topic Re: Need advice in General Credit Topics

Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:43:50 GMT

Well I went to pull my credit reports through TC this morning. When it completes the update it tells me it can't access my EQ report. So it shows me the scores for EX and TU but won't display any of the credit reports themselves. I was doing some reading on CIC and thought it might be a split file so I came here and ordered my EQ Fico score. That worked fine. Shows all the information that should be there including a couple updates to disputes I had made and gives me my new score. Then I logged into my EQ account and tried to see if I could submit a dispute. I got a message stating that their system was down and I couldn't submit it online but they gave me the option to do it by e-mail. The only reason I wanted to see if I could dispute something was to make sure there was nothing wrong with my file. So if I go pull a TC tomorrow and it does the same thing, is this a TC issue or should I contact EQ?

BTW since coming here and spending TONS of hours reading I have managed a 50pt jump in my EQ and EX score and about 20pts with some major disputes still pending with TU. You guys have been absolutely great. Now my current scores are TU 596 (pending dispute results) EX 627 pending 2 disputes and 1 account update and EQ 623 pending a couple smaller disputes. I estimate that when all is said and done I should be in the 630-640 range on all 3 reports. A major bump from 550s across the board in January when I first started looking at them.

Now for my last question.....

I came across a husband and wife "company". They are based in Washington state. I spoke to the husband and he seemed knowledable and professional. He basically told me they would go after every negative TL on my reports for 365 calendar days for a fee of $500. Now I've done 85%+ of the repair I NEED to do but I have an IRS tax lien from my last home that reports to all 3 CRAs. It is valid, I have disputed it and all 3 CRAs changed it from not paid to paid as of Jun 05. The husband told me that he has had an 85-95% success rate in getting liens, judgements and BKs off of his 400+ clients reports (valid or not) within the first 120 days of his service and that only 5 clients have actually gone out to 1 year with most getting their desired results in 4-6 months. I've actually read a couple clients of this "company" sing his praises. So the $500 question is does anybody think this is even possible?

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:48:01 GMT

Be very careful. You would be trusting a complete stranger with your personal information with the hopes that things will get better. BE VERY CAREFUL!!

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:52:01 GMT

True but at the same time it is an actual company. I did a BBB search in Washington State and didn't see any complaints filed against them. I know that doesn't make it unfallable. I haven't paid any money yet and haven't given any of my info to them yet either. They did ask that I provide passwords for TC and each time a new CR is sent to me from a dispute that it be sent to them within 2 weeks. I'm being cautious and trying to do due dillagence.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:58:49 GMT

something just don't sound right about this company. I would be concerned before i put in $500.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:03:28 GMT

Do not walk away from this opportunity.

RUN.

Not only is this a likely identity theft looking for a place to happen, what that "company" advises will not only fail, but make your credit situation harder to deal with. If you have TLs that do not belong on your credit reports, you can dispute them for the price of half an hour of your time and postage. Disputing everything will get you flagged as a fraudulent disputer, and if anything does get erroneously added to your CR down the line, it will be much harder to remove.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:06:38 GMT

So the tax lien is basically the only significant negative left? Do you know what the DOFD (date of first delinquency) was, or do any of the CRs indicate when that item will drop off? When do you next plan to apply for a mortgage or auto loan?

It seems like it would be too easy to pay the $500, wait 120 days or a year, and then be told, "sorry you were one of the 15% we couldn't help". Since the lien is valid, it would seem especially unlikely that the CRAs could be manipulated into removing it.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:09:14 GMT

Well I googled "remove public records" and this is the first link that came up:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_remove_a_bankruptcy_from_your_credit_report

Here is the last paragraph from this little posting:

Here, I have been overwhelmed with helping people and am being flooded. Since the last post above, 2 people have had BK's removed from 2 of the 3 bureaus. Let me give you the email of the person who got my BK removed. Hands down he is the best around at cleaning up a credit report and removing the "hard" stuff. His name is Frank Ulrich and his email is: showood@comcast.net His wife and himself have devoted their lives in helping people clean up their reports and I am telling you they do AMAZING things. You can still reach me at dscservices@comcast.net but I am now referring everyone out to Frank as he and his wife do this for a living. They removed my BK and that in itself says enough. Good luck!

I e-mailed him then called him at the number he e-mailed back to me and he followed my call up with a return call. The caller ID showed the same name as his e-mail display name. I believe that Frank and his wife are real people and they have their own company. I'm not so much worried about the $500 as to me it's like investing in a little higher risk stock/mutual fund. You either hit a home run and make lots of money or you lose your investment. I'm more concerned that either I lose my personal info or the CRAs flag me and I pretty much can't dispute anything without a letter from God.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:10:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Do not walk away from this opportunity.

RUN.

Not only is this a likely identity theft looking for a place to happen, what that "company" advises will not only fail, but make your credit situation harder to deal with. If you have TLs that do not belong on your credit reports, you can dispute them for the price of half an hour of your time and postage. Disputing everything will get you flagged as a fraudulent disputer, and if anything does get erroneously added to your CR down the line, it will be much harder to remove.

I like the way you put it TNWM. I would run too. Perhaps faster than a track star.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:16:28 GMT

Revike,

I had a VERY tough year in 2003. I lost my job, my wife left and the small $5k savings we had got wiped out in a car repair. Almost had a foreclosure and had to sell the house. Had the car repod and then sold. All of my baddies are now paid or I disputed and had them removed except the lien and an old Nicor gas bill. I'm waiting on a PFD letter I sent them. It was only $868 and I offered 50%.

I would like to get in a house later this year or early next year if possible. I had a decent year last year and was able to buy a decent car in cash (8k ish) as well as have enough to payoff about 9k worth of my debt (maybe about 4-5k in actual payments).

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:17:42 GMT

TNWM, The latter of your comments is what I'm really worried about.....

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:38:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
TNWM, The latter of your comments is what I'm really worried about.....

The fact is you don't need to shell out hundreds and thousands of dollars to get a good credit score. You're much better off getting three or four positive tradelines (like credit cards) and managing them shrewdly. Too many people get so obsessed with nuking negatives from their CRs they don't bother to do what is necessary to build GOOD credit. Then at long last when the negatives fall off, they get an 18-point FICO bounce and ask, "is that ALL?" Yes, unless you LEARN how the system works and build GOOD credit, that's likely all you'll get.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:48:36 GMT

TNWM,

I think I've done that so far. I've opened 3 new CCs this year. All on time so far and all are subprime ($850 limit combined). I know I can probably step up to a Delta Amex or a Wamu or a Hooters right now as well. I have been very careful the last year and have no negatives, only current on time payments (my gas bill actually reports every month). I don't expect a 100pt jump in 2 weeks nor am I concerned with getting everything bad off my report. I paid what I needed to pay to show a 0 balance because I need everything paid before I can go for a house. I would like to have a high enough FICO to not need to go subprime if possible or not need 10-20% down. After paying my debts I would be lucky to get 2.5% on a 200k loan. I do have some investments and could cash in enough including a 401k to get to 10% but that would be my absolute last choice.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:07:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would like to get in a house later this year or early next year if possible. I had a decent year last year and was able to buy a decent car in cash (8k ish) as well as have enough to payoff about 9k worth of my debt (maybe about 4-5k in actual payments).

OK, after the dust has settled, when you are in the 630-640 range, you might want to talk to a mortgage broker or lender about your situation. Even if the lien is a bit of a drag on your scores, 630-640 should give you some decent options. And the lien IS paid off, which in some respects makes it better than having a large unpaid collection sitting on your reports. If the date of first delinquency was in 2003, it's obviously too soon for it to drop off, and probably too soon to ask the CRAs to bump it off early. But that would make the lien 4 years old, and that might dilute its negative effect as well. Supposedly, negatives have less effect on your FICO as they age.

With all that said, investing $500 in a possibly dodgy credit repair effort doesn't seem worth it, especially if there might not be a massive amount of points to be gained. I'd hang onto the $500 and between now and mortgage time, I'd try to maximize DTI and work on the other usual FICO tweaks (utilization, etc.). Since there are 6+ months left for AU status on two of the CRAs, you might even look into that option (finding a friend or relative with an old clean TL) for a temporary score boost prior to applying for a mortgage. And hopefully things will continue to get better ...

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:37:54 GMT

Revike,

You are correct about the lien being paid but what I read was that it's on your report for 7 years from the date it was PAID. That means it's there until Jun 2012. YUCK! But if I have to live with it I will.

I think my util is 7% according to my EQ report right now. I'm pretty sure EX and TU will show similar when they update. I think 630-640 will be as high as I go until some things fall off in 2010. Even the Suze Orman "best case" is 678ish in 24 months. Not bad but that's 2 years away. I don't NEED credit right now as I've lived without it for so long but had I had more when all my problems happened in 2003 I might not have gone so far down so fast or at least made the fall softer.

I don't think I couldlive with getting up close to 700 via AUs only to drop back to 630 when they no longer count

I could live with the gamble for $500 but I am concerned about being black listed by the CRAs or even worse losing my personal data. I'm not ready to send him any $ but I haven't completely ruled it out just yet either. You guys are doing a good job of warning me off and that's why I posted in the first place. Don't think I'm ignoring any advice.

Message Edited by bamf70 on 07-12-2007 07:37 PM

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:26:15 GMT

Good that you got the CCs. Treat them well, keep your balances under 10% but above zero. When you hit the six-month mark with a CC, ask for a CLI. This will help your score.

Re: Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:08:35 GMT

Thanks TNWM. I'm around 7% now on what I have. Because my limits are so low, should I go for the Delta/HH Amex or Hooters or Wamu or would it be best to wait and just go with the 3 I have now?

Anybody have any advice on the 1st part of my question about EQ or TC?