General Credit Topics

[farmgirlinwv]

I just looked at my cr after several years. There are 3 baddies.

1. County tax lien-$261 from 98

2. AT$T cell phone-$21  NO idea what this is

3. Ford Motor-3 30 days late in 04

My current FICO is 671. What should I do about the lien? I can't afford for my FICO to go down any. I will dispute the AT&T. I never had a cell acct w/ them. Anything I can do w/ Ford? That acct was paid in 05.

Can I ask the county to remove the lien from my cr if I pay in full, not just list it as paid?

I don't know what to do. Any advice appreciated!

Thanks.

[sidewinder]

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farmgirlinwv wrote:

I just looked at my cr after several years. There are 3 baddies.

1. County tax lien-$261 from 98

2. AT$T cell phone-$21  NO idea what this is

3. Ford Motor-3 30 days late in 04

My current FICO is 671. What should I do about the lien? I can't afford for my FICO to go down any. I will dispute the AT&T. I never had a cell acct w/ them. Anything I can do w/ Ford? That acct was paid in 05.

Can I ask the county to remove the lien from my cr if I pay in full, not just list it as paid?

I don't know what to do. Any advice appreciated!

Thanks.

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City, county, state, and federal tax liens: Unpaid tax liens remain 15 years from the filing date. Paid tax liens remain seven years from the paid date of the lien.

So, if you don't pay it has another 5 years, if you do pay, it has another 7.

I don't know if courthouse will do PFD.

Is the AT&T listed by them or a CA?

You can try GW with Ford, but good luck, I hear they don't accept them.

[ThundaMan]

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farmgirlinwv wrote:

I just looked at my cr after several years. There are 3 baddies.

1. County tax lien-$261 from 98

Dispute this as too old.  The length of time baddies stay on your report is limited to 7 years.  At 10 years, this is way old.  Dispute with the Credit Bureau.

2. AT$T cell phone-$21  NO idea what this is

Send a DV letter to AT&T.  If you've never had their service, they will be pretty hard pressed to validate this as your debt, and should remove.

3. Ford Motor-3 30 days late in 04

Send a GW letter requesting they remove the 30 day lates.  If you completed your contract satisfactorily, they may work with you.

My current FICO is 671. What should I do about the lien? I can't afford for my FICO to go down any. I will dispute the AT&T. I never had a cell acct w/ them. Anything I can do w/ Ford? That acct was paid in 05.

Can I ask the county to remove the lien from my cr if I pay in full, not just list it as paid?

If you decide to go this route, start with a PFD letter.  If they agree, you'll kill two birds with one stone.  But start with disputing it as too old first.

I don't know what to do. Any advice appreciated!

Thanks.

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[farmgirlinwv]

Thank you for responding. The AT&T is listed by them as a write off w/ high bal. $21 and past due $21. No idea what it is.

I may contact the County and inform them that it is better for me NOT to pay this off because it will remain on my CR for 2 EXTRA years if I do pay it. Maybe they will make a deal! I can't hurt to ask I guess.

[farmgirlinwv]

TY Thundaman! I will try what you suggested first!

[wvasweetness]

I had to reply to a fellow WV girl!

I would contact the courthouse and see about a PFD. Not sure how that will go over - but you'll never know unless you ask.

If you know the AT&T isn't yours, dispute it ASAP.

Send Ford a GW letter asking for removal of the the three lates. I have seen a few occasions (although they are few and far between, it seems) where they have removed lates. Since they are "only" 30 days, hopefully that will help.

Good luck! Let us know what happens.

[sidewinder]

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farmgirlinwv wrote:

Thank you for responding. The AT&T is listed by them as a write off w/ high bal. $21 and past due $21. No idea what it is.

I may contact the County and inform them that it is better for me NOT to pay this off because it will remain on my CR for 2 EXTRA years if I do pay it. Maybe they will make a deal! I can't hurt to ask I guess.

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Careful with your words, county may take it as a refusal to pay and as an indication they need to file wage garnishments, freeze bank accounts, etc.

I'd be prepared to pay if I contacted anyone about it, you may be waking sleeping dogs.

Since the AT&T is listed by the OC, you can NOT send them a DV. You can call them and try to figure out what this is. Quite possible that a few numbers in the SS# got mixed up. If you can come to a conclusion by talking with them, then I'd dispute it with the CRAs directly.

What is the date on the account?

[farmgirlinwv]

Yeah! another WV girl! I'll post what happens. Hope it's good!

[sidewinder]

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ThundaMan wrote:

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farmgirlinwv wrote:

I just looked at my cr after several years. There are 3 baddies.

1. County tax lien-$261 from 98

Dispute this as too old.  The length of time baddies stay on your report is limited to 7 years.  At 10 years, this is way old.  Dispute with the Credit Bureau.

Tax liens have a different CRTP than other collections.

2. AT$T cell phone-$21  NO idea what this is

Send a DV letter to AT&T.  If you've never had their service, they will be pretty hard pressed to validate this as your debt, and should remove.

You can't DV a OC.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&thread.id=2689

Message Edited by sidewinder on 03-03-2008 08:50 AM

[farmgirlinwv]

Sidewinder...Now I'm confused. Are you saying I should let the lien stay as is?

The ATT is listed at 3/05. It is ATT Mgt Ctr. So, I should call them directly? I'll try it. We never had a cell phone w/ them, though we've had long dist w/ them.