Rebuilding Your Credit

[jenj1219]

Hi Everyone!  I have been reading things on this forum for a couple of weeks now.  I am 25 and DESPERATLEY want to rebuild my credit.  When I first moved out on my own I was 17 with a newborn and NEVER paid my bills!  However, I have only had one Citi card in my life when I was 18 that was paid, and they deleted it off of my credit reports.

I pulled all of my reports and scores today and they are HORRIBLE! 

I have a million collections, one judgement (not mine, though?), and my student loans (which are all reported PAYS AS AGREED)

All of my scores are around 480

Any thoughts on where to start?  Also, the information that the reports have on them are all wrong.  Wrong addresses, phone, etc.  How do I fix that?

What if I don't recognize all of the collection accounts?  There are 22 of them and some of them are from a state I have never lived in.

What do I do??  I appreciate any help or nudges in the right direction!

Thank you!

[Shogun]

I would send a DV to all the CAs that are listed on your CR.  This could be a case of wrongful person or identity theft.  See what they send back in response to the DVs, and pending that I would consider disputes, but only after you've gathered all the facts on these.

[jenj1219]

How do I go about sending a DV?  Thank you for your reply!

[Shogun]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations
What Steps do I take, DV, PFD or GW
Credit Scoring 101


This will give you an idea of where to start. Good Luck!