Need some serious help cleaning up old bad credit

Anonymous · ‎10-29-2017

So, my fiancé and myself are in the market to by a house. Had my credit run and found out I have some past things lingering and would love to get some help and guidance cleaning up my past mistakes. I have an all to infamous Jefferson Capital account for $1,800 for Verizon which I know was originally for $500. I have filed multiple disputes against it and have not had any luck with them yet. Also have an older NFCU CC that is in charge off status that I haven’t touched in 5years. And the lingering ghost of Lobell Financial for $12,500. Was a car loan that I got up sit down on and they repoed and auctioned off the vehicle. They took me to court but the court documents were modified with misinformation and I obviously missed the right date and time. Since I have not received a wage garnishment or anything else. But my mother did say they have been calling her every couple of weeks and have disclosed the amount owed and so on. What can I do to get the last of these demons gone????

Anonymous · ‎10-30-2017

Thats a violation of FDCPA. Have her record their calls and sue them for the violation.

Anonymous · ‎10-30-2017

I had success removing Jefferson Capital after reading the forums about a year ago.

Background: I closed my Verizon account and paid my balance over the phone, which was prorated for partial month. Evidently a month or so later they billed me for $147 +/- but I never received the bill. I discovered the delinquency after pulling my yearly report. I tried to resolve with Verizon but it was already sent to collections. I never received a bill or collection notice. Apparently they were mailing it to an address I hadnt lived at for over 5 years and wasn't the address that I had on file with Verizon. I decided to take a stand out of principle and not pay it because I could not get anyone at Verizon or Jefferson to remove the negative reporting even with the address discrepency issue.

From what I had read, Jefferson Capital is one of the better collection agencies... fairness, honesty etc. Because of that, they care about their ratings with Better Business Bureau. I went onto BBB's website and filed a complaint (takes about 10-15 minutes). Jefferson Capital, being known for timely responses to complaints, responded to my complaint within a week. Their response was that they stand by the legitimacy of the collection account but nonetheless removed it. Within a month it was deleted from all CRA's.

Not sure of your situation, but I would recommend reading through the Jefferson Capital complaints and responses before submitting your complaint. When I read through them, I saw one complaint that didn't have a positive response so I noted the differences in that complaint versus the others and was sure to avoid claims, allegations that differed from the successful complaints. I don't recall specifics. Don't lie. I didn't lie in my complaint but I omitted the fact that I was aware of the delinquency for some time without acting on it (period where I took my ignorant stand based on principles). Also, there response in letter format will be provided to you through BBB website so be sure to download/print it in case you have to follow up with CRA's or Jefferson regarding negative reporting removal. I didn't have that issue but it's better to be cautious. Good luck.

Anonymous · ‎10-31-2017

Thank you. It looks like I have some homework to do with the BBB. Unfortunately my mom is far from tech savvy and catching them in that slip would be like winning the lottery. I do know for a fact the reported balance on the auto is not corrected to reflect the auction price of the vehicle. So with that in mind I believe have a little more fuel in my tank to get that removed going through the BBB. I have begun preparing a letter to CRAs to combat the Jefferson account on validity of charges. Now what can I do about my $6,000 CC that has been charged off

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2017

So feeling kinda defeated today. I received a notice that my dispute with CK came back. I signed in only to find Jefferson capital still there and meeting the FCRA. So my next plan is to file a complaint with the BBB. As far as the others go I am working up the courage to tackle disputing my old CU CC which has been charged off since 5/14 and my charged off car loan since 2/14

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2017

Doing electronc disputes online (through CK or direct) is generally a bad idea. I've seen lots of horror stories of folks going the easy route only to have a bad collection come back verified and then stay on for a long time. Stop doing disputes online or over the phone and do them the correct way: in writing, USPS, certified mail return receipt requested (CMRRR). That's how I do mine, and that's how I've had success over and over again.

If you do them online, you're filling out a form. Doing it online gives them more time to verify versus if you do them in writing by mail. Doing it by mail also shows you're serious.

Careful disputing chargeoffs from 2014 -- that's only 2-3 years away, and depending on your state, may be within SOL. Disputing something within SOL may poke the bearand turn it into a lawsuit against you and a future judgement. Don't do that.

Find the SOL in your jurisdiction and then don't dispute anything still within SOL.

You can't fix credit overnight. I gave myself a 2 year plan. I'm way ahead of it so far, but part of it was luck and part of it was a lot of hard work (10-12 hours a week of research, writing letters, going to the post office, filing green cards away, etc).

Make a spreadsheet with a plan. Invest a certain amount of hours every week researching every derogatory and what others have done to make it go away.

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you. It looks like I have some homework to do with the BBB. Unfortunately my mom is far from tech savvy and catching them in that slip would be like winning the lottery. I do know for a fact the reported balance on the auto is not corrected to reflect the auction price of the vehicle. So with that in mind I believe have a little more fuel in my tank to get that removed going through the BBB. I have begun preparing a letter to CRAs to combat the Jefferson account on validity of charges. Now what can I do about my $6,000 CC that has been charged off

Honestly, all she has to do is testify that they divulged restricted information to her. Legally all they are allowed to do is give her their contact information. Anything more than that is violation of the law.