My files with TransUnion and Equifax are perfect, but Experian has me down for a six-year-old medical collection. NextCard declined me the other day based on Experian. I'm wondering if I might be able to get a card with a better rate through banks that use TransUnion and/or Equifax only. Eloan.com says my credit score is 707. I think they pulled my Equifax file. I'd like to take that number for a ride to see if I can't start getting better rates. Anyone know what CRA Wingspan uses? Any other banks out there that use just TU or Equifax? Thanks. P.S. I have a Wells Fargo card already -- thanks to posters on this board.
RE: What CRA report does Wings Even if the collection is accurate, it might be well worth the effort to dispute it, particularly since it is six years old. I've found that some organizations to do not keep records of 'paid' accounts on line that long. Generally they archive the data and move it off site. The hassle (and cost) of retrieveing an off site tapes to verify a paid item which has no chance of generating addtional revenue for the collector will probably deter them from doing so and they will just come back to the CRA with a report of 'no record' and it will be deleted. So basically you are saying to the CRA, "Okay guys, you have this derogatory information in my credit file, so prove it to me that it's true." If they can't prove what they are reporting, it should come off. There is nothing dishonest about challenging them to prove their assertion. If the collector was too lazy to keep the records in a convenient place, too bad for them. I once had a 'Was 120' on my credit history because a department store kept sending the bills to an old address. After closing the account, I disputed it about 30 months later and they could no longer locate the records and it was deleted from my file. In any event, if it is six years old, it's going to come off your file within the next year anyhow, even if they verify it. Make particular note of the date so that you can check your credit file again at the appropriate time. I wouldn't advise checking until the month after its 7-year anniversary though. There might be some lag time as the CRAs seem to only delete expiring items in 'batch mode' all at once for a given month.
RE: What CRA report does Wings J. Edgar: Thanks for your thoughtful response. I'll draft a letter to Experian today and send it certified. Any ideas about what banks use only TU or Equifax?
RE: What CRA report does Wings Darrel, We have a list of Credits/CRA's Pulled on CreditMania.com. I see there that BankOne uses TransUnion, they are parent of Wingspan. This list is updated by our visitors, so I am not sure of the validity. I do know that if you apply for a Platinum Card, or a high line of credit, most creditors pull all three reports. Check out the list at: http://www.creditmania.com/cconline.htm Anyone having corrections to the list, email me. Peace, Barry Noret CreditMania.com, Inc. A Unique Personal Finance Portal http://creditmania.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *About our suggestions: We respond to your questions and make no claims that our suggestions will fit your exact needs. This is for informational purposes only and should never be construed as legal advice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: What CRA report does Wings I've reviewed my credit reports and discovered that First USA only pulled reports from TransUnion when they were processing pre-approved applications for me in April and August of 1998. They reports to all three bureaus, but the apparently only do "account review" inquiries with TU and Experian. The last such Experian inquiry was March 1998. Unfortunately Experian's report doesn't differentiate between 'account review' inquiries and 'promotional' inquiries, but since it was before I had a card with them, I suspect it was a 'promotional' inquiry to send me a pre-approved offer. First USA and Wingspan Bank have the same parent company, Bank One. I would venture to guess they would all operate in the same manner. To summarize, two years ago they were only pulling reports from TU for new apps. The situation may have changed. You could always call their toll-free number and ask them which CRAs they use to review new applications. Just call from a phone other than the phone number you will put on your app. I doubt they are sophisticated enough to track things at that level, but better safe than sorry. You can not block your telephone number from being delivered to a toll-free number. Toll free number don't use caller-ID, they use another system called "Automatic Number Identification" (ANI). Good luck.
