I claimed bankruptcy in 2004. And I worked very hard to get my FICOs up since then. I reached over 700 and decided I could finally apply for a mortgage and get a house. Well, no sooner did I decide that - that my FICO scores started going down for mistakes on my report. I get one mistake off and another shows up. It has been close to 4 months of me now trying to get my score back to the over 700 it was just 4 months ago. In that time, I have not done anything different. My debt has gone down and I haven't paid anything late. It has been a nightmare.
The most recent horror is that on myFICO it says I've had late payments in the last 3 months. I have not had a late payment in over 4.5 years. And it says that on 'understanding my score' but there is not account listed with a late payment. I called TransUnion and they said that they don't show me as having any late payments and the problem is with myFICO. When I called myFico - they told me one of the cards that was discharged in bankruptcy is showing up as recent so it looks like my late payments from close to 5 years ago are current in the computer. In the account- it says clearly that it is part of my 2004 bankruptcy and yet they are now reporting it as a new account in some odd way. I can't figure it out.
I was told to contact the credit card and get them to stop reporting it as new since it is an old card from bankruptcy. When called the credit card company, they told me they no longer own that account. Yet it is showing up as them on my FICO report. I did a google search and found out that many companies are illegally selling discharged in bankruptcy dept and then it shows up as new debt on people's FICO. They know that people like me who are trying to buy a house will be desperate and many end up paying the discharged debt - even though it isn't owed - since they need to get it off their FICO scores. And FICO seems to know about this abuse and can't do anything about it. It is an abuse of power and very frustrating to be at the wim of a score when the company that does the scores says they clearly see that it is not a new account and yet won't take it off. I have worked extremely hard since my bankruptcy 4.5 years ago to improve my credit and it grows worse and worse for no legal reason. My score is suffering and there is not much I can do besides go to court.
I am so depressed about this. I wish we could get advocates for things like this. FICO scores should represent the truth. And I just hate that I might have to spend money and time in court to get an old bankruptcy dept stopped being listed as new debt. And even the costumer service reps on myFICO admit it is obvious that the account is from my bankruptcy. And the timing couldn't be worse. I really wanted to take advantage of the low interest rates.
Grrrr...
Sorry to be the barer of bad news - but if the debt was discharged and it is still showing up as late payments on your credit - it is not because there is a 2 year thing. It is possibly because your card company illegally sold the discharged debt to someone else who is making it look new and also making it look like it is the same company.
