Well I hired Junum back in mid-May 2001. So far, 1. BKs removed from one report 2. Judgment removed from 2 reports 3. Several miscellaneous derogs removed But also, got my one auto loan deleted, which was paid in full 3 years ago, but late a few times. Not sure how to feel about that. Anyway, the updates are starting to come back with remarks like, "already investigated and won't reinvestigate", etc. In other words, I've been through the mill with each CRA on every tradeline at least once and in most instances, twice now. In between Junum disputes I've disputed things online that I didn't want Junum touching (whited out on their copy), like previous addresses, former employers, and just this week: hard inquiries (we'll see how that goes, but from what I read here, I'm going to have to get after TU with an ugly stick.) I've done about as well as they have, just don't have the time nor inclination to do it all myself. Anyway, I signed up online for Lexington this morning. I've already put the latest of the 3 CRA reports in the mail to them, with explicit instruction and additional ammunition in the margins, and whited-out my good tradelines, (I just don't trust ANYBODY. do I!!) I've still got 3 rounds due back on Junum's disputes, but not for 2 more weeks at least and I just don't want to wait until then to see if anything else got corrected before I get Lexington started. After all, I'm not real impressed about Lex's claim that I'm be getting results/updates about once every 2 month with them! Dang! At least once I got rolling with Junum, it's every 2 WEEKS--not months--for updates. I was also interested in Lex's "settlement negotiation" service. That judgment also shows up as a collection on one of my reports. I KNOW I'll have to negotiate something to get that off and also the hard inquiries they deliberately make twice a year. Since that collection agency is also a law firm, I'm interested in seeing how they'll respond with Lex Law Firm. Anyway, here's mud in your eye! Wish me luck.
Keep us posted! I for one am very interested in how Lex performs for you after 3 rounds of Junum. I too used Junum for 3 rounds with good results but I began to get the "already investigated" letters so i discontinued the Junum service. Best regards - Jim
I can say that my rep at Lex has kept in contact with me. If he hasn't heard anything from me, he emails me to see whats up. I sent them only experian and when they disputed I was greeted with the "already investigated and won't reinvestigate" nonsense. With my situation as it is, I may not need any further help with disputes. I have filed the lawsuit against Experian(Credit Data Southwest) so that will hopefully soon be cleared up. With Equifax, I have 3 6 year old negatives that probably aren't hurting me much anymore and Trans Union only has a few negs left also, but the problem with them is they keep claiming to verify listings with addresses and phone numbers that are wrong. So it may be a lawsuit against them also. Anyway, my original point was that as far as customer service goes, Lexington has been on top of things and I think it's a good decision.
Hope, Just curious......if you were beginning to reach dead ends w/ Junum (i.e. We've investigated already, etc.) why would you sign up w/ Lexington NOW? Aren't they going to reach those same dead ends? I'm just trying to understand is all....... I see you were interested in their debt negotiations as well. Is it really worth it if they can't dispute stuff as well? I have also reached dead ends and figure I need to take a break for a while until I can start up again. I don't know how long I need to wait though...
Re: Switching from Junum to Lexingt Well, the reason some have evidently had success switching may be because they use different approaches. Junum uses the "Standard Dispute Form" method (i.e., they literally fill out a form with the items in dispute and send them to each CRA, like clockwork, every two weeks). Lexington on the other hand uses the "Original Letter" method (actually, one might call it the "Original Redneck Letter" method). Basically, Lexington sends letters that look, act, and sound as if they were written by real people. One that was returned to me in error by the post office said something like, "No way do I have all these late pays. Please check them because it's affecting my credit. I'm going to check up on you to make sure you do your job. Thank you." (No, I'm not kidding, LOL. They claim a much better statistical result using that kind of real-people language instead of legalese like "per the FCRA, you are in violation of section 631(a)(1), etc.") Doc
Re: Switching from Junum to Lexingt That's fine and dandy but my question is HOW is a different approach going to work if you have already used up your dispute attemps and the CRAs are not willing to re-investigate for the time being???? Shouldn't there be some lag time between switching from Junum to Lex? Say at least 3 months?
Re: Switching from Junum to Lexingt MP, my thinking is just as Doc said. And you check around on the board, you'll be very interested to read that often times a difference approach changes an "already investigated" to an "item has been deleted". Nothing engraved in stone mind you, but it very often works. Like I said, I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.
