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Question about the different reporting agencies.

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Emileeza
Established Member

Question about the different reporting agencies.

Hi, I've been reading these forums for a couple of days and trying to get my credit score up. I was wondering if you have to dispute debts that are supposed to be IIB to each of the agencies separately? For instance, EX and TU are showing one of my husband's credit cards as IIB, but EQ shows it still having a balance owed and it doesn't mention bankruptcy at all. So, do I need to dispute all inaccuracies to all 3 agencies? Thanks! Emil
4/20/08 FICO TU 511 EQ 528 EX 587
6/03/08 FICO TU 585, EQ 575, EX 622
GOAL = 620+ across the board by end of 08
Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

You only need to dispute with the ones that are incorrect, in your case, just EQ.  Dispute it saying "this account was not included in bankruptcy".   If for some reason it comes back as "verified", then your best bet will be to call the creditor directly and ask him "what the...."
 
Good luck.
Message 2 of 9
Emileeza
Established Member

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

Thanks! I don't think I was clear. I had already disputed with TU and EX, but EQ was showing a different inaccuracy than the other two. I have now disputed the things that are supposed to be IIB with EQ. I did get a notification today that EX updated two of the accounts that were IIB. It was on my husband's report and his EX score jumped 7 points with that update. Still waiting on other stuff to be fixed by the other two.

Something else I am unsure about. I read somewhere on these forums that stuff that was discharged with a BK should not show up under the "Derogatory" section. I still have a ton of stuff showing up as Derogatory even though in the notes, they say "discharged Chapter 7" or "Included in Bankruptcy". Should I dispute those things until they take off the "derogatory" or is that what they're supposed to say?

Also, While 700 is the "magic number" what number is considered "good"? The site we pay to get our reports and scores updated daily if we want shows us as "poor" and have been forever. When do you get to Fair and then Good? I look forward to it finally changing soon! My husband is getting a promotion with a big leap in salary, and we plan to pay our cards (which are small anyway) down to around 2%, and put all that extra income into savings for a house. We also just got a car loan which has just showed up on my EX report this week. I'd love to get our scores up to at least Good by the time we have set aside a nice down payment for a house. My husband's scores are so low, I'm hoping these disputes really help a lot.

Thanks!
Emil

4/18/08 TU 595, EX 607, EQ 593
3/08 TU 595, EX 602, EQ 582

Husband's
4/18 TU 527, EX 552, EQ 539
4/13 TU 527, EX 545, EQ 539
4/20/08 FICO TU 511 EQ 528 EX 587
6/03/08 FICO TU 585, EQ 575, EX 622
GOAL = 620+ across the board by end of 08
Message 3 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

Emileeza: 
 
1) Are these scores FICO?   Those are the only ones that matter, but they cost $ to buy.   Retail price is $15.95 per score, although there are usually discounts that can be had.   Go to myfico.com and you will see a code to use for 25% off through 4/30.
 
2) Yes, any and all accounts you included in your BK should say "Included in BK" or "Dischaged thru BK" or something like that.  They MUST show $0 balance, $0 past due, and cannot show anything derogatory AFTER the date you filed.  If you were late in paying PRIOR to the bk, that is legitimate and accurate payment history and they can continue to report that for up to 7 years from the date you first went past due, called Date of First Delinquency, or as we say ,here DOFD.
 
3) You will need to dispute any inaccuracies directly with each of the 3 CRA's, and then do the same for your husband.   But you want to be sure to get the authentic FICO scores, as those are the ones the lenders use.    
 
4) Aside from the unsecured cc, the secured loan and the auto loan, and the accounts you included in your bk, are there any other accounts showing on your credit report, either open or closed?  If any remain open, do NOT close them.  But please let me know, ok?
 
Thanks.
Message 4 of 9
Emileeza
Established Member

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

1. No they were FAKO scores. I saw the 25% discount and decided to get the Suze Ormond package. That was quite a shocker! My FICO scores are a lot lower than those FAKO scores. Why do they get away with selling fake scores??

((EDIT: I just wanted to say it's SO much easier to see what needs to be disputed in the way I see accounts with this Suze Ormond thing. I like the list view.))

My FICO scores are TU 526, EQ 528, EX 587
I'll have to budget in getting my husband's scores next week. That 25% discount is great though!

2. As for the accounts showing as derogatory, yes they were all past due before we filed - it was either cc payments or hospital bills or groceries at one point. So I guess they'll stay showing as derogatory. I can live with that. I just wanted to know if they were supposed to show as derogatory or not.

3. I have now disputed with all three CRAs since all 3 did have inaccuracies - for each of us.

4. There are still things on our credit reports from about 13 years ago. They're all closed though. There are three small loans we paid off which all show as "Paid as agreed" and there's a credit card we each had that we closed when we got a better rate on a different card. It shows a 30day late on it though. There's also some old cards from way back like a closed Amex, and two store cards we had and closed a long time ago. So we both have a credit history of about 13 years. There are two BKs on it too, but one should come off in Dec of this year as we filed in Dec of 98. Neither of us have any other open credit, just 1 cc each, the auto loan and the personal loan.

Do you think it's worth the trouble to dispute the old BK to try to get it to come off early? I've seen some threads on here discussing CRAs taking BKs off before the 7-10 years.

Thanks for all the help. Looks like we have a longer road ahead of us than I thought.

Message Edited by Emileeza on 04-19-2008 05:04 PM
4/20/08 FICO TU 511 EQ 528 EX 587
6/03/08 FICO TU 585, EQ 575, EX 622
GOAL = 620+ across the board by end of 08
Message 5 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

You can try on the old BK's.  I'd actually call and try that, then write a dispute and try that too....When you call, try to work them and say it is really old and you'd like it off now.  If they say now, you can try the old "I am applying for a mtg soon and would really like this off before then"...They probably will still say no, but at least you are trying...
 
If not, your bad stuff will at least be a year old  come Dec 08, your old bk will be gone and you will have a year of adding positive info to your report.  I would say you should be in the 620-640 range by then, possibly a little higher.....so keep at it!
Message 6 of 9
Emileeza
Established Member

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

Thanks Boscoe! I have learned so much from these forums and the whole web site. I know it sounds like a commercial for myFICO lol. I wish I'd known this much about credit and how it all works years ago. I have high hopes for the future though. I'll probably just let the BK fall off by itself, all the while building our credit like you said. I can't wait to see what our scores will be like by this time next year. And that'll be when we'll start looking for a mortgage Smiley Happy
4/20/08 FICO TU 511 EQ 528 EX 587
6/03/08 FICO TU 585, EQ 575, EX 622
GOAL = 620+ across the board by end of 08
Message 7 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

Emileeza - let us know, ok?  Keep your current scores showing, i.e. as of 4/08 and then post the new ones next year for comparison.    Good luck!
Message 8 of 9
Emileeza
Established Member

Re: Question about the different reporting agencies.

Well, just wanted to update on this. I have definitely learned a lot since that first post a few months ago! I've gotten the CRAs to take off everything they can get off. They took off collections and credit cards that had been showing 120 days late etc. The scores really jumped then.

I have one HSBC card that was included in the BK that is still showing up as a CO instead of IIB, so I need to contact HSBC directly for it. In addition to the CCs and the auto loan, we also got a small personal loan which I think has helped our scores. The thing really hurting us now is the utilization on our CC balances. We've had to use them more than I ever wanted to due to unexpected stuff, but our income is going to jump considerably starting in 2 weeks thanks to a promotion (which finally became official) and I plan to pay those off asap. Getting those balances down should show on the scores I think. I'm looking forward to when our 1st BK (from when we were young and stupid with credit) will fall off in Dec 08, but even more than that - I think just the time we go with paying everything on time will help the most.

So, does anyone know, if you are unfortunate enough like we are, to have 2 BKs, do scores improve when the old one falls off? Or does it not even matter since there is the new BK being reported anyway?

We'll be actively searching for a new mobile home by the first part of 2009. Does anyone know if it's even possible to get financing through Vanderbilt or other finance places when a BK is less than 2 years old? If it's going to be a major hassle, I think I might just buy a used mobile home for around $8000 and forget dealing with mortgage companies til we're older and our credit looks fabulous (we'll be in our 40s by then...better late than never I guess)

I've listed my scores then and now in my sig. Thanks for everyone's help so far, and thanks for any info anyone has on financing a mobile home! Smiley Happy
4/20/08 FICO TU 511 EQ 528 EX 587
6/03/08 FICO TU 585, EQ 575, EX 622
GOAL = 620+ across the board by end of 08
Message 9 of 9
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