i've been working on my credit for 3 years and still no progress

[ecalmese]

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@InvincibleSummer3 wrote:

Keep your chin up....it'll get better. Although, I am in your boat too. My lease is up at the end of the month, and I had thought about looking into buying - but it would wipe out ALL my savings, and the market in my area is fluctuating wildly. So, I am remaining a renter for at least another year. Le sigh.

I almost never advocate doing a dispute with the CRA's. Often it doesn't get you anywhere. The standard for investigation is really low, so it's almost worthless. I think you did exactly the right thing in getting the Ombudsman involved.

SO - Santander, and Phantom Collection Agency. What's up there? All I saw was a zero balance and "pays as agreed" on your third post. I would also suggest you start looking at doing some Goodwill letters to see if you can get the paid collections removed. Are you familiar with that process?

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im familiar with the process per these forums. but i have not had any success with the process. i would like to try that again. 

As an update for santander, i've tried goodwill letters, i've tried contacting supervisors, managers, presidents, whoever. nothing worked. so most recently i filed a BBB complaint against them. i saw on the better business bureau website they had 100s upon 100s of complaints for this same matter and they were all resolved. i just got an email back from the BBB today stating they have 22 days to respond. i'm this company is understanding and actually removes those late payments instead of fighting me like all the other companies are doing.

[ABuckNow]

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@ecalmese wrote:

i dont know why these have not updated the balance at least and placed it under paid as agreed. it still shows default (which i understand its going to remain that way) but i've been told it would say default but also show a zero balance and that its been consolidated or something to that effect. i have not seen an update. 

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Just a note here - the loans you are referring to with this sentence - they were consolidated, yes?  This means they were paid (you basically took out another loan and used those funds to pay off other loans).  The "Status" on your CR should include the words "Paid" and "Closed".  It might also say "was in default", but if they're aren't saying Paid and Closed (and $0 balance), you should contact that lender and get them to report it correctly.  In the details of that TL, it will probably still show your late payment history and that you defaulted.  But the Status must include Paid;Closed.

That is, if I've followed what you said correctly.  

I know it seems a small point to make - but this absolutely can make a difference in your score - having a CR showing that you're currently in default on a loan is worse than having previously been in default but are now current.  My experience with this is that FICO scoring follows logic on this point.

Good job on calling the DoE, make your omsbudsman rep work for you!

[InvincibleSummer3]

Yeah, they get mentioned a lot on these forums. A search will get you a plethora of posts about the folks at Santander. I have not had to deal with them, myself.

I noticed when I started paying off my old collections, that they showed up on my USAA credit monitoring reports as no-name, no info tradelines. I'm wondering if that might be why you don't see a name, etc. on the Mystery Tradeline. It's pretty old, and paid....I'm not convinced it's hurting your score all that much at this point, given its age.

[ecalmese]

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@ABuckNow wrote:

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@ecalmese wrote:

i dont know why these have not updated the balance at least and placed it under paid as agreed. it still shows default (which i understand its going to remain that way) but i've been told it would say default but also show a zero balance and that its been consolidated or something to that effect. i have not seen an update. 

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Just a note here - the loans you are referring to with this sentence - they were consolidated, yes?  This means they were paid (you basically took out another loan and used those funds to pay off other loans).  The "Status" on your CR should include the words "Paid" and "Closed".  It might also say "was in default", but if they're aren't saying Paid and Closed (and $0 balance), you should contact that lender and get them to report it correctly.  In the details of that TL, it will probably still show your late payment history and that you defaulted.  But the Status must include Paid;Closed.

That is, if I've followed what you said correctly.  

I know it seems a small point to make - but this absolutely can make a difference in your score - having a CR showing that you're currently in default on a loan is worse than having previously been in default but are now current.  My experience with this is that FICO scoring follows logic on this point.

Good job on calling the DoE, make your omsbudsman rep work for you!

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yes you are absolutely correct; but that is the problem. they will not update and say paid and closed. they simply wont do it. i've contacted the OMBUDSMEN and they called me back today stating they submitted a request for them to update it. the only caveat to this is they told me if its not updated by labor day to give them a call back, thats a long freaking time from now in my opinion

[ecalmese]

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@InvincibleSummer3 wrote:

Yeah, they get mentioned a lot on these forums. A search will get you a plethora of posts about the folks at Santander. I have not had to deal with them, myself.

I noticed when I started paying off my old collections, that they showed up on my USAA credit monitoring reports as no-name, no info tradelines. I'm wondering if that might be why you don't see a name, etc. on the Mystery Tradeline. It's pretty old, and paid....I'm not convinced it's hurting your score all that much at this point, given its age.

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so the one that says company name is unknown; thats an account i should not pay much attention to? maybe i should dispute it?

[InvincibleSummer3]

I would only advise you to dispute it if there was an inaccuracy in the reporting. The CRA's are not required to investigate much; they basically use an automated system to check the disputed information against what's been previously reported to them.

If it were me, I'd leave it alone. It's old as hell, and unlikely to be hurting you much, and it's paid and at zero balance. You have bigger fish to fry.

[ABuckNow]

Missed that part of the thread - how old is it?

Does it show on your "real" report, direct from the CRAs? (via backdoor, or free annual report)

The reports show on myfico don't contain all the info available, is my experience at least.

[ecalmese]

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@ABuckNow wrote:

Missed that part of the thread - how old is it?

Does it show on your "real" report, direct from the CRAs? (via backdoor, or free annual report)

The reports show on myfico don't contain all the info available, is my experience at least.

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are you talking about the unknown company?

[ecalmese]

As an update from my experian disputes below. MOHELA completely deleted my accounts which is great! i didnt expect them to do that! i hope they will do that for all the bureaus. Sallie Mae removed one of my late payments so now that account is suppose to go into good standing next month. Santander removed one of the late payments from 2012 but i'm fighting to get them to remove the other late payment. US Dept of ED is still doing the same damn thing however! they will not update my account! it still shows collections, it still shows a balance!

i do have a question that will hopefully build my confidence. with mohela deleted and sallie mae going positive status next month should i see some type of credit score increase from that?

Credit Items SANTANDER CONSUMER USA
Account Number: 3000016924560....Outcome: UpdatedFIRST PREMIER BANK
Account Number: 517800786629....Outcome: UpdatedU S DEPT OF ED/GSL/ATL
Account Number: 597....Outcome: UpdatedU S DEPT OF ED/GSL/ATL
Account Number: 597....Outcome: UpdatedU S DEPT OF ED/GSL/ATL
Account Number: 597....Outcome: UpdatedSALLIE MAE
Account Number: 9199542295100012005....Outcome: UpdatedMOHELA
Account Number: 7778711807MO0....Outcome: DeletedMOHELA
Account Number: 7778711807MO0....Outcome: Deleted

[ecalmese]

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@InvincibleSummer3 wrote:

I would only advise you to dispute it if there was an inaccuracy in the reporting. The CRA's are not required to investigate much; they basically use an automated system to check the disputed information against what's been previously reported to them.

If it were me, I'd leave it alone. It's old as hell, and unlikely to be hurting you much, and it's paid and at zero balance. You have bigger fish to fry.

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on my most recent post i noted that two mohela accounts were deleted, and a sallie mae student loan is set to go into good standing next month (june). do you think from those two actions i can see a bump? if i will see a bump do you think it would show in june or july?