Account History 6 Inquiries in last 12 Mo 2 Here are the items listed under "number of closed accounts": ACCOUNT NAME DATE BALANCE DATE PAST ACCOUNT OPENED REPORTED DUE STATUS Arrow Fin n/a $250 06/2004 $250 collection acct Asset Accept. n/a $0 12/2004 $0 collection acct Beneficial 08/1999 $0 03/2003 $0 pays as agreed Capital One 11/1999 $1541 04/2007 $1541 charge off FCNB 07/2000 $0 05/2003 $0 charge off First Consum. 07/1999 $0 06/2003 $0 charge off Shell/Citibank 08/2000 $0 11/2001 $0 collection acct WFN 06/1982 $0 05/2001 $0 consumer deceased Here's my next batch of questions: Looking at the account statuses above, you can immediately see the "consumer deceased" thing. That is actually why I was turned down for a mortgage; they said I was dead. I don't believe I owe this creditor anything. It's old, and I didn't have it for long, maybe a couple of years. Why does it show it being reported on in 2001? That's almost 20 years later! And also, how do I dispute that one? Demand verification, same as the others? Also, there's one there for Shell, and I'm also pretty sure I paid that one off, but again, have no proof after all this time. If I did owe anything, it wouldn't have been more than a few dollars & I'd have paid it if I'd known. Anything I can do about that? The first, second and 6th line items I don't recognize and don't think are mine. I'm about 99.9% sure they're not mine. Line items 4 and 5 really get my goat. This was the day when I got myself a Capital One card (the other line item was actually my husband's.) Before I could even use the thing, I got a statement with a bunch of charges on it. About $150 worth of charges, on a card with a $200 limit. Long story short...many phone calls later...turns out that they had sent me some of those negative-option "offers" disguised as junk mail. And like all my junk mail, into the trash it went. I complained heartily to Capital One, told them to kill my account, they'd better take the charges off, etc. I actually thought that was settled, as I never heard from them again. Why is it showing a "report date" of 04/2007? I'd never even heard from this outfit since about 1999, or 2000. Also, I'm wondering, is it ok to use the online dispute system on the credit reporting sites? Or should I use snail mail only? Next, I'm wondering, what about the items in common on mine and my husband's credit report? Should I dispute them both at the same time? Also, my husband's credit report shows a work history that is actually MY work history. Our addresses are also way outdated. Should we have this stuff corrected? Finally, I believe what I've read here indicates that step 1 is for me to demand validation on the debts. Which ones should I demand that for? All of them, regardless of status (except the good one, of course)? Then step 2 is I wait about a week and then file a dispute with the CRAs? Followed by step 3, next validation demand, followed by the...I think it was...estoppel letter? And then finally back to the CRAs? Is that all correct? I need to keep this moving as quickly as possible, but don't want to make mistakes that might come back to bite me. Thanks so much for the help & advice!
Hi there and welcome! I am fairly new too so I can't give you advice on all but I can point you to a good starting point. Call up the 2 CRA's you were unable to get your reports from and have them verify your identity. Have the report you were able to get in your hand as they will ask for information that you may not remember but can refer to that report for. I highly recommend you get all 3 reports before you do anything. That way you will have an overall picture of your credit. After you have all 3 in hand dispute all inaccurate addys and name variations. You can dispute actual addresses you used to live at also if you fear it could be a potential for identity theft, this can be the same with previous names also. Some CRA's will delete easily and others may not so be prepared for some of them to stay no matter what you do. /cough Experian! Sometimes some items on your reports may fall off with just doing that. Allow a full 30-45 days for the disputes to be handled. Then you can get a better picture of what is inaccurate on your report. When starting your disputes I have always favored sending them certified mail with return receipt requested, yes it's a pain but you are creating a paper trail for your disputes that could prove useful later on for resistant debts. Get educated well on the process, read till your eyeballs fall out then pop them back in and read more. Make sure you understand what you are doing and why. Above all be honest, always. It is the best policy. If you have items you honestly owe and are reporting correctly search for "pay for deletion" alot of people have had sucuess having valid debts removed this way. But make sure you do it properly I can't stress the importance of education in this complex process. Credit repair, done correctly is a complex, time consuming process but it is possible. And let me congratulate you on looking so well being deceased! lol Hope that helps a little and I wish you much luck! Tegleg
Do you know the SOL for your state? that will be something to consider before you choose who to go after first. I have had better luck getting my free annuals by calling and saying I was denied credit with (TU) EX & EQ where easy. I wouldnt personaly dispute anything online, but some do, make sure you print the page before you send it though. Proving your alive shouldnt be to hard, I believe ya.. you may have some one elses file mixed with yours The reason its good to remove addys is they are tied to the TL's (thats EX excuse not to budge) I have also Opted out of all three CRA marketing dealy. I have delt with Crap1 and A$$et, they will probably be the biggest pains Step 1 find out your SOL for sure, the pros probably will want that when they get here. I would DV the CA's, get the green cards back then do the CRA's, but thats just me.
Proving you're not dead! Hello, and welcome to the forum! First things first, you need to get your other two reports before you do anything. To "prove" your not deceased, you may want to visit your locan Social Security office, and ask them for a payment verification of activity. In short, request documentation that you are still living! Or you may want to call the credit reporting agencies and inquire what "evidence" they would accept that you are still alive. They may have the wrong Social Security number for you. Once you get your reports, review them all for mistakes, errors, etc. Highlight or circle them, and then list them out as you have above. Then, you want to remove all old address information, remove any "FKAs (formerly known as), variations of name, employment history errors, etc. Get all your personal information trimmed down to as recent as possible. Do NOT start "disputes" until you have removed all erroneous or incorrect personal information. I know it is difficult to hold off, but it pays off in the longer run. Focus on information clean up first. After the personal information clean up, then start the dispute process. Post back when you have all the information, and we can help with the plan for disputing and repair. Good Luck! Let us know how you make out....
It's more than a little ironic that the CRAs use old reports to verifiy addresses and old addresses to verify accounts. For that reason it makes sense to clean up the personal info, first. If you say "I never lived here" it's harder for them to say "You must have because Creditor X sent you a bill there."
You need to get aggressive You can demand Validation of the debts but you should expect them to ignore you. VOD is a FDCPA matter and your issues are under FCRA, and many of them are with OC's which are not subject to FDCPA anyway. You need to make yourself such a pain in their butt that they will gladly delete their TL's just to make you go away. If I were you, I would be doing the following: 1. Immediately file a suit against the CRA for violation of the 7.5 year obsolescence statute in FCRA (Section 605(5)) for the WFN trade line. Then I would file a suit against WFN for the damage they caused in you being declined for the mortgage because they reported you as deceased. Let their lawyers figure out why someone who is deceased is suing them. 2. Next I would dispute the Crap1 TL directly with Crap1 CMRRR outlining to them that you never authorized this account, never activated it and certainly never used it, and that if their TL isn't off your CRA's in 30 days they will be invited to a Courtroom to explain why. Send a copy of the Sample Complaint, and expect them to blow you off, so be prepared to sue them also. 3. Do the same with Arrow, Asset and First Consumers. Be aggressive, demand immediate action and don't be afraid to sue. My experience with suing CRA's is even if you lose in Court, the TL will be deleted.
