New to the board and trying to clean up credit.

[Anonymous]

I went through a nasty divorce in the early-mid 2000's and my credit is proof. My ex-wife took loans and credit cards out. I since remarried and everything is pretty much in her name, I have talked to her and said we need to pay off all the bad accounts, she says that most of them are going to fall off within a year but I don't see how this is possible. So here I am looking for a little guidance and what exactly should I do. My wife has several letters of pay for delete ready to go on some of more recent accounts when I say the word, do these really work? She worked about two years to get hers built up from her first marriage so I have to beleive that in most terms she is right, but I just need a little more detail. She said this board is what helped her and told me to come ask all you nice folks what route I need to take. I appreciate any information or advice ya'll can give. Thanks.

Here are the negative accounts:

Fst Premie		3/2004	$0	Bad debt/collection
Rep Fn Gwd		7/2005	$2,584	120+ days past due
Memphis Lg		1/2007	$429	120+ days past due
Sst/Cigpfi		1/2005	$0	Bad debt/collection
Sst/Columb		1/2005	$0	Bad debt/collection		Details
Cap One		7/2003	$0	Bad debt/collection		Details
Gecrb/Jcp		9/2004	$0	Bad debt/collection
Crdtonebnk		6/2004	$0	Bad debt/collection		Details

Legal Item filed on Feb, 2006

Legal Item

xxxxxxxxx48

22670

Feb, 2006

$2,500

Republic Fin

[Catacam]

Hi Shawn,

I'm not an expert, but it appears she may be right depending on what state you live in. You should check on the SOL in your state to make sure, but the CRA will keep baddies on your report of 7 years + 180 days from the date of first delinquency. So if the dates you provided are delinquency dates, then they should be falling off. I have heard of others calling the CRA's and disputing over the phone and having them immediately removed.

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

OP, I would double check the dates. MyFICO (partly) and all other 3rd-party services out there lack one crucial date to determine when something falls off and that's the DOFD, or the date of first delinquency. This is the date the account first went late and never recovered. DOFD is the basis for both the 7 to 7.5 year credit reporting time period (CRTP) and the statute of limitations (SOL). However, in some states, SOL can reset with a payment or even a promise to pay. YMMV based on where you live.

It looks like you copied and pasted a FICO report and the date in your column above is date the account was opened as opposed to DOFD. Sometimes your EQ FICO report will list DOFD, but not always. To be sure, always take advantage of your free reports via annualcreditreport.com. EQ will list a DOFD. TU and EX will list drop off dates.

If you want them off early, there are steps you can take. For any unpaid OC, you'd send a PFD letter. For any paid OC, send a GW letter.

For the judgment, some have had success by paying it and working with the plaintiff's attorney to file to have the judgment removed via vacating w/ the court. I've never done it but there are success stories in here.

One last bit to be aware of.....are these your only accounts? You have 8-9 years worth of history. Sometimes it's possible to lose points as you remove old OC baddies. They still factor into AAoA and your length of history. Last year, DW lost 30 points on TU or EQ FICO because an old CO was removed with 26+ 90day lates or worse reporting. It was her oldest account and dropped her AAoA by a year. Sometimes the length of history helps more than the baddie hurts. Something to be aware of. I certainly would aim for PFDs on the 2 unpaid ones. One the paid ones, by law, the lates have to drop by 7 years. It's not uncommon to see a negative account turn positive at the 7-yr mark (from DOFD).

[FrugalRican]

Congratulations on this new and improved DW. Seems like she has the right mindset.

I have to echo the previous sentiments. What exactly are those dates you listed?

That could be just about anything. And it could make a world of a difference.

The recent ones, the most recent ones, definitely work on those. The older ones, without any information on what those dates are... well, still are under myFICO forum review.

I actually did a GW on a 9 year old phone bill that went delinquent 4 years ago and it actually went from a negative collections to an open positive tradeline, so anything is possible.