I was very ill for a couple of years and as a result of a ton of medical debt, losing my job...etc, my credit tanked. Beyond that, I had a very irresponsible father who used to file taxes under my name and sign me as an authorized user of a credit card that he would then not pay but had a 30,000 line of credit. I've resolved the tax issues I inherited from him - and I seem to have succesfully disputed his credit card off my account as of 8 months ago.
I currently have a FICO score of 574.I have no credit cards although my mother did add me an authorized user to her account. She has great credit, pays regularly and I'm hoping this will help build my credit seeing as I've been denied for even a gas card at this point.
On my credit report, the negative information is as follows:
TU - $139 sprint cell phone bill from 2005 (not reported on EQ or EX)
TU - $496 ambulance bill dated 1/09 although this bill is actually from 1/07 (not reported on EQ or EX)
TU - $77 doctor bill which I paid but last year but had gone to collection (not reported on EQ or EX)
EQ - $2,120 AmEx bill that I paid in 06 but lists a balance date of 1/09 at $0. Comments say: PAID COLLECTION ACCOUNT CLOSED BY CREDIT GRANTOR (not reported by TU or EX)
EQ & EX - $4,231 BOA credit card bill that I got served for. I paid $3,240 with the agreement it would be reported as paid in full. I have a letter from the law firm which states "this debt has been paid in full". However, it is still being reported (in spite of disputing it) as: LAST REPORTED DELINQUENCIES: 03/2008=R4,02/2008=R3,01/2008=R2 ACCOUNT PAID ACCOUNT PAID FOR LESS THAN FULL BALANCE on EQ and CURRENT ACCOUNT/WAS DELINQUENT 150 DAYS PAST DUE DATE. ACCOUNT LEGALLY PAID IN FULL FOR LESS THAN THE FULL BALANCE LAST REPORTED DELINQUENCIES: 06/2009=R ,05/2008=R SETTLEMENT ACCEPTED ON THIS ACCOUNT on EX
TU, EQ & EX - $447 citibank card from 2004 with balance date listed as 02/10. I remember paying this years ago but am honestly uncertain. It's reported as a charge off.
EX - $496, ambulance bill (this is reported on TU above and actually shows up under EX again as a $507 balance...but it's all the same bill)
EQ - $0 verizon wireless from 2004. LAST REPORTED DELINQUENCIES: 08/2006=O9,07/2006=O9 CONSUMER DISPUTES THIS ACCOUNT INFORMATION PAID CHARGE OFF
I've tried disputing everything but it seemed to backfire as creditors just updated all the account dates to N/A or changed the balance by $1 - I'm assuming they do this so they can't expire?
So, in all, I still have around $774 of valid/active (but old) debt on this report (the ambulance and the sprint bill).
I work full time now, making $700/week after taxes. My husband also works full time and makes slightly less after taxes. His debt situation is much worse than mine but that's another post. We have been slowly chipping away at all our debt (all in all, I've paid $30,000 of debt in the past 4 years) and are starting to build our savings.
At this point, like I said, I don't even qualify for a gas card! So, I don't know what steps to take. I've got my mom's credit card, which I've been on for 3 months now and so far, no positive results. I could get onto my husband's credit card but am worried because, although we are paying it regularly now - it did have a bad period of late payments.
I see people on here who's scores have jumped drastically in just a year and in spite of all the debt I've paid, mine hasn't budged AT ALL in over a year. Clearly, I'm doing something wrong and would love any advice!
Thank you!
