topic Re: score weighting in Understanding FICO® Scoring

score weighting

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:40:43 GMT

How are points assigned to negative fico entries? I have a $26.00 Verizon bill that I challenged and am considering paying as the path of least resistance. I also have a $300.00 medical charge in question. I use auto pay via my checking account for bill paying and it's made some late payments that I don't think I'm liable for. My score at last check was 690. I guess my question is, as I don't have time or seem to get anywhere disputing charges with large corporations, in what order should I acquiesce and start paying things off? Is there an order of importance as far as detrimental fico weighting is concerned? (e.g.. high to low as in mortgage, loan, credit card, medical bill, utility etc...)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Re: score weighting

smallfry — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:28:52 GMT

Paying them won't get them off your report. I assume they are reporting as lates at least now. You could try a pay for delete. Verizon can be tough. They claimed I owed $600 and included that amount on my BK though I know I didn't owe them anything. It is long gone but one thing I made sure to do was pay all my utilities. No way I was going to put down deposits for services.

Re: score weighting

Junejer — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:29:04 GMT

Hello Tycomps and welcome to the forums. Please read credit scoring 101 and some of the other stickied threads that are at the top of several of the boards.

The one thing that I would do, if I were you is see which collections or other baddies are most recent. Those are the ones affecting your score at this time. In short, start new and work your way to the old.

What other baddies are on your CRs?

Re: score weighting

RobertEG — Tue, 20 May 2008 06:13:07 GMT

Just remember, tycomps, that once you begin to pay a collection, you have effectively agreed that it is a legit derog. If you dont think that the collection was legit to begin with, such as the measly $26 verizon bill, then taking the path of least resistance by just paying it off will mean that it will remain on your CR as a collection derog for seven years.

Your call whether to resort to fight or flight.. Fight may get it off. Flight wont....

Ask for a PFD before simply putting a check in the mail.

Re: score weighting

Anonymous — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:49:59 GMT

thanks, i did my annual free credit report from Equifax, Transunion, and Experian (it's a shame they charge extra for the fico number) and there were no surprises. One thing I found interesting was that even if I paid a negative balance it remained on my report until the date listed. What would happen if it wasn't paid? Would it appear again for another seven years? Seems that even if I were to bite the bullet and pay it I might as well wait til that date (2011 in my case). One of my discrepancies is from a Dentist who made a mistake on an insurance submission, I never got a chance to talk to him about it,

if I was to work something out with him could he write a letter to have the item removed from the report? Or does the fact that he turned it over to a medical collection agency mean his hands are tied? There's another medical bill that I'm questioning that hasn't hit the report yet, it has just gone to a medical collection agency. Is there a waiting period before it hits the report? If I were to just pay it would it circumvent listing? Or is it destined for the report either way? Let me know. Thanks

Re: score weighting

Junejer — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:09:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

thanks, i did my annual free credit report from Equifax, Transunion, and Experian (it's a shame they charge extra for the fico number) and there were no surprises. One thing I found interesting was that even if I paid a negative balance it remained on my report until the date listed. What would happen if it wasn't paid? Would it appear again for another seven years? Seems that even if I were to bite the bullet and pay it I might as well wait til that date (2011 in my case). One of my discrepancies is from a Dentist who made a mistake on an insurance submission, I never got a chance to talk to him about it,
if I was to work something out with him could he write a letter to have the item removed from the report? Or does the fact that he turned it over to a medical collection agency mean his hands are tied? There's another medical bill that I'm questioning that hasn't hit the report yet, it has just gone to a medical collection agency. Is there a waiting period before it hits the report? If I were to just pay it would it circumvent listing? Or is it destined for the report either way? Let me know. Thanks

Tycomps, first those scores that you got from annualcreditreport.com were not FICO scores, they were FAKOs. To get your real FICOs, go to myfico.com.

Next, you are correct about the items remaining on your report for 7-7.5 years. That's why smallfry suggested that you pay for delete (which will remove the derog from your CR when it's paid). That way, you are assured that it goes bye-bye from the report. It's expunged. No, if you don't pay it, it must go away after 7-7.5 years from DOFD. They can't legally re-age (even though they sometimes try). If they do, you dispute past CRTP.

Ask the dentist to pull the file back from the CA, seeing as how HE made the billing error. He should be happy to do so.

Call the other medical OC and have them pull the account back from the CA as well and then take care of the bill. This will prevent any posting to your CRs. If it does report, dispute as not mine.

As far as a waiting period, there really isn't one. It's up to the CA's discretion.

HTH GL