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I had a $139 paid collection to a city from Sept. 2009. I made a GW effort by letter a couple of months ago, and received a response that simply verified it was paid.
After having some GW successes on other paid collections, I tried again a few days ago, this time via email. I said, in short, that I hadn’t been aware of the collection due to inconsistent addresses during the time, it was paid, and I was now applying for a mortgage. I closed with my name and my P.O. Box address. The response came back -- "A bill was sent to your P.O. Box on 2/2012 it was paid on 8/2012. The amount will be marked "paid" and will remain on the credit report until Equifax takes it off."
Those happen to be the exact dates we lived in a homeless shelter. I quickly set about arranging for verification from the shelter (an ordeal of its own!) and meanwhile, I was drafting another response to focus on our financial inability to pay during that time, blah, blah. At the same time, I was trying to research the department I was talking to – seeking info on supervisor, org chart, the staff, or whatever. I came across an explicit statement they would delete under circumstances described in their credit policy. The policy focused 100% on the idea that the mail was undeliverable or you paid within 60 days of notification.
I revamped my letter to say that I did not have access to the P.O. Box while we lived in the shelter, due to distance, attached the shelter verification, and sent it off. Within a couple of hours I received an email: "I have processed a "delete" of this account from the credit report, based on your letter. It may take up to 30 days to come off of your report."
Moral of the story: 1) Persist, 2) Know your audience. I might have been rejected again if I'd focused on the financial ability to pay as I had planned on. I am glad I did my research & catered my comments to fit within their established rationale!
Congrats on the deletion
congrats
Good work. Hope everything is going better for you now.
Congrats on the deletion and more importantly, congrats on how far you've come. Good luck on getting the new house!
Thanks to all!
Shogun--Things are going superb for us now! I have the best, and best paid, job I've ever had. It's secure and we are all doing great. Thanks!
Growing123--Thanks about the mortgage. I felt it was a slightly borderline time to apply in terms of my FICO, but I can get a downpayment grant and a MCC if I can squeek in now. Because I had a job gap prior to this, it's not guaranteed that I'll qualify. They are doing a full underwriting now, to see if we can make it work. If not, I will definitely be in position by next year, but by then will probably have incomed out of the assistance. We'll see!