confused- need advice

[Anonymous]

Ok, like a few other people that i've been following the last couple of days on the message boards, i am SO confused and i feel like everything i've been doing is the wrong thing.  i pulled my 3 reports and i intially disputed everything, just like another person who just posted, not realizing i shouldnt have done that.  I found this website and i have been attempting to use the information to get my scores up so i can get a mrtg.  I spent all morning typing letters to send out certified mail (i havent mailed them yet) to the repsective reporting agencies so they can either verify the account and/or send me an agreement on letterhead with an amount to pay and have it deleted once i send the payment to company. 

Am i doing the correct thing?  or am i wasting my time?  i am so confused and i know that sooner or later i have to pay these collection accounts, but i just want to pay them and be done and have my score be raised.  will this work?  Its really frustrating b/c the majority of the collection accounts are old from before 2003 and i just neglected my credit and now that i want to fix it- i'm just so lost. 

any advice or furhter suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I found my dream house and i just need to fix my credit to get the scores up enough to qualify for the mrtg. 

thanks in advance for any suggestions. 

the '576' club

[Anonymous]

Hi irock, welcome to the forum.  There are some things that you need to know before doing anything with your CR.

You should never dispute accurate info. even baddies.  This will cause your CR to be updated and may cause your scores to go down.

Disputing accurate info is against TOS!!

You need to know the DOFD/DOLA on each collections.

A collection,paid or unpaid will not change your scores. FICO treats all collections the same. BUT what FICO looks at is the report date. If you dispute a collection and it is not deleted then it will be updated.

Know what your SOL is

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b2.asp?caret=8

The difference between CRTP and SOL

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&thread.id=17466

You should always DV a CA before doing anything!!  You need to know what the DOFD is so that you can figure out what your SOL is.

You stand a better chance of having a PFD accepted when SOL is past.

Collections drop approx 7 years from DOFD not DOLA or date opened.

Who is reporting the OC...CA  or both?

What is your SOL?

What is the DOFD/DOLA?

By making any kind of payment may re-set your SOL.

You state that some collections are old (before 2003)  Unless the DOFD is at least 7 years old then they are NOT old.

[Anonymous]

well, i'm still getting used to all the abbreviations so it took me a while to understand your helpful information. 

I have seven accounts on my CBR, in which two are being reported as separate accounts but they were the same account # reported, one paid and one which showed as open.  That was being reported by BankofAmerica- no collection agency.  I wrote a letter of debt verification but i have a letter at home from when it was paid.  i will fight that.  Three of the seven were CA in which I asked for a verification and a willingness to pay or settle if the account is verified as mine.  Should I do that?  The DOLA are being reported in 06 and my SOL is 4 years.  The other two accounts that are on my CBR are one from Verizon which shows no CA or balance so I've written the letter to ask for DV and a willingness to settle if the account is valid and the last reporting CA is my auto financing company which is reporting my last payment as late so i wrote a goodwill letter asking them to forgive the last payment as late. 

Is this the proper way to handle these debts?  I am not understanding what and how the SOL affects collection accounts...dont they eventually have to be paid?  Waiting 3 or 4 more years for them to 'fall' off my credit isnt a realistic option for me b/c i am attempting to get my score to atleast a 620 to qualify for a FHA mortgage.

thanks for your help thus far...