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I guess this is just my way of holding myself accountable for repairing my own bad credit choices. I have spent a year or so half hardily repairing my credit, but for 2011 I have resolved that I will finally really push the FICO ball up the hill. So here it all is....
January 2011 MyFico TU score 573
2 credit card charge offs( Macy's 5/2004 and BofA 9/2004) **BofA was paid with a settlement for more than half owed
3 cards with one 30 day late from 2009 (Jan on two of the cards, May on the third)
2 medical collections from 2010 (working on HIPPA process)
*The rest of my accounts are all in good standing but the utilization is high.
My equifax report is on its way later on this week...and I will update when I get it.
??? My question is can something that was disputed and removed by the CRA in the past...be put back on your report (without your knowledge) with a statement saying "consumer disputes this account information, collection account"
The thing that's hurting you the most is your recent medical collections. I hope the HIPAA process works for you, it partially worked for me. Now I'm hoping for the Medical Debt thing to pass the Senate. However, the HIPAA process has worked for a lot of people, so I may not be the typical example.
The next thing is the lates - I'd definitely be goodwilling those. I'd call them and ask for the goodwill - it's the quickest, and the easiest. If that didn't work, I'd start sending them letters about once a month and look for different addresses, including email and street addresses. You can also search the forums to see if any other posters had luck / have updated contact info for specific people to email...I've also heard good things about planetfeedback.org.
Those chargeoffs should both fall off of your reports this year. Is Macy's paid? If so, I'd send them GW letters. Unless you want to pay the remainder on the BofA, I probably would just leave it alone.
More important than the chargeoffs is your utilization - for every 10% of utilization, you're costing yourself (very approximately) 10 points. If you signed up for ScoreWatch here (use a code that you can find online - it'll get you about 25% off), you could monitor your EQ score, with updates every 7-10 days. With the first report, you can run their simulator and see how paying off balances would affect your score. beamMeUp just posted in another thread a link to the score estimator here, too - going through that interactive quiz should also help you see how your utilization is affecting your score.
So I just did my annual free check on equifax and noticed something potentially HUGE..... I am currently still in grad school so all my student loans are in deferment. Well on EQ report one of my student loans (Us Dept of Ed) says...
CLOSED.....BALANCE 0, CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY???????
either this is a major early B-day present or a big mistake??? What should I do? it was for around 20K
So here is an update.....i am doing the myfico happy dance so the HIPPA process worked and my medical collections were removed from so far TransUnion and Equifax....
My Equifax I am working on one active baddie from 2005 but i am working hard on it and it should be gone soon (i hope).
The two remaining COs are now your biggest derogs. Do you know the DOFD on each of the OC accounts that occured prior to the CO?
The DOFD must have preceeded the date of CO. Locate the DOFD on each acccount, add 180-days plus 7 years to that DOFD, and that will tell you the dates they will fall from your CR with no action on your part. Whether they were or were not paid is immaterial to their CR deletion dates.
So I think i am doing the fico happy dance...got a letter from equifax
1- medical collection account deleted
1- other collection account verified
so I sent a letter to the verified account and got a letter from them today saying they are closing the account and will delete from all reports.
TransUnion also decieded to finally respond
2-medical collection accounts deleted
Still no word from Experian???
My question is once its deleted can it ever come back up????
Information that was deleted from your CR as a result of a dispute of that information can be reinserted in your credit file, but only if the party follows the requirements set forth i FCRA 611(a)(5)(B), They must file a "certification of accuracy" of the reinserrted information. If their dispute resolution found the informatin to have been inaccurate, that would be contradictory. If any information is deleted as a result a reinsertion of information earlier delted for inaccuracy, FCRA 611(a)(5)(B)(ii) requires the CRA to notify the consumer in writing within 5-days of the reisertion.
Thanks for that info, I have a qustion can the collection agency legally sell the item to another agency? and then that new agency report? Also how long for the delete to show up on MyFico SW and Quarterly monitoring?
So quick update
Equifax deleted the "verified" item stating it can not be verified.
Experian sent me a bogus letter stating they verified my incorrect name and address on my credit report and that I should take it up with the company reporting it wrong.They also are reporting two of my charge offs with the wrong DOFD, so I guess its time to paper them until they get it correct.
Any advice on how to get them to delete the wrong information regarding my name and address, I sent them my Drivers Lic., a phone bill, my social, and my utility bill but they still came back verified.