The last activity is the last time you made a payment on the account, probably to the original creditor. Now it is with collections and you have not paid them, so the date of last actiity is before the OC sold the account to a collection agency.
EX:694 TU:744 EQ:777The account should fall off 7.5 years from date of first delinquency. I don't have advice for whether or not its a good idea to pay it or not. I have had collections before but I had to pay them for security-related reasons related to my work.
Ok, new to this and confused. I get that the original medical bill *in colIections* I have is from Dec 2007, then the date opened is Jan 2008 - is when collections took over? And the date reported is what? The SOL where I live is 3 years so why is it still showing? Is it because the date reported is Aug 2012? And what if the balance is zero? How long before that drops off or can I send a letter to get it off?
And then there's the medical lien on my credit that's from a suit between me and my old landlord and I actually won. I worked with a lawyer to get it off, sent the paperwork to the CRs and yet, it's still there. Since Jun 2011. I can't imagine that's helping me. How to get that removed?
I am trying desperately to clean up my credit so I can buy a house next year. I have about $5k in medical bills/collections and figured I would start hitting them off one by one. Then there's the $3,246 I owe some apartment complex because I co-signed a lease with my daughter and now she's unable to pay.
And what about stuff like HSBC bank and First Premier? Both of those were paid off but they are still showing as bad debt/skip. And I had those about 5 years ago but the dates are reported in 2010, date of last activity 2009, date opened 2008. What can I do to get those off?
So now that I'm back working and trying to get it together, I read the posts as often as I can. Any assistance would be grately appreciated.
Thanks all!
Starting Score: 500
First, I would suggest that you obtain your credit report through myfico.com for your Equifax and TransUnion credit report and scores so that you will know exactly what is on your report. Information may be on one report and not the other; you may also find you have duplicate trade lines that are negatively impacting your score that you can immediately dispute.
Next, here's the bottom line, you may have better luck with getting the medical trade lines removed from OC and collections agency. With regards to the collections for an unpaid lease, you might be able to negotiate a settlement agreement to pay a certain amount in exchange for full deletion of the tradeline. Full payment will likely get what you want, but I would start by negotiating an agreement to pay half owed to resolve the debt owed in exchange for full deletion of it from your credit reports. If the creditor rejects your offer; then you can up the anti to a higher amount or agree to make the payment in full (last result) in exchange for full deletion of the account from your credit profile. However, the others you might have to just wait 7.5 years from the date of your first derragotory on said accounts before the tradelines are removed.
There area various sample letters for request original creditors and/or credit agencies to validate debt they say you owe. Do not provide any detailed information other than your full name and the original creditor's name. The less info you give them, the more work and time it will take for them to respond. The burden of proof is on them and no need for you to help them work against you. Typically you would send debt validation letters to collections agencies iff the account was sold to a collections agency. What you can hope is that the credit agency might not have the info readily available, do not have the staff available or simply do not want to go through the hassle and by default, you could end up with successful deletion from your credit profile/report. In addition, there are sample letters for settlement requests to origianl creditors and collection agencies all over the internet. Just Google "debt validation template letters" and "credit settlement template letters", etc. When sending these letters, ensure to do so via certified return receipt mail. Only communicate with the original creditors in writing.
Word to the Wise: Do not accept or agree to anything via phone no matter what type of pressure or tactics they decide to use. As a matter of fact, you should add a statement requesting that they "cease and desist" contacting you via phone directly or through third parties and that all communications occur in writing. Ensure you obtain all agreements in writing. The creditors including credit agencies must respond in a certain amount of days under the Fair Credit Reporting Act or they must automatically delete it for failure to respond in a reasonable manner under FCRA laws. In your letter, you should also state if they fail to respond by the deadline you will seek legal action for their violation of FCRA and Fair Trade Commission (FTC) laws and regulations. Again, there is plenty of info on the internet with respect to template letters and language to include in your letters.
Last, but not least...be patient when going throught this letter writing process and waiting. Anyway, you can do this yourself without an attorney. This is basically what attorneys do for their clients. If you are lucky, which it seems like you were not, attorneys hired will be vigilant or they will just continue to leach and have you continue to pay for their services and additional hours to continue to try and dispute, request debt validation or negotiate settlements. Otherwise, you are better off taking the time you do it yourself. In the end, it will be worth it. It can take up to 6 months on average to see result and sometimes longer depending on the situation.
If your accounts are nearing 6 or 7 years old, I would not even bother any of the above. You should just be patient and await these credit lines to automatically expire. In the meanwhile, you should focus on your open accounts and paying off or payting towards getting your balances down to no more than 10 - 20% credit usage of your credit limits per credit account (assuming you have open/active accounts). You want to ensure your new credit is trending two consecutive years or more of positive (no lates) payment history. Depending upon your currect credit score, it might be a good idea to open a secured Mastercard or Visa CC to help build your credit. You could also request a credit limit increase for any credit accounts that you have been paying on time for at least the last 6 months especially if the creditor only conducts a "soft" inquiry. This can boost your credit score a few points and sometimes more depending on the amount of the increase (either way, any point increase would be worth it). You can also ask the creditor would they have to pull a soft or hard inquiry so you can decide whether to proceed since inquiries can cause your credit score to decline depending upon how many you already have, etc.
Starting Score: EQU 584 EXP 568 TU 555Thanks for the info. I have been paying on my car for over a year and my daughter's car, which I'm a co-signer, for about 2 years. Thanks for the info. Sometimes it's just hard to know where to start. I will look up the letters and send them out.
thanks again!