Rebuilding Your Credit

[derailed]

Hi there,

Newbie here... finally going to get my head out of the sand.  I am sure glad I found this place!

I received a collection notice from PRA for a debt that is so old it's not listed on my CR.  It states the OC and the old CA and also lists my maiden name from 12 years ago.  My question is, I want to send a DV letter and from what I have read, I need to keep it simple and not validate anything for them.  So, do I list my married name in the correspondance instead of my maiden?

Thanks in advance!

[DaBears]

Are you wanting to pay off the debt? Being 12 yrs old the debt will always exist they just can't report it after 7.5 yrs.

[guiness56]

I would send it with the name they have.  Also, just type your name.

What state are you in?

[derailed]

No...  I didn't think of it just not being reported therefor not hurting my CR until you mentioned it... (head in sand).  Do I just request a C&D?

Pretty much every bad remark is going to drop off my CR by early 2014 with the exception of Student loans (which I will clean up shortly)... since everything is so old, I am thinking I just leave it alone?  The reason I ask is my husband and I would like to buy a house.  I 'm trying to clean up both of our CR's but from what I have read, debts that are really old don't weigh in your score as much as recent negatives... Please correct me if I have misunderstood. 

[derailed]

We are in Illinois.

[guiness56]

When an item falls off your CR for age it does not go away.  It goes into your credit file.

When requesting credit when the principal amount is for $150,000 or more, insurance of $150,000 or more or seeking employment with an annual income of $75,000 or more, the lender can request your entire credit file.  They can also ask for just unpaid collections/debts.

It is entirely up to the lender and the type of loan you are looking at as to what will or will not be required to be paid.

[derailed]

I had no idea!  Oh boy do I have to rethink some things!

It seems as though p- has done a nice job of cleaning up his credit (what a great thread that is!).  I think I will follow in his footsteps and work from the most recent all the way back to the oldest. 

Thanks so much for the info guiness56!!

[kitty9779]

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guiness56 wrote:

When an item falls off your CR for age it does not go away.  It goes into your credit file.

When requesting credit when the principal amount is for $150,000 or more, insurance of $150,000 or more or seeking employment with an annual income of $75,000 or more, the lender can request your entire credit file.  They can also ask for just unpaid collections/debts.

It is entirely up to the lender and the type of loan you are looking at as to what will or will not be required to be paid.

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Wait...what?? I thought that bad debt could only follow you around for 7.5 years. I realized that unpaid debt never really goes away, but I thought that this was just between me and the OC after 7.5 years. You're saying that it's still essentially on my "credit file" so when I buy a house for $200,000, the lender will see my entire financial history? What's the point of it falling off of the CR then, if it never really stops following you around? This makes me feel like giving up.

[RobertEG]

Congress, by enacting the credit report exclusion periods, was giving consumers a partial break by limiting the time adverse information can normally be included in your credit report.  The intent was not to excuse or cancel debt, but rather to give some limited relief, particularly when credit being requested is not high.

Recognizing that many creditors extending lower amounts of credit rely primarily on credit reports in their determinations, it was  way to assist rebuilding.

However, as stated, they also included section 605(b), which totally exempts all of the credit report exclusion periods if you apply for credit or insurance in an amount of $150K or more, or apply for a job having an income of $75K or more. 

Creditors extending higher amounts of credit are thus provided access to the consumer's complete credit history.  It is rare that they make request for a complete credit history, but credit report exclusion was not intended by congress to be absolute.

[guiness56]

The FCRA allows any debt to be made aware of under those stated circumstances.

It does not mean the lender will use it but, yes, they can.   They could pull just what is on your current CR.

But, don't give up.