I made the mistake of disputing a pd chgoff that was about to fall off in 6 months. The OC re-aged the account and it took me about 7 months and a lot of certified letters, time, and almost a lawsuit to finally get rid of it. It took me over a year to repair anyway, I should have left it alone.
This IS a really great thread. I've re-read it a couple of times. Avoiding mistakes may be more important than tips. Pat said: I should have left it alone. That is something I am trying to learn. TU keeps driving me crazy with a number 1 reason code: too few retail cards even though I have 2 (I closed all the rest in one virtuous sweep last August. I know, I know, I hadn't found this board yet) I keep thinking I should try to reopen Macy's and then I repeat the mantra: leave it alone, leave it alone. I think one reason I can't raise my TU score is that they nuked my paid-off auto loan after I disputed a small inaccuracy. Nothing seems to move my score there. Nothing. It has worked, btw, on Ex, where (as of yesterday) I am now a member of the 800 club!!!! (The real boost was paying down debt aggressively) Interestingly, after my last card updated a zero balance and my score zoomed up they ADDED a neg reason code: #3 An inquiry for credit within the last 2 years! My last hard, which will come off in October. lol
apply a cc without re-checking CR... Just when I thought evryhting is been taken care, some items were re-inserted....
Check your credit reports carefully. TU closed two open Visa accounts on me several months ago and I just noticed last month. One of them was Nextcard. By the time they get that on open, they will have to close it.
Mistake # 42 Don't do anything with out fully understanding the down side risk as well as the up side gain. Mistake # 43 Contrary to the Nike slogan, donâ??t â??just do itâ?! In certain cases, it is best to do nothing. Mistake # 44 Donâ??t look for a â??magic bulletâ?, nobody here knows how to snap his or her fingers and just make it all go away. These were posted because of the problems Pulse had validating an old debt. Pulse sorry I didnâ??t think of these before you had your problem. JohnM
In motions of cleaning off all 7 negs I also disputed 1 old acct that showed inactive and was over 15 years old showing paid never late. I disputed that, it came off, now I have a credit history of 2 years. I was zapped 89 fico points for that mistake. Just shoot me NOW!
Just a couple of basics like: 1.Be really really clear when you dispute something to the credit bureaus. Some people just send in a dispute letter telling the CRA that the account is disputed and not being specific about why it is being disputed. 2. Another one is to not keep hammering the CRA with the same dispute in a short period of time. That's one way to get the dispute (and all future ones) marked as "frivolous".
bump> newbie posted a request on how to deal with BK related tradelines that are inaccurate lots of great advice on this thread on that topic and many, many others
Closing old accounts- Be careful about closing your older accounts! Your credit scores can go DOWN. Do not close old accounts, it causes your average age of accounts and possibly your length of credit history to be shorter. I closed a Neiman Marcus account that was old and next thing you know I get "not enough retail credit" accounts as a negative indicator!
How about applying for new cards without first checking the *real* scores? I tried my luck at Diner's Club based on my inflated Experian score (guessing real score was -30 or 40 pts). The suckers stuck hards on my Experian AND Trans Union, then had the nerve to tell me I didn't have enough history. If I'd known my actual score (esp my way-lower-then-usual TU), I never would have applied.
My mistake was applying for (almost) every "pre-approved" offer I received in the mail and ending up with too many subprime cards and a ton of inquiries! Sorry, had to bump because If I only knew then what I know now...
Ahhhh....my favorite CN thread has returned. For those who are just discovering it.....enjoy! DemPooches
This is such a great thread. I've been taking copious notes. And I figure that despite my best efforts, I will have plenty to contribute to this thread in the future. (How's that for thinking positively?) New input, anyone?
I disputed a very old inquiry - but I didn't dispute it correctly (as past it's time) and they deleted the positive account also!! I also paid over the phone for a cc that is now reporting as settled for less than full balance. This was before I found this site - I didn't know any better - and now I've shot myself in the foot on those 2 items.... This thread is awesome.....
Great thread. My biggest mistake was doing nothing for all these years simply because I was afraid to deal with an issue I mistakenly believed was too overwhelming to handle. I have worked miracles in these past few months. I just wish I had started earlier. Another very common mistake that people often make (and I didn't see it posted in this thread) is to dispute a BK or a court record before first disputing the address under which the item was filed. Most court documents do not contain SS numbers, so the CRA's only have a name and address to use for verification purposes. If they can match both, the item is "verified". If they can only match one, the item is deleted.
My biggest mistake was Bankruptcy also. I notified all of the reporting agencies that I had filed a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and some of the accounts that they had listed as 120 days overdue 9 times were included in the bankruptcy! MISTAKE, they are the only ones that I still show on my report as having been included in bankruptcy!
Re: Top 100 mistakes in credit repa I have disputed all the addresses and 2 previous names on my credit reports.I have also sent validation letters to a few CA's. As proof of my current address I sent a copy of an insurance payment notice that had my address on it and a copy of a pay stub with the name of the company whited out. Both were listed as being acceptable proofs of address. These are my questions.... 1. Will the CRA's send me an updated credit report showing me the names and addresses have been deleted? 2. Has anyone ever heard of a CRA refusing to delete old names and addresses if you dispute them and send proof?? 3. How soon after the address disputes should you send dispute letters to the CA to have tradelines removed, and how many can you normally get away with per dispute letter without coming off as suspicious(frivilous)??? Thanks for your help!!!!
