Formulating a plan?

[OCcouple]

Hi all, I've been lurking in the forums for about a month now, soaking in as much info as I can, and still I'm pretty confused about it all!

So far I've only got the free EQ report from myFICO and that's the first time I've seen all my wife's things on the report, which explains why my score is 100 points below the last time I've seen it years ago. I no longer have the report as I didn't realize I had to save it in time. I've been unemployed but am now starting to work again, so I figured now is a good time to get another report. I'm not confident enough about a monitoring subscription yet so I got one of my free reports from annualcreditreport.com - my EXP report. I was surprised to see a message about all my wife's accounts not showing up when I get married, only if I have my name on one her accounts as an authorized user. Well, sure enough this report was far more favorable. Only two negatives: one CO from Verizon in '05 (which I still don't remember ever actually having) and a lot of lates from '07 from the county I live in because I was behind on child support up until then.

So my questions so far are:

1. Why am I seeing such a drastic difference in what accounts are being reported between the two that I received so far?

edit: I just read that the marriage credit merging thing is a myth. Is that true? I'm only on 2 of her accounts and they are in good standing because I pay them. Does that mean my EQ report just has a bunch of bogus info?

2. Should I dispute the Verizon CO? If so do I have to do so on each bureau's site?

3. I only could see utilization on the myFICO EQ report. Is that because I'm just getting a report from EXP and not a score, where the EQ one came with a FICO score?

4. I've been thinking there's nothing I can do about the child support thing, but maybe a GW letter is in order?

I'm sure I will have a lot more questions once I've got my reports figured out, but any help just getting to that point will be very much appreciated!

[llecs]

1) I'm not clear on your question or familiar with the myth. Not every creditor reports to all 3. Conversely, not every baddie reports to all 3. You'll be very hard pressed to get all 3 reports to match exactly alike. Likewise, your FICO scores won't be the same.

2) I wouldn't dispute if there was even a slight chance of it being yours. If not 100% certain, you can always call them and ask for the last couple of bills to prove/disprove that you did business with them before. If it is yours, then send a PFD. If not yours, and they won't delete, then you can always claim ID theft and file a police report. Use that report to dispute and it'll go away. Without it, they'll very likely verify and report worse than what they are reporting now, or at least IME anyway.

3) I'm not clear on your question, but you can purchase both TU and EQ reports from myFICO.com. Both reports will usually show your utilization on pages 2 or 3, within the section of the Pos/Neg factors that are hurting your FICO score. All of myFICO.com reports have a FICO score. As of early last year, you can't pull your EX FICO from anywhere, but you can still get an EX report from several sources (minus the FICO score).

4) You can try a GW on the child support, and I've seen posts in here that resulted in a favorable response from the court of whomever is reporting it. However, even if your lates were removed it wouldn't impact your FICO score. Child support isn't included in FICO calculations.

[OCcouple]

Thank you for responding. It sounds like I need to just get the other 2 bureau reports and find out what the deal is. As for Verizon, I can PFD? I didn't even consider that because I was thinking that a CO meant the balance goes to a CA. i guess that isn't necessarily true. Under status it says "Paid, Closed. $104 written off" then under history says "Charge Off as of Dec 2005". Credit limit shows the amount written off but monthly payment shows $0. I took that as it having 0 balance meaning it went to a CA. I need to learn how to read and understand these I guess. I'll gladly try a PFD on that account. Still no idea what it is and it's brought up every time I try to borrow. Would be nice to have it gone even though it will drop off soon.

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@llecs wrote:

3) I'm not clear on your question, but you can purchase both TU and EQ reports from myFICO.com. Both reports will usually show your utilization on pages 2 or 3, within the section of the Pos/Neg factors that are hurting your FICO score. All of myFICO.com reports have a FICO score. As of early last year, you can't pull your EX FICO from anywhere, but you can still get an EX report from several sources (minus the FICO score).

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Maybe it's just the way I'm reading the report again. Does myFICO just pull the data and calculate the utilization for a neat way of showing you? Considering the account details show the latest balances and credit limits? I didn't get a nice utilization part of the report like I did on myFICO, and what I was asking earlier is if that is because it doesn't come with a FICO score.

Thanks again for responding. That was a huge help

edit: just got TU report. the badies from the EQ report are on there too: a paid collections for some medical thing and one of my wife's credit cards that lists me as an authorized user. I don't think I've ever used that account, I'm really frustrated that it is showing up at all. I was planning to PFD it (might as well for both me AND my wife), but is there anything else I can do on my end because it is listed as "authorized user"? I thought authorized user accounts weren't allowed to affect credit scores anymore? Can I dispute them with the OC and CRA's?

[llecs]

It looks like Verizon sold the debt if they report $0. Your only option with them at this point is to send a GW letter and to be on guard for any future CA.

People usually pull from myFICO because of the FICO score as opposed to report details, though FICO reports do show what's hurting your score the most (e.g. util for many). You can pull your reports from many sources including 3rd party providers (e.g. truecredit, freecreditreport.com, freescore.com and a hundred others), but those don't offer FICO scores and their advice is bad too. Some of those reports show utilization and some don't. BTW, as your FICO score improves and if your util drops and no longer is a dominant factor to your score, the utilization will disappear from the reports. It has come and gone on mine, but I also track everything via Excel so it isn't necessary to see it on the report all the time.

BTW, there are only a limited number of places you can get a FICO score...Other than myFICO.com, you can also get your EQ FICO from Equifax.com or from your lender. Other than myFICO.com, you can also get your TU FICO from transunioncs.com (note the -cs) and from your lender. Finally, as of last year, Experian no longer allows consumers to pull their own EX FICO score, but you can get it from your lender or on your checking statement if you happen to have a checking account with a CU in PA called PSECU. Any other score from any other source are not FICO scores, but a knock-off we call FAKOs.

On the topic of the AU, because it isn't your account and you are not a joint holder, you can dispute as "not mine". They'll likely delete it off yours right away. On the flip side, doing that may increase collection activity for your DW. If the OC still owns the account, then fire off a PFD. if the balance is over the reported CL, then you guys may benefit by just paying it off and then GWing later. Cards reporting over the limit are a big score drainer.

AU accounts are still scored by FICO. Some FAKO scores, like Vantage, do not score AUs.

[RobertEG]

Welcome, OCcouple.

You apparently have been reading a lot of misconcepetions.

Credit reporting is individual.  Marriage does not merge spousal credit reports, and thus does not affect each other's credit scores, UNLESS you are joint owners of the account, or one has authorized the other as an official authorized user of the account.

I can assure you that the most complete and accurate credit report that you can get from anyone, as a consumer, is your free annual credit report from annualcreditreport.com.  You apparently have this, so that would be the foundation for my "plan."

Look at your credit reports, not as accounts, but as individual derogs reported, each to be dealt with separately.

Get out a blank piece of paper, and list each and every delinquency and derog in your CR, by date of delinquency, and by type of delinquency.

If it is a monthly delinquency on an OC account,  just add 7 years to the date of its delinquency, and that is its credit report deletion date.

If it is a charge-off or collection on an OC account, you need to first determine the date you first went delinquent on payment of the OC account.  The date they reported the CO or Ca  is really not relevant.  Once you have that DOFD on the OC account, then add 180-days to that date, and then the CO must be deleted from your CR after 7 years from that date.

That piece of paper is your plan.

As for the Verizon charge-off, I dunno.  You say it was charged-off back in 12/2005.  That implies a DOFD on the original first default with them back in, maybe, 2004?

So when does the 7 1/2 years from DOFD expire?    If Verison is now reporting a $0 balance, then you are probably correct.  That implies that they have sold the debt to a third party debt collection, who will either soon be calling you, or posting to ypur CR.  If the Verizon post as OC prior reporting is still in your CR, then of course you can still disptue the accuracy of their reporting, regardless of whether they still own the debt.  But you mist provide documentation of their inaccuracy of their reporting.

Whatever your trevails may bring, no CO or future CA reporting, based on that OC account, can remain in your CR for more than 7 1/2 years from the date of your first delinquency (DOFD) on the original Verizon OC account.

You need to nail down the DOFD on the Verizon OC account.

[OCcouple]

Yeah, that AU account I will have to be careful about. I've already told my DW to hold off on talking to them, to be sure she makes the minimum payment, and to NOT pay off the entire balance given the chance without going through me first. I want to be sure we approach it the right way.

If you don't mind me asking about this:

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@llecs wrote:

On the topic of the AU, because it isn't your account and you are not a joint holder, you can dispute as "not mine". They'll likely delete it off yours right away. On the flip side, doing that may increase collection activity for your DW. If the OC still owns the account, then fire off a PFD. if the balance is over the reported CL, then you guys may benefit by just paying it off and then GWing later. Cards reporting over the limit are a big score drainer.

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Yeah, the balance is way over the CL =/

Sounds like there are a lot of options, it's just a matter of picking the right one. Maybe you can help me decide. The account is closed but OC still owns it. We were late a lot over the summer when I was laid off but are making minimum payments regularly now. If DW calls and attempts to remove me as a user, could that trigger collections too?  We don't have enough to PIF.  Should I wait until we do before I do any of these actions?

My primary goal is to have a better credit score for me, because I have been told I don't need to use my wife's for the mortgage even though I live in a community property state (and fixing my DTI is also a reason why I need to pay off the balances). My FICO for EQ (from myFICO) was barely over 600. I figure if I can remove these lates from the AU account, which are the only lates in the last 2 years and the only lates outside of child support, and I also pay down the balances to less than 9%, then I should be good. I'm still trying to figure out what monitoring service to use. Perhaps SW for the single FICO to get an idea on improvement over time with CRA reports from some other site.

Thanks again for the advice. My plan is starting to come together

[OCcouple]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Welcome, OCcouple.

You apparently have been reading a lot of misconcepetions

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I'd like to clarify that I wasn't reading them here. These are misconceptions I've gotten by word of mouth.

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RobertEG wrote

As for the Verizon charge-off, I dunno.  You say it was charged-off back in 12/2005.  That implies a DOFD on the original first default with them back in, maybe, 2004?

So when does the 7 1/2 years from DOFD expire?    If Verison is now reporting a $0 balance, then you are probably correct.  That implies that they have sold the debt to a third party debt collection, who will either soon be calling you, or posting to ypur CR.  If the Verizon post as OC prior reporting is still in your CR, then of course you can still disptue the accuracy of their reporting, regardless of whether they still own the debt.  But you mist provide documentation of their inaccuracy of their reporting.

Whatever your trevails may bring, no CO or future CA reporting, based on that OC account, can remain in your CR for more than 7 1/2 years from the date of your first delinquency (DOFD) on the original Verizon OC account.

You need to nail down the DOFD on the Verizon OC account.

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Well, the TU report has the estimated drop off date in early 2012. This isn't exactly going to help me with a home search next year, other than it being really old.

[RobertEG]

Dont ever rely on credit report statements of estimated "drop off dates."   I will spare you for now, with why they, in my opnion,  should not to be relied upon.

Just first know your legal DOFD on the OC account.  DOFD is the  first date that you became delinquent on the OC account, and have not, thereafter, placed the account back into paid, good standing status.

That is the ONLY date that matters for CO or CA deletion.  FCRA 605(c). 

If you can prove that date, and that date alone, then we can legally support for legal CR deletion after 7 years plus 180 days from that  DOFD.

I assure you that other dates will then become meaningless. That includes any "estimated date" the CRA has provided.

[llecs]

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@OCcouple wrote:

Sounds like there are a lot of options, it's just a matter of picking the right one. Maybe you can help me decide. The account is closed but OC still owns it. We were late a lot over the summer when I was laid off but are making minimum payments regularly now. If DW calls and attempts to remove me as a user, could that trigger collections too?  We don't have enough to PIF.  Should I wait until we do before I do any of these actions?

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I would wait, though paying it below the CL, and assuming you have none others like these, then you'd see a significant bump (10-20+) by paying it below the CL. Once you PIF, then the CC is removed from utilization because it is closed. I would save up as quick as possible and then either cosider a dispute w/ the CRA(s) on your end to remove the AU followed up immediately with a PFD on your DW's end. If after a few tries at PFD fail, then I'd PIF and then start with the GWs. Keep paying on it now though, IMO.

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@OCcouple wrote:

My primary goal is to have a better credit score for me, because I have been told I don't need to use my wife's for the mortgage even though I live in a community property state (and fixing my DTI is also a reason why I need to pay off the balances). My FICO for EQ (from myFICO) was barely over 600. I figure if I can remove these lates from the AU account, which are the only lates in the last 2 years and the only lates outside of child support, and I also pay down the balances to less than 9%, then I should be good. I'm still trying to figure out what monitoring service to use. Perhaps SW for the single FICO to get an idea on improvement over time with CRA reports from some other site.

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Child Support isn't factored into FICO scoring. Those lates are not hurting your FICO score, though I don't know how lenders see it.

For options on credit monitoring services (CMSs), check out this thread:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Credit-Monitoring-Service-CMS-Guide/td-p/66254...

Know that 95% of CMSs out there do not offer FICO scores. There's a finite number of places you can get a FICO, but a CMS (FICO or no FICO) is great in tracking changes to your CRs. As you see changes (e.g. dropped accounts, fixed baddies, etc.) then you can always come back here to track those FICO score changes. Ignore the scores that come with those CMSs (if it doesn't say "FICO").

If engaged in fixing your credit on a day to day basis, and you have lots going on in your CRs, then you may benefit from a daily puller. The only daily puller I know of out there is creditchecktotal.com. You can pull all 3 credit reports everyday to track changes to balances, accounts, etc. Even after my baddies have been removed, I use CCT to track the balances. DW still has a couple of baddies that are poised to drop and I use CCT for her too. Also with CCT, you can also get, via their backdoor, a full copy of your EX CR. This copy shows a full 7-yr history as opposed to CCT's 2, and you can see better demographic info, better comments, and soft inquiries to see who is snooping around your CR. I also subscribe to EQ's Credit Complete. Instead of a daily report, I only get once per month, but I also get unlimited EQ reports. Like with EX, it comes with more info. Finally, DW and I both subscribe to SW and that tracks changes to our EQ FICO and DW subscribes to TU Quarterly Monitoring. It really doesn't monitor anything like SW, but you can get 4 TU FICO reports per year at fixed intervals (quarterly) at a discount.

It takes time, some money, printer ink, and paper, but it's worth it having clean reports come mortgage time.

BTW, if apping for a mortgage (DW and I are now), be sure to Opt-Out with each CRA.

[OCcouple]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Dont ever rely on credit report statements of estimated "drop off dates."   I will spare you for now, with why they, in my opnion,  should not to be relied upon.

Just first know your legal DOFD on the OC account.  DOFD is the  first date that you became delinquent on the OC account, and have not, thereafter, placed the account back into paid, good standing status.

That is the ONLY date that matters for CO or CA deletion.

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How does one find out the DOFD without even remembering the account? I clearly have no records of my own. Am I able to call them and ask about it? Anything else I can do?

Also, I see now the balance is indeed $0 and it was sold to collections. I don't recall ever paying a CA. If I opt-out, do I still have to worry about them popping when I'm trying to get a mortgage? I guess I can't PFD but I can GW this account?