A quick general update on my upcoming timeline:
- Rewrite my student loan company requesting the final deletion of a 60 day late they had left (they deleted everything else)
- Start very specific actions regarding a sub-20 dollar medical collection that recently popped up (only on EX)
- This step requires putting a hold on my CRA actions described below on step 4 re: First Premier because I want to keep the medical aspect separate and distinct per advice I've received...i.e., I don't want "regular" disputes polluting the medical dispute, which has much more teeth, by having them lumped together.
- Request GW adjustments to my smattering of 30 day lates
- Tackle my First Premier issue. Long story short, they're reporting fairly inaccurately to each CRA with all sorts of discrepancies. I'm hoping to leverage this to clean that one up, but again have to wait until I clear the medical account.
I'm going to leave the CA tax lien alone for a bit. When I get the chance I'll update on this front. This is a tough one, and I'm debating a number of different approaches.
Starting Score: 578 (3/11/13)
@srchick wrote:I've been following your thread very closely re your "travails" with the CA FTB as your situation almost mirrors mine as well. I have been paying them installment agreement payments since last year, and sent a letter to them last week. Figured it couldn't hurt, and might even get the situation reversed. Will update when I hear back.
Apologies for the delay, but here's what I've done on this front over the last few weeks and where I think it takes me in the near- to medium-term future on this front. I should reiterate here that the back taxes owed were legit, I've never disputed that (I've just disputed the "handling" of it from an aggressive tax board that cares far less about actually engaging its citizens than it does grabbing as many dollars as possible).
- I sent an email to one of the CA state senators who has, in the past, pushed to have CA adopt a Fresh Start program and has been critical of how aggressive the CA FTB has been and continues to be.
- They recommended A) that I disupte with the CRAs (this surprised me a bit) and B) offered to fast track my issue to an advocate.
- The advocate was sympathetic, and seemed genuine about it, but maintains that all processes were followed and the lien was not filed in error. Nothing needs to be sent certified mail, they only have to reach out to you at a known address and make a genuine attempt. I translate that as the FTB follows a few cursory steps with absolutely no regard for whether what they're doing will have the desired effect. It's always been ironic to me that the state is like some NSA data wizard when they're hunting someone down for money they can't seize (i.e. parking tickets when you're no longer a resident), but puts in a third of the effort (if that) when they know at the end of the day they're greenlighted to just grab what they want.
So at this point I doubt very much that I have a prayer of a goodwill removal or other "human" intervention from the goodness of their hearts. This leaves me with a what I see as three options, which I list below in order of "escalation" (i.e., I hope that the first works and there's no need to take it higher).
- I dispute with the CRAs in a very broad way. This isn't likely to work but I may get lucky (for reasons outlined in my #2 tactic).
- I dispute a bit more aggressively. I have a very common name and, apparently, the last four of my social and other pertinent info (DOB, etc) match *several* people who share my very common name. By way of example, when I'm pulled over (it's very rare) I have to instruct the officer to run FULL detail or it may look like I have warrants (I say this from experience and nearly having to fly to Kentucky to deal with a mistaken identity). Similarly, I had to submit to a background check for a client on site project last year, and it came back that I had actually held someone against their will (wrongful imprisonment I think). Fortunately it was VERY easy to prove this wasn't me and the somewhat cursory public records search was to blame. I believe that CRAs crawling public records is in some ways the same in that the record doesn't have your full SSN and they're doing their best to "make the connection." If that's the case, upping the dispute with a little more teeth might allow me to have it removed. It's a shot in the dusk, if not a shot in the dark.
- Throw money at the problem. If people can buy their way out of much more serious transgressions I have to believe hiring a very good tax lawyer or consumer advocacy lawyer (price be damned) could help. I don't know if it's like a speeding ticket where they wouldn't even bother to send someone to fight for it now that it's been paid and I'd get it removed on a technicality or what, but as a last ditch effort if I have even a 33% chance of getting it removed by lawyering up, I have to take those odds.
As a general update regarding my First Premier activty, the account updated today (per SW) with the status changing to "paid." It did *not* have an impact on my score (yet) since it appears the date of last activity has not changed. I'd certainly prefer for it to stay that way.
A quick overall update for the journal: I've composed letters to each CRA asking for deletion of old addresses. Some of them are absurd, going back to my childhood address (I haven't lived there since I was 17). I don't suspect this will help much, but there's nothing to lose in doing so and it is likely to give my report/profile a much needed clean up beyond the standard creditor issues.
An update on today's activities:
- I sent a goodwill letter to CapOne asking for the removal of the one 30 day late I've had with them. It was two years ago and I've had the accounts for five years (i have two cards with them and missed on the same month...it was a busy month apparently) so I'm hoping this is not a big ask. I'll keep everyone updated.
- I spent over 2 hours on the phone with my old health insurance company trying to track down the EOB for my roughly fifteen dollar and forty four cent "debt." Anything that old requires a formal PHI request to their legal department and will take upwards of several weeks to turn around. This is turning into the biggest 15 dollar PITA I could possibly have ever imagined.
Minor update: I sent my Credit One goodwill letter today as well.
At this point I'm effectively in a holding pattern of sorts. I presently have the following pending:
- My initial medical dispute to Experian (only CRA to which this $19 collection is reporting).
- Goodwill requests for my two year old 30 day lates from Cap One (one card had a single 30 day late, the other two 30 day lates in an otherwise flawless history over the last five years).
- Goodwill requests for my two year old 30 day late from Credit One.
Other than that, I intend to incrementally pay down utilization by anywhere from 10-20% per month simply to see what the reduction does to my SW score.
I was able to get a CO deleted by writing to the President of CreditOne... if you'd like that info, PM me 
@lmfields84 wrote:I was able to get a CO deleted by writing to the President of CreditOne... if you'd like that info, PM me
I'll shoot you a message letting you know where I sent it and see if we match. If I'm denied in round one I may ask to use your contact for round two.