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I think I got some really good news this morning.
I've been goodwilling Bank of America to get a closed, zeroed-out, secured CC removed from my credit. It had a $1500 CL, high balance $2400, and a series of lates culminating in 120 days and was closed by the credit grantor. I sent out nine letters a few weeks back asking them to remove the trade line from all three reports.
Today I got a letter saying they couldn't address my request because they couldn't find my account number. So I called in, got transferred to several departments including the secured card department and then the department that the charged off secured cards go to. No one could find my account by my name or my social! So B of A is saying they have no record of me ever having a card with them!
What should I do now - dispute the tradeline again with all the credit reporting agencies? I had already tried disputing the account and the lates just to see what happened and they stuck, but that was before I sent the GW letters. Will the bureaus let me dispute it again? Will the result be different if they can't find me in the system? Do I have to do some kind of data validation request instead of a dispute? (And if so could someone link me to a thread with instructions on how to do that?)
I think I'm pretty close to getting this thing deleted! Any input would be most helpful!
Replying to my own post LOL
OK I just disputed B of A on TransUnion and said that the credit grantor had no record of this account. I think somebody at B of A deleted me from their system
Now I'm trying to do the same thing with Experian but they won't let me re-dispute the account. Any tips? I don't have any paper documentation to send them, just the word of the reps that couldn't find my account anywhere under my name or SSN.
This is already being disputed with Equifax - I guess I might have done that recently, the investigation is in process. I'll update with any changes if this falls off any of the reports!!
> I think somebody at B of A deleted me from their system
I wish to heck I could get B of A to delete or lose me from their system!! I had to do a CC Settlement with them a couple of years go, which they will NOT forget about!
Yeah I was really shocked that they couldn't find me in their system, my last name is very unusual and my SSN was correct. I wrote a lovely GW letter about being a single mom and getting on my feet and wanting to buy a house with a yard my son could play in... and I sent out nine of the letters to some addresses I found on here... so maybe someone took pity on me? One can hope! I can't think of another explanation!
Here is what I wrote to them - it's just an amalgamation of several other sample GW letters I found on this forum:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to you today regarding my secured Bank of America credit card account which I had while I was a young single mother, starting over from zero. The purpose of my correspondence is to see if you would be willing to make a “goodwill” adjustment on the reporting of this account to the three credit agencies.
During the time period this account was established I was very happy with the service. I was however not the ideal customer and made numerous mistakes with my handling of the account. I opened the account to help re-establish my credit, and I should have made all of my payments on time! I take full responsibility for Bank of America justifiably closing the trade line.
Although I know that on-time payment was my responsibility and I am not attempting to justify this breach of my user agreement, I was still hoping you might review the circumstances under which this non-payment occurred and consider removing the negative trade line associated with this account from my three credit reports.
That year was not only challenging as I struggled to establish a full time career, pay for expensive full time child care, raise a pre-schooler on my own, and stay on top of my financial obligations. It also became a “wake-up call” for me regarding fiscal organization. Since then I have learned the essential organizational and financial management principles I desperately needed at that point. Thankfully, responsible credit management is now reflected in my payment history which – excluding the Bank of America card late entries – is perfect.
Now that three years later I have an established career, debts paid in full, and a thriving eight year old son I am about to approach a new threshold in my life: I’m getting ready to buy my first home! Unfortunately it has come to my attention that the late notations from Bank of America may preclude me from qualifying for a reasonable mortgage loan. Since those notations do not reflect my improved level of financial organization or reliability, I am requesting that you give me a second chance at a positive credit rating by revising or removing that trade line.
The information currently being reported IS accurate. I am simply asking you for a courtesy gesture of goodwill in having the credit bureaus remove this account or its late payments from my report. I do recognize that this request is unique and that it may not be Bank of America’s normal policy. Please consider that the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not demand that all accounts be reported, only that any account that is reported be reported accurately. Therefore, a company does have legal discretion and permission to remove any account it chooses from the credit report. I'm hoping that Bank of America will do that in my case for this account.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. Your kind consideration in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Best Regards,
Thanks - what's the CFPB? Consumer... Finance... Something... Bureau?
Edit: Nevermind... googled it!
@lanakane wrote:Thanks - what's the CFPB? Consumer... Finance... Something... Bureau?
Edit: Nevermind... googled it!
Consumer Finance Protection Bureau... Wishing you luck!
Thanks! I got Experian on the phone (finally - they have a million automated menus) and they said I had disputed the TL before but only said the lates weren't valid, I hadn't tried saying the TL wasn't mine. So they put that through. If BofA truly can't find me (they sure tried today) then bye bye baddie!! Woo hoo!
Good Luck with the deletion!
I had an old baddie from Fashion Bug (WFNNB ) & sent WFNNB a GW letter, the wo=man sent me an email stating that I couldn't be found in their system...
So I wrote her back & said (this is never a good idea by the way) so....if I were to dispute as not mine, it would be deleted...right?
She said "I cannot tell you what you can or can't legally do...."
I disputed...removed from all 3!