Long story - Apoligies in advance.
6 months ago I had no bank account, a high paying job, no car, a wife with so-so credit, and no access to my credit reports. I couldn't figure out why when I tried to access my credit reports, no matter how I answered the questions, I couldn't access any of the bureaus. When I called to talk to each one, I couldn't even get the agents to access my file. I was confused. I figured I had no credit to speak of.
I went to apply for an auto loan with my wife and was told I have a 428 credit score with TU, 2 repos, 57 accounts in collections, open but past due utility accounts, 3 judgements, 3 evictions, and a slough of 30-60-90 day lates on a vehicle I didn't own. I got a copy of that report and my headache began.
I started by using the information I had on the report to sign up for each credit bureau. I was finally in. I put fraud alerts on all 3 bureaus, and started disputing EVERYTHING. I went to the social secuirty office and demanded a new social security number - turns out a few someones were working under my social, but they don't like issuing new numbers. Credit was opened in states I never lived in, apartments rented, utilities opened, tons of emergency room visits... It was a total mess. After many faxes, phone calls, and trips to the post office, I got a ton of bad stuff removed.
After 3 months I had enough removed to get a super sub-prime auto loan (28%) with my wife as a co-signer. My wife traded in her vehicle for a 2nd car, which was also financed at the same time for a little less of a sub-prime rate (18%). I was still working with a 540ish credit score with each bureau.
Today, I am happy to report that my Equifax is up to a 704 Fico 8, because we have been making on-time payments on both my old student loan and our 2 new cars. I was approved for a Discover It card with a $1500 limit this month, which I promptly charged 9% on, and it actually reported 4 days after I opened and charged the card to both Equifax and Experian. My Experian is still at a 589 Fico 8 because 3 collections are lingering, but I am working on it. My TU is at 573 Fico 8, with 4 collections, one of which is a judgement for an apartment I never rented in a state I have never lived in. Also, TU is not yet reporting my Discover card.
I just got back a clear ChexSystems report, because that was bonkers too. I immediately went and opened up a credit union account, and just got approved for a refinance of my 28% vehicle, and brought it down to 3.4%. Yay!
So now, here's where I need help. I have filed affadavits and a police report with the bureaus, but they are not removing the remaining baddies. They are not in my name and are not at addresses I have ever lived at, but of course the creditors "verify". However, one of the dipsh*ts that stole my identity had actually filed an affadavit to get things removed and get more credit a couple of years ago. I can't make this up. For this reason, they are not working with me. So now, I am going to the creditors directly. They have admitted that the signatures and basic appearance do not match, and that I have documentation that shows I was across the country at the time this all occurred. We have one possible suspect so far in all of this, but the trail went cold because the person died, so the cops are not working with me any further. Is there anything else I can do to make these creditors remove these items from my credit report?
TLDR - Raised scores 200+ points removing identity theft, need help with stragglers.
