Please help me clean up my Credit Report!!!

[llecs]

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@BrandonSS wrote:

Unknown Med:  Who do I even send the DV to?  Do I do this through the 3 bureaus?  Should I mess with this since it should fall off next year?  Is it hurting me now?

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This is my only update to the above edited post:

Send it to the CA. Your reports, as pulled directly from the CRAs, will show this info, including contact info.

You send DVs to the CA, not the CRA.

It is hurting you quite a bit. Your call if you want to tackle it.

[BrandonSS]

Now I'm overwhelmed with information lol my head is spinning so lets see if I can't consolidate all of these into one post here... Then maybe work out what steps to takes first. 

Note:  I did just now, buy my Equifax report.  My score shows 603 (5 points higher than on FCS.com) It also doesn't tell me what the fall off dates are, but does show the DOFD.  I suppose I can just add 7 years to each. 

Judgment:  I notice it doesn't even have a status updated.  It just says the amount.  Nothing about when satisfied or whatnot.  The attorney was a real A-hole and like I said, wrote a Sunday date on my letter I was served.  I remember trying to negotiate with the guy and he would just laugh and be completely rude.  Should I even bother contacting him for removal?  How long do they stay on record and how and is it even affecting my FICO?

Inquiries:   Since I have settled or paid the debts, should I mail (or call??)   I am reading; send a Non-PP letter CMRRR.  I can't find a basic non-pp letter to use.  But, honestly, is it even worth the hassle?  Do the Inquiries really affect the score that much?

Accounts: (deep breathe... longest part lol)

Before I get into this.  How do I send a DV?  Do I do it with a letter to the actual CA?  If yes, where do I find a generic DV?  Do I send it CMRRR?  OR should I send it to the 3 credit bureaus so they can update it once they get no response?  I'm not sure of what steps to take to be safest.

Cash-Pro:  You say it may be affecting my score.  I've gotten loans with it on there so I'm not terribly concerned about ability, more so my scoring now.  I honestly don't know what that account is.  Cash-Pro, is a collection agency located in Indiana from what I have found online.   They haven't reported anything on the account (monthly) since 2004.  It's just a sleeping account.  If I contact them or dispute it, would it make the account stay on my credit longer if they wont delete it?  Since I have no clue what it is, even though its only $405, do you think they would be willing to PFD with a settlement amount? (not the full $405). 

Recvmgment:  Need to send DV, then PFD.  DV question was asked above

Capital One:  I guess this one is, what's done is done?  I did open a new card with them yesterday.  A small $300 credit limit rewards card.  So maybe they would delete this with a GW letter?  Probably not though...

First Merchants (all the accounts) : Seems that the general response to all these accounts is let them be?  Even the olllld ones (one from 2003) and the ones with late payments?  No GW letter?  And if you say I should send a GW, do I need to specify dates, or will they know where to go and clean up things for me?  And obviously, just stay current with my current open account

HSBC/BB:  DOFD is 02/2006.  Settled account with LVNV CA.  No actions needed?

LVNV:  as said before; This was the CA for the Best Buy account.  The account I co-signed for.  I settled on it.  It was down to $200 or 300 when I found out he didn't pay it off.  It eventually racked up interest and late fees to over $1100!!!   I settled for around $700 lump payment.  What actions should I take, if any?

SM #1:  I will contact my specialist and ask that he corrects this on my reports.

Unknown Med CA:  Found the reporting CA or OC to be in Anderson, IN and have a phone number.  should I call them and negotiate deletion, or DV through the proper process (?) then offer PDF?

SM # 2 & 3:  Only option I have now is to send GW letters for the previously late payments.  How do I know where to send these?

I think that about covers it?  Unless you noticed I missed something....  I'll reread this in a few.

[llecs]

I'm blessed with short-term memory, so I'll take a stab on what you posted here...

The score from EQ is a FICO score, but avoid the temptation to buy any scores from EX and TU as those aren't FICO scores. You cannot buy your EX FICO from anywhere and you can only buy your TU FICO from here or from transunioncs.com (note the -cs. MyFICO is cheaper w/ a discount code).

DOFD is on EQ. Drop off dates are only on TU and EX for most baddies. And yes, generally you can add 7 yrs from the DOFD date to guess at the drop off date. Conversely, you can generally subtract 7 yrs from the drop off date on EX or TU to get DOFD.

PRs stay on for 7 years from the judgment. It has a serious bearing on your scores, even up to the 7-yr mark. I personally would try to get it off. I bet the damage is 50-70 points if you removed everything else off.

Doesn't matter if the debt was paid, or in the case of an application, denied. They stay for 2 yrs and only impact your score for one. Legally they can report. While, in IMO, a CA can report an inquiry, and despite any legal basis via a non-PP, you could try sending it. If you do that, make sure you only send it to any PAID CAs. Don't send it for any unpaid debts, lest you wake someone up. Inquiry damage is overrated. They only report for two yrs, but only impact the FICO score for one year. Speaking as someone who had over 30 inquiries inside of a year at one point, ignore them.

DVs go to CAs. See my first post for a link to example letters. Always send CMRRR. Read the "what steps do I take" thread too.

Cash-Pro - I know it is impacting your score. If you do anything to them, they still must delete after 7 yrs from the DOFD of the OC's debt (whoever that may be). DV before PFD. A DV establishes ownership. Maybe they sold the debt to someone else years ago and forgot to delete. A DV is the first step in figuring that out.

Recvmgt - yep. Make sure you have a response from the DV, and you agree with their response, before responding with a PFD.

CapOne - never hurts to try. Long shot, but never hurts. It only costs a stamp.

First Merchants - If lates are 30 days, and older than 2 yrs old, then the consensus would be to let it be. A 60 day late can impact you till the end, but the damage is minor, or none at all by the 7 yr mark. If the 60 is older than a couple-few years, then let it be. The risk and score damage of losing the TL could be greater than the risk and damage of doing nothing.

HSBC/BB - Send a GW if reporting negatively.

LVNV - GW. They can still report even if you were a co-signer (joint account holder). This CA is a big drain on your scores too.

Med CA - Two options: HIPAA process (because it is a medical debt) or DV/PFD process. Look around on info for HIPAA process if you want more info on that. If not, send a DV to the CA using the address on your CR. If they verify and you agree, then offer a PFD.

SM - send GWs to the address(es) on your CRs. Also try sending to any addresses on your bills or statements.

Last thing, in a post above, IIRC, you mentioned your SOL is 7 yrs. Verify that. SOL is based on state law. In VA, where I am from, SOL on CCs are 3 yrs. I think installment debts are 5 yrs. In some states, like Ohio for example, SOL can be as much as 15 years. SOL has nothing to do with the 7-yr CRTP reporting clock. The reason SOL is important is that if you have an unpaid debt, the SOL, as set by state law, is the time frame a creditor has to sue you. If you send anything or do anything to an unpaid debt that is inside SOL, the risk of geting sued goes up. Now if you have the $$$ to PIF any given debt, then SOL becomes less important because you can pay them off before any court dates.

[BrandonSS]

Well, I guess i was wrong...

Definition:

The statute of limitations on debt in Indiana limits the time you can be sued for a debt.

Oral Contract: 6 years

Written Contract: 10 years

Promissory Note: 10 years

Open-Ended Accounts: 6 years

So i guess its not 7, its 10?  I know you say to send a DV to the CA.   But is there a quicker way?  From my reading on here about DVs.. i really dont understand them.  Many people say some dont even get responses?  Then what?  Wouldnt it be best to dispute it through the credit bureau itself, then if it comes back as valid, then start the PFD proceedure? 

I ask because I just talked to a Credit Union and they said they could and would finance me, but that collection has to come off first.

[Anonymous]

Do like I did a few years ago,

I disputed everything on the reports, not all at once of course, and you too will be very happy with what happens.

Good Luck,

Hi sredworb! Advocating or suggesting the disputing of accurate information violates our Credit Repair Discussion Guidelines, Terms of Service, and User Guidelines that prohibit the promotion of certain types of credit repair. - llecs, myFICO moderator.

[llecs]

Mod hat off...Disputing can also lead to bad or unintended consequences. Speaking from personal experience, OP, it is a very bad idea for several reasons:

1) Disputing will wake up that sleeping OC/CA and can result in increased collection activity on unpaid debts, including an elevated risk of being sued.

2) Disputing makes it harder to remove that baddie through conventional means like a GW or PFD.

3) Disputing can result in additional lates being reported, when none were reported before. OCs typically review the entire file and mark you late, when they failed to report a late payment before.

4) Disputing can result in a "frivolous disputer" claim by the CRA when you try to remove non-legit info the second time around, making it difficult to dispute again.

5) Disputing a TL can get it deleted. That's fine for a serious baddie, but if a TL is reporting only a couple of lates, then you can irrepairably harm your CR and your FICO score.

6) Disputing can drop your FICO score. Certain aspects of an OC are removed from FICO scoring during a dispute and your score can drop.

7) Disputing can lead to a fraud alert.

8) Disputing can lead to a split file.

When I first started repair, I went to another forum, like this, and someone told me to dispute EVERYTHING. So I did. All of the above, with the exception of #8, happened to me. All the bad stuff stayed and the good stuff, even with a late here and there, went away and my FICO scores dropped. Per #8, I read that it happened to someone else, and thankfully not to me.

[BrandonSS]

agreed.  Out of everything I've learned and read, the main thing was NOT to buckshot everything with disputes.

[Anonymous]

WOW, didn't know that...I got luck as heck then had no idea it could cause that much of a problem..

[BrandonSS]

Ilecs, I have some updates!

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@llecs wrote:

I'm blessed with short-term memory, so I'll take a stab on what you posted here...

The score from EQ is a FICO score, but avoid the temptation to buy any scores from EX and TU as those aren't FICO scores. You cannot buy your EX FICO from anywhere and you can only buy your TU FICO from here or from transunioncs.com (note the -cs. MyFICO is cheaper w/ a discount code).

DOFD is on EQ. Drop off dates are only on TU and EX for most baddies. And yes, generally you can add 7 yrs from the DOFD date to guess at the drop off date. Conversely, you can generally subtract 7 yrs from the drop off date on EX or TU to get DOFD.

PRs stay on for 7 years from the judgment. It has a serious bearing on your scores, even up to the 7-yr mark. I personally would try to get it off. I bet the damage is 50-70 points if you removed everything else off. I have went through the channels and sent  "Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment" forms to the clerk/court.  Hopefully they comply and grant the motion to vacate.

Cash-Pro - I know it is impacting your score. If you do anything to them, they still must delete after 7 yrs from the DOFD of the OC's debt (whoever that may be). DV before PFD. A DV establishes ownership. Maybe they sold the debt to someone else years ago and forgot to delete. A DV is the first step in figuring that out.  I researched this and found that the debt was beyond the SOL.  I took a small risk and disputed it on all three.  2 manually, and 1 on Experian.  I am waiting on my papers to come back in the mail, but my Experian dispute,  after about a week, came back with "DELETED"!  Woo!  UPDATE:  Also deleted on TransUnion.

HOWEVER, after refreshing the EX report and now it shows 0 collections, my FAKO didnt budge... still showing 609   I know that may not be accurate, but it would have been at least an upper to see it move. 

Recvmgt - yep. Make sure you have a response from the DV, and you agree with their response, before responding with a PFD. I got this DELETED!

CapOne - never hurts to try. Long shot, but never hurts. It only costs a stamp. I've yet to GW them, but I did open a new card with them.  I had no revolving accounts so i went to their preapproval page and they approved me for a small limit card so i took it.  My statement posted on the 21st, so still waiting on it to show up on my CRs.  Nothing yet.

First Merchants - If lates are 30 days, and older than 2 yrs old, then the consensus would be to let it be. A 60 day late can impact you till the end, but the damage is minor, or none at all by the 7 yr mark. If the 60 is older than a couple-few years, then let it be. The risk and score damage of losing the TL could be greater than the risk and damage of doing nothing. I tried to GW them, but they couldnt budge.  I made a thread about this in the General Credit Topics forum.

HSBC/BB - Send a GW if reporting negatively. Not yet attempted. 

LVNV - GW. They can still report even if you were a co-signer (joint account holder). This CA is a big drain on your scores too.

Med CA - Two options: HIPAA process (because it is a medical debt) or DV/PFD process. Look around on info for HIPAA process if you want more info on that. If not, send a DV to the CA using the address on your CR. If they verify and you agree, then offer a PFD. DELETED!

SM - send GWs to the address(es) on your CRs. Also try sending to any addresses on your bills or statements. Not yet attempted.

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[haulingthescoreup]

Checking in here per your request, but llecs is the man with the plan, and it sounds like you're well on your way. I'm pretty clueless about cleaning up reports, I'm afraid.

But I do think that the reason your scores aren't moving (or much) even after the collection is gone is the presence of the judgment. Collections are bad, but public records are terrible. If you can get that off, I agree that you'll see a significant score change. You've gotten off two collections, and none remain, right? Other than the judgment, there are now just lates?

If so, that's the big rock holding down your scores, and that's the thing to focus on now. If none of your lates are older than 60 days, and if the 60's are all two years old or older, having the collections AND judgment gone will move you into a positive scoring bucket, and at that point, all you'll really need to do is control your utilization and make sure that no new lates appear. That should move you into the low 700's at least, as long as the util is down. Hope that helps!