@Vegas247 wrote:
@Creditaddict wrote:
@Vegas247 wrote:I have a better story......23 collection accounts for 36k.......disputed every one off without paying a dime! Went from low 500 fico to TU 785 EQ 743 EX 658
Explain?
Okay, I'll explain. Back in 2003, I was single in Las Vegas...I had a great job, friends, and my family was there as well (brother, 2 close cousins) I worked for an internet company selling websites back in the dot com boom...making good steady income....my credit was good and my boss told me I should buy a house...so I did (got approved from good old CountryWide(remember them)...anyway, I had this nice big house with a pool in the best part of Las Vegas which is Summerlin, the biggest master planned community in the world!!!!
Little did I know, I had it all. But, I was kinda lonely (I wanted a hot girlfriend..you know blonde, blue eyes,...) I used to go out by myself looking for her....always ended up playing blackjack....one night I lost all my savings, about 40k.....so I told myself..I'll sell my house and start flipping houses to make up my losses....I sold my house FSBO (For Sale By Owner..made 30k...I then rented a condo with my brother...and put 2k earnest money down on 274k house (this was in the end 2003 and house was finished May 2004)...Found a buyer without a Real Estate agent and sold the House for 438k, a profit of $164,000. Had another house built...bought for 401k sold for 539k..(Real Estate Boom yrs) Vegas was the place to be for flipping houses.....I was rolling.....
My cards at the time: Providian 6k limit, Emerge MC 4.5K Credit score EST 710-730 Fico
Then it happend...went out with friends from work....I had a beer im my hand, looked over, and a hot blonde with blue eyes came over and said "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" I said nothing!....I then talked to her...and some how got her number...Called her from time to time, met her for drinks after about 2 months, one night she calls me up and asks if I want to come over and watch a movie......guys, you know what happend that night...lol I was hooked, she was hooked....She turn me on to drugs, lost my job....spent all the money I made off flipping houses...my family turned their back on me, my credit dropped as I didn't pay anyone....2007 I left for Portland Oregon (my mother in law convinced my wife to leave me and come home to portland where my wife is from) ...I was homeless....begged my dad for money...he gave 800....I bought a 1990 Nissan Pathfinder and sleptin the truck for 2 yrs....
Long story short, I got off drugs...got a great job with an internet company, got a town house that I'm renting...saving again for a house......disputed 23 collections( nasty ones too...MIDLAND, NCO VEGAS, ASSET ACCEPTANCE, AFNI, AARGON AGENCY, EOS CCA, AD ASTRA RECOVERY, LVNV Funding, Portfolio RC, GTF SERVICES...the list goes on..... didn't pay a dime.
Some of the original creditors were: CITI SHELL MC, PROVIDIAN, CAPITAL ONE, CHASE x3, GMAC, GECRB/WALMART.....Medical Collections too, GMAC REPO, YAMAHA QUAD REPO...
Today, I'm proud to say, I am still married to the hot blonde with blue eyes(she is now a manager at a big hair salon), and have a great son, and also have the most beautiful 4 yr old little girl, and my mother in law doesn't hate me anymore ( i hope)
My FICO scores are back from low 500's to TU 785 EQ 743 EX 658(still can't get the $45.00 parking ticcket collection off EX). I have close to 6 figures in my bank and own my own company now....and am grateful to have what I have.....NEVER GIVE UP!!!!
I feel like I have to be that one person to toss this out there: if those debts were valid and they were yours, having them off your CR's does not negate your obligation to satisfy them. Those CA's can still come after you, they can sell the debts to new CA's who can report and they can take you to court should they choose to do so.
@digitaldiva wrote:
notfancy asked:
There are a lot of us that are new. Would you be comfortable giving us a recap of the last 2 years of your gardening? Where you started, where you ended up, and why you gardened the last two years to get that diamond spade?
My response:
When I first stepped into the Garden Club, it was with the intent to clean up my CR as much as possible. It wasn't with the intent to reach any "milestone"; I was ashamed of what my CR looked like, and was tired of getting denied for credit products, so I decided to buckle down and work diligently to clean up my reports. Spending a great many hours (whenever I could find the time) in these awesome forums, I started by searching for posts that were dealing with the issues I was facing on my CRs (COs, late pymts, inqs, etc.); my scores across the board were in the low to mid 500's, which made me even more frustrated; and in turn, made me more determined to clean up my reports. I started by sending letters CMRRR to the creditors who were reporting late pyments asking if they would be so kind as to remove the lates (ASKING was the key, knowing they didn't HAVE to do it; but understanding if they didn't). I then sent PFDs (also CMRRR...got to have that paper trail; right?
) for the CO accounts, and decided to wait about 30 - 45 days before I receive a response. The INQs I couldn't do much about; after all, I did fill out and submit the applications, only to be denied, so I figured I have no choice but to accept the responsibility for those and let them fall off when they fall off.
About 45 days after I started my rebuilding, I was anxious to peek at my CR, but I decided that I would wait a little longer (and yes, the suspense was killing me; but I waited). Several weeks later while busy at work, I realized that I had not received a response from anyone, but had received some of the return receipt cards. When I finally got a break from work and was able to take a few days off, I decided to pull my CR; hoping for some good news...at that time, I noticed several lates were removed, and a few inqs had dropped. Wasn't what I was expecting, but progress had begun; so I was happy with that. Over the next several months, I sent more CMRRR to the creditors whom I never got a response from (especially the PFDs), and several weeks later, I got a response for some PFDs (several of amounts were $1,500 - $2,000; the amount I paid to each one varied between $450 and $600). I waited several months to pull my CR to see if they kept their word, and most of them did; the ones that didn't, I sent a letter (again, CMRRR...by this time, the postal workers and I are on a first-name basis...lol!!) with a copy of the letter they sent agreeing to the terms of the PFD, pointing out that upon receipt of the agreed amount, the collection would be removed from my CR. Several days after receipt of the last letter, I got an email stating that the removal of the CA was overlooked somehow, and that it would be corrected (with a follow-up letter in the mail stating the same); and to allow 45-60 days for it to reflect on my CR. So I waited...but not really by choice; we got many new projects at work that all had different deadlines which had to be met, so my mission got put on the back burner for a while.
Once we were caught up at work (whew!), I took a few more days off (heck, I deserved it!), I pulled my CRs once again, and in that time, my reports improved tremendously; almost everything that I asked was completed (notice: I hadn't pulled my scores yet); and like I said earlier, I'll have to eat the INQs because I caused them. I then decided to go ahead and pull my scores - almost had a heart attack!! My TU and EQ scores (I believe) at that time were 699 and 702 respectively; and my FAKO EX hovered around 710!!
During my rebuilding, I was thinking of all the cards that I wanted to app for when my reports were clean; and now that they are clean, the novelty of apping for the cards that I wanted no longer excites me. What excites me now is the fact that my reports are clean; and I get more satisfaction knowing that IF and WHEN I app for a new card, I'll be about 99% sure I can get it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that what started out to be a mission of getting my report clean to get new cards no longer is a factor in getting the report clean; I'm more satisfied with the fact that I got my reports clean...and I want to keep it that way. And although I updated my siggy with the appropriate spades during my journey (and believe me, it was hard not to app after reading some of the approvals of others), I am very proud of myself for going more than two years without apping; and no longer feel the need to have "shiny new plastic" in my wallet.
Congrats OP!
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Leadberry wrote:
I feel like I have to be that one person to toss this out there: if those debts were valid and they were yours, having them off your CR's does not negate your obligation to satisfy them. Those CA's can still come after you, they can sell the debts to new CA's who can report and they can take you to court should they choose to do so.
Yes, but probably many of them will be SOL'd now or soon (if they happened around 2007, CA seems to have a 4 year SOL on credit card debt)
IIRC, they can still take you to court outside of SOL. It's on you to show up at the hearing and claim SOL as a reason to have the case dismissed.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Leadberry wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Leadberry wrote:
I feel like I have to be that one person to toss this out there: if those debts were valid and they were yours, having them off your CR's does not negate your obligation to satisfy them. Those CA's can still come after you, they can sell the debts to new CA's who can report and they can take you to court should they choose to do so.
Yes, but probably many of them will be SOL'd now or soon (if they happened around 2007, CA seems to have a 4 year SOL on credit card debt)
IIRC, they can still take you to court outside of SOL. It's on you to show up at the hearing and claim SOL as a reason to have the case dismissed.
That's a waste of their time too though, so does that really happen? I was interested in your other suggestion: that they can sell to a new CA and that CA can report.
While I doubt that a CA would buy a SOL debt (low expectation of success) can they in fact report a debt barred by SOL? I know a reported debt can stay on past the state SOL, but what about adding one?
I have read of cases where it happened on the Rebuilding your Credit boards. The reporting date is based on the CRTP (7 years + 180 days past DOFD), not SOL. So, if your state's SOL is shorter than 7.5 years, debt can still be added/reported after your state's SOL is up. Also keep in mind that some of these CA's buy debt for pennies on the dollar. Who knows how they choose what debts to buy/go after?
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Leadberry wrote:
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Leadberry wrote:
I feel like I have to be that one person to toss this out there: if those debts were valid and they were yours, having them off your CR's does not negate your obligation to satisfy them. Those CA's can still come after you, they can sell the debts to new CA's who can report and they can take you to court should they choose to do so.
Yes, but probably many of them will be SOL'd now or soon (if they happened around 2007, CA seems to have a 4 year SOL on credit card debt)
IIRC, they can still take you to court outside of SOL. It's on you to show up at the hearing and claim SOL as a reason to have the case dismissed.
That's a waste of their time too though, so does that really happen? I was interested in your other suggestion: that they can sell to a new CA and that CA can report.
While I doubt that a CA would buy a SOL debt (low expectation of success) can they in fact report a debt barred by SOL? I know a reported debt can stay on past the state SOL, but what about adding one?
Longtimelurker is right, it is a wast of their time......the original collection agency backed down to my demands of having the collection removed from my credit reports because I nailed them for lack of proper proof.....and included in my letters of disputes were my demand to not only have them removed, they will not sell my information to any other collection agency whose sole purpose is to collect any money from me......
You see Leadberry, knowing your rights goes a long way....I haven't had any problems
If a collection agency makes the paramount mistake of try to collect from me, I have a family attorney ready......
$600 
$6500 
$30k 
16k 
12k VSiggy