Hello 
I posted some of this over on the mortgage board and a helpful person refered me over here So here is my situation... My fiance and I want to buy our first house. In about 14 months we'll be finished saving everything we need, however we're worried about our credit. My scores don't match up... I have 499 with TU, 565 from equifax, and a 540 from experian. His are 587, 464, and 584. We're confident we can get them into the 600's before we're ready to buy. The major problem tho is that we both have collections on our history. I'll give you a run down of what they are. The only thing is I dont know if I should tell you the date reported, date opened, or date of last activity??? so I guess I'll do all three...
Mine
-A $628 charge off reported 11/07 that is fraudulant and I am in the process of having it investigated. DO-04/06 DLA 06/06
-$205 collection reported 07/07 for an unpaid cable bill DO 04/07 DLA not provided
His (this is the long one)
-$5026 charge off reported 01/08 DO 10/02 DLA 09/03
-$1006 collection reported 09/07 DO 10/02 DLA not provided
-$1489 collection reported 01/08 DO 12/04 DLA not provided
-$1489 coll. reported 1/08, same bill as above, but a different creditor reporting it
-$1489 coll. again the same bill! it appears 3 times on his report, 2 by the same creditor, can they do this??
-$896 col. reported 09/04 DO 08/02 DLA 09/03
-$838 col. reported 12/07 DO 07/04 DLA not provided
-$596 col. reported 11/07 DO 09/07 DLA not provided
-$386 col reported 12/07 DO 11/06 DLA not provided
-$371 col rported 01/08 DO not provided, DLA 01/04
-$371 same bill as above, same creditor, reporting the same thing twice 
plus there are 2 charge offs that do not say how much was owed, just say that the account was purchased by another lender, they are both from 2004
Ok... so thats a lot of info. I don't really know what to make of it all, so hopefully some of the nice people on here will I've been told that we need to pay everyone of them off, that we need to pay any occuring in the last two years (does that mean they were opened in the last 2 years or reported then?) We're planning on looking to buy in about a year and a half, we shouldn't have any accounts less than two years old then. I've also heard that if we pay any of them it will show up as new debt and keep us from getting a mortgage. oy, so many conflicting things floating around out there! I'm so confused! Also I was wondering, there are 2 accounts on there that show up a total of 5 times, can collectors double report like that? it seems like that should be a very very wrong thing to do
I know this is a long post... So I appriciate you taking time out of your life to help!! thanks in advance!
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@Anonymous wrote:Hello
Yes! All three ARE important. I'll tell you why:
DOLA (Date of Last Activity): this date determines whether or not you are still within your state's SoL (Statute of Limitations) -- this decides whether or not you run the risk of being sued for the debt.
Date Reported: This date is the date the entry/tradeline was last reported to the CRAs. Unfortunately, when a CA updates your CRs, this date changes and FICO "sees" your collection account as being a "new" one.
Sometimes, CAs will update the CRAs just to mess with you -- they know that it dings your score every time they do this. It's leverage, pure and simple. Just a tactic they use to *force* you to pay the debt.
Date Opened: Simply, its the date the CA received the file on the debt (or purchased the debt).
*Another date that's important is the Date of Final Delinquency (DOFD). This date determines how long the item stays on your credit reports (also known as the Credit Reporting Time Period -- 7-7.75 years).
To find out the DOFD, get your credit reports directly from each bureau. I think EX is the best one for seeing that -- I don't remember.
Mine
-A $628 charge off reported 11/07 that is fraudulant and I am in the process of having it investigated. DO-04/06 DLA 06/06
-$205 collection reported 07/07 for an unpaid cable bill DO 04/07 DLA not provided
Who's the cable provider?
His (this is the long one)
-$5026 charge off reported 01/08 DO 10/02 DLA 09/03
This one will fall off (rough guesstimate) around August '09. Who's it with? If it falls off, it's a non-issue on your mortgage loan, since it'll no longer be on his CRs.
BTW, unless you disputed this one, they're being total jerks. By updating this account (if you notice, they updated just last month), they're constantly pulling his score down.
-$1006 collection reported 09/07 DO 10/02 DLA not provided
Again, will probably fall off near the end of this year. I'd just wait it out.
-$1489 collection reported 01/08 DO 12/04 DLA not provided
-$1489 coll. reported 1/08, same bill as above, but a different creditor reporting it
-$1489 coll. again the same bill! it appears 3 times on his report,
2 by the same creditor, can they do this??
Nope, they can't. Dispute with the applicable CRAs as "duplicates." They'll probably all disappear at first, but one will more than likely come back in a month or two (so you're not surprised).
However, for each debt, you can have two different "creditors" report: the Original Creditor (OC) and **ONE** CA (Collection Agency). So if one is ACME Credit Cards and the other is ZENITH Collections, it's legal for the TWO to report the SAME tradeline. Three to report? Nope. Illegal.
(FTR, a CA isn't really considered a creditor)
-$896 col. reported 09/04 DO 08/02 DLA 09/03
That one will fall off this year, too. I'd wait it out.
-$838 col. reported 12/07 DO 07/04 DLA not provided
-$596 col. reported 11/07 DO 09/07 DLA not provided
-$386 col reported 12/07 DO 11/06 DLA not provided
Offer a PFD for all of these. I'd make an offer of 75% on the '04 and '06 debts -- as long as they're not longer within SoL.
-$371 col rported 01/08 DO not provided, DLA 01/04
-$371 same bill as above, same creditor, reporting the same thing twice
Dispute as "duplicates."
plus there are 2 charge offs that do not say how much was owed, just say that the account was purchased by another lender, they are both from 2004
Do they say that they're charged off or just that they were purchased by another lender? If the former, I'd dispute with CRAs to get information on the creditors (they HAVE to provide that info). If the latter, don't mess with them -- it's not hurting your scores.
Ok... so thats a lot of info. I don't really know what to make of it all, so hopefully some of the nice people on here will
I've been told that we need to pay everyone of them off, that we need to pay any occuring in the last two years (does that mean they were opened in the last 2 years or reported then?)
NO. That's not true. Not one bit. You don't have to pay any of these off. And never pay them without a PFD agreement.
We're planning on looking to buy in about a year and a half, we shouldn't have any accounts less than two years old then. I've also heard that if we pay any of them it will show up as new debt and keep us from getting a mortgage.
That's true (showing up as "new" debt). It wouldn't keep you from qualifying for a mortgage, per se, but it *would* lower your FICO scores.
oy, so many conflicting things floating around out there! I'm so confused! Also I was wondering, there are 2 accounts on there that show up a total of 5 times, can collectors double report like that? it seems like that should be a very very wrong thing to do
I know this is a long post... So I appriciate you taking time out of your life to help!! thanks in advance!
Bottom line is that you want to apply for a mortgage about a year from now, right? By that time, almost every single neg will have aged off naturally. Those that are to fall off this year, I'd not even muss with -- or worry about.
We also need to know what state you're in and what kind of accounts the most recent collections are for. We'll take a look-see at your state's (and the state the debt was accrued in) SoL and see if you can offer them a PFD all comfy and cozy -- but first, we need to know what states we're looking at!
@Anonymous wrote:Hello
Yes! All three ARE important. I'll tell you why:
DOLA (Date of Last Activity): this date determines whether or not you are still within your state's SoL (Statute of Limitations) -- this decides whether or not you run the risk of being sued for the debt.
Date Reported: This date is the date the entry/tradeline was last reported to the CRAs. Unfortunately, when a CA updates your CRs, this date changes and FICO "sees" your collection account as being a "new" one.
Sometimes, CAs will update the CRAs just to mess with you -- they know that it dings your score every time they do this. It's leverage, pure and simple. Just a tactic they use to *force* you to pay the debt.
Date Opened: Simply, its the date the CA received the file on the debt (or purchased the debt).
*Another date that's important is the Date of Final Delinquency (DOFD). This date determines how long the item stays on your credit reports (also known as the Credit Reporting Time Period -- 7-7.75 years).
To find out the DOFD, get your credit reports directly from each bureau. I think EX is the best one for seeing that -- I don't remember.
Mine
-A $628 charge off reported 11/07 that is fraudulant and I am in the process of having it investigated. DO-04/06 DLA 06/06
-$205 collection reported 07/07 for an unpaid cable bill DO 04/07 DLA not provided
Who's the cable provider?
His (this is the long one)
-$5026 charge off reported 01/08 DO 10/02 DLA 09/03
This one will fall off (rough guesstimate) around August '09. Who's it with? If it falls off, it's a non-issue on your mortgage loan, since it'll no longer be on his CRs.
BTW, unless you disputed this one, they're being total jerks. By updating this account (if you notice, they updated just last month), they're constantly pulling his score down.
-$1006 collection reported 09/07 DO 10/02 DLA not provided
Again, will probably fall off near the end of this year. I'd just wait it out.
-$1489 collection reported 01/08 DO 12/04 DLA not provided
-$1489 coll. reported 1/08, same bill as above, but a different creditor reporting it
-$1489 coll. again the same bill! it appears 3 times on his report,
2 by the same creditor, can they do this??
Nope, they can't. Dispute with the applicable CRAs as "duplicates." They'll probably all disappear at first, but one will more than likely come back in a month or two (so you're not surprised).
However, for each debt, you can have two different "creditors" report: the Original Creditor (OC) and **ONE** CA (Collection Agency). So if one is ACME Credit Cards and the other is ZENITH Collections, it's legal for the TWO to report the SAME tradeline. Three to report? Nope. Illegal.
(FTR, a CA isn't really considered a creditor)
-$896 col. reported 09/04 DO 08/02 DLA 09/03
That one will fall off this year, too. I'd wait it out.
-$838 col. reported 12/07 DO 07/04 DLA not provided
-$596 col. reported 11/07 DO 09/07 DLA not provided
-$386 col reported 12/07 DO 11/06 DLA not provided
Offer a PFD for all of these. I'd make an offer of 75% on the '04 and '06 debts -- as long as they're not longer within SoL.
-$371 col rported 01/08 DO not provided, DLA 01/04
-$371 same bill as above, same creditor, reporting the same thing twice
Dispute as "duplicates."
plus there are 2 charge offs that do not say how much was owed, just say that the account was purchased by another lender, they are both from 2004
Do they say that they're charged off or just that they were purchased by another lender? If the former, I'd dispute with CRAs to get information on the creditors (they HAVE to provide that info). If the latter, don't mess with them -- it's not hurting your scores.
Ok... so thats a lot of info. I don't really know what to make of it all, so hopefully some of the nice people on here will
I've been told that we need to pay everyone of them off, that we need to pay any occuring in the last two years (does that mean they were opened in the last 2 years or reported then?)
NO. That's not true. Not one bit. You don't have to pay any of these off. And never pay them without a PFD agreement.
We're planning on looking to buy in about a year and a half, we shouldn't have any accounts less than two years old then. I've also heard that if we pay any of them it will show up as new debt and keep us from getting a mortgage.
That's true (showing up as "new" debt). It wouldn't keep you from qualifying for a mortgage, per se, but it *would* lower your FICO scores.
oy, so many conflicting things floating around out there! I'm so confused! Also I was wondering, there are 2 accounts on there that show up a total of 5 times, can collectors double report like that? it seems like that should be a very very wrong thing to do
I know this is a long post... So I appriciate you taking time out of your life to help!! thanks in advance!
Bottom line is that you want to apply for a mortgage about a year from now, right? By that time, almost every single neg will have aged off naturally. Those that are to fall off this year, I'd not even muss with -- or worry about.
We also need to know what state you're in and what kind of accounts the most recent collections are for. We'll take a look-see at your state's (and the state the debt was accrued in) SoL and see if you can offer them a PFD all comfy and cozy -- but first, we need to know what states we're looking at!
BTW, Florida or California?
I ask 'cause DH is a SCUBA-head, too. We're in Florida!
Most people that LOVE to SCUBA live where it's uber easy to drop in the water!
I ask 'cause DH is a SCUBA-head, too. We're in Florida!
Most people that LOVE to SCUBA live where it's uber easy to drop in the water!
Who's the cable provider?
Time warner cable
Do they say that they're charged off or just that they were purchased by another lender? If the former, I'd dispute with CRAs to get information on the creditors (they HAVE to provide that info). If the latter, don't mess with them -- it's not hurting your scores.
I'm not too sure... Under status they are listed as charge offs, and then under the account number they say "transferred to another lender; Purchased by another lender"
NO. That's not true. Not one bit. You don't have to pay any of these off. And never pay them without a PFD agreement.
Is that true with all mortgages? we were looking at an FHA and thats when someone told us that with FHA you can't have any collections.
More info... I'm in Texas. The more recent accounts are for AT&T, Sprint, and best buy.
And i've never been diving in cali or florida I actually got certified in colorado, and the only open water experience I have is diving in hawaii, which was amazing! All my time underwater (400+ hours) really comes from my old job, I was a diver in the aquarium at sea world. It was fun, and I was happy being underwater at least, but I really want to do some more dives in the real ocean one day...
@Anonymous wrote:Who's the cable provider?
Time warner cable
Well, crap. They're supposed to be a real toughie. Send them a PFD anyway. Some people have gotten lucky, so there's no reason not to spend the $ on a stamp and envelope.
One tactic with GWs is to use colored stationery -- supposedly it gets the recipient to open yours rather than circular file it (trash it). I'd also give it a wee spritz with some nice perfume (not the expensive stuff though -- if a woman gets it, you don't want her to *know* that it's the expensive stuff).
Do they say that they're charged off or just that they were purchased by another lender? If the former, I'd dispute with CRAs to get information on the creditors (they HAVE to provide that info). If the latter, don't mess with them -- it's not hurting your scores.
I'm not too sure... Under status they are listed as charge offs, and then under the account number they say "transferred to another lender; Purchased by another lender"
Crap, again. That status is more than likely hurting you. Dispute with the CRAs as "not yours" (assuming that since you don't know WHO it is, you don't necessarily know if it IS yours) -- the CRAs, if it's verified, will give you the contact info and name of the creditor. From there, you can offer a PFD or:
Personally, I'll bet you 100 FICO points that it's a medical collection. Medical collections, like I said before, once paid, have to be removed per HIPAA laws. If it's a medical collection, you should be golden. Medical collections don't usually say "Transferred to another lender" -- since it's not quite credit -- but CRAs have been known to do weird stuff before.
Bottom line: you need to find out what it is before you can attack it.
NO. That's not true. Not one bit. You don't have to pay any of these off. And never pay them without a PFD agreement.
Is that true with all mortgages? we were looking at an FHA and thats when someone told us that with FHA you can't have any collections.
Nope. Your friend's wrong, wrong, wrong.
For one thing, FHA doesn't give a rat's patootie about old collections -- lenders will, however, often add stricter requirements to buyers before approving a loan. So while FHA may tell you (and they more than likely WILL) "Hey Scuba, don't you worry about that silly old collection," the lender might say "Hold up there, Missy ... you need to pay that collection off at the closing table."
In which case, you bring a check for EVERYTHING you're s'posed to (including the collection) and the Title Agent makes the payment to the CA.
More info... I'm in Texas. The more recent accounts are for AT&T, Sprint, and best buy.
Yuck. They're not the nicest people to deal with.
For AT&T and Sprint -- how old are they? Are they over 2 years? If so, send them PFDs -- some have gotten their PFDs accepted by those goobers. Paper them with PFDs.
I specify AT&T and Sprint with that question because phone carriers only have, as per Federal law, 2 years to sue you for unpaid bills. After that 2 year window, you've got some leverage in getting them to settle and PFD.
Best Buy ... how old is that one? That one, I think I'd leave alone. Chances are, you're still within SoL on that one. They can still sue -- and you don't want to wake them up by poking them with a giant pointy stick.
And i've never been diving in cali or florida
LOL! You are totally speaking my DH's language!
He got qualified (PADI, of course) in the Keys when he was 12, has dove off every single Key, gone reef-diving in Aussie land, the Bahamas, CA, Canary Islands, and off some big military boat in the middle of where-he-can't-tell-me-or-he'll-have-to-shoot-me.
He actually does work for the SEALs. And we're stationed at the base where the Navy's Dive School is. He even got to help our local college's dive Forensic Team (yes, that's where they go look for crime evidence and dead bodies underwater) -- he even helped find pieces of the Challenger when it exploded.
Now, before you think I'm bragging on him, I gotta say, all the experience in the water that he's had, he'd trade in a second for your old job! I am so not crapping you! We have Gulf World (um ... yeah, Gulf World is Sea World's half-brother, twice removed, who's a little tetched in the head) and DH will stand there and watch the aquarium divers and just ... drool. Last time we went, we spent LITERALLY 3 hours just sitting there ... watching.
He's currently working on getting Gulf World to hire our DD (14, swims like a guppy on crack) for this summer to help out with the aquarium divers (take care of their gear and whatnot). Of course, he comes along as part of the deal.
And yes, he's willing to pay THEM for the pleasure!!
So there you go ... you now know one more person who's jealous of you!!
lol, it was fun for a while. But cleaning up giant piles of shark poo while wondering how much of it has made its way into your wetsuit gets a little old 
That and telling the 300th kid you've talked to that day "no, that is not the sting ray that killed steve erwin" and then explaining that a sting ray is not going to attack us while we're in there to the parent, who sadly comprehends what you tell them less than the kids... ugh. Now a SEAL, thats a cool job. thats like the stuff they make movies about!
If one of the creditors does decide to sue, would that impact our ability to get a mortgage?
@Anonymous wrote:lol, it was fun for a while. But cleaning up giant piles of shark poo while wondering how much of it has made its way into your wetsuit gets a little old
Well, unfortunately, for my DH, that wouldn't matter. He once waxed philosophical about a pile of poop that he found fossilized in a crick in Central Florida ("Honey! You don't understand! This poop could date back to the blah-blah-blah-scozoic period." -- Honestly, at that point, I don't listen anymore!) on a fossil hunt with DD.
My DH would be the guy struggling to get into the tank with the Great Whites covered in BB-Q sauce and wearing a speedo. Seriously. No Great Whites? Aww .. he'll settle for some nice Tiger Sharks.
Trust me, he'd think you're uber cool!!
Now a SEAL, thats a cool job. thats like the stuff they make movies about!
Enh. I dunno. I know some of them and let's just say that for the most part, SEALs are nicer in the movies! But then, those actors WERE hunky, so there ya go!
If one of the creditors does decide to sue, would that impact our ability to get a mortgage?
Yes, it would. A new judgment would severely ding your FICOs -- plus it would present a threat to the lender's interest in the home.
HOWEVER, this is where you answer one single question: The NEWEST ugly on your report: how new IS it? When EXACTLY did it go bad?
I ask that because TX has a 4 year SoL. So far, all the collections I've seen in your list are older (or just about) than 4 years. So if they ALL are over 4 years, you're fine!
Please holler back!!