Thank you.
Had I not had the information from this site, I could have never done this.
Let me tell you what I did...
I had 2 collections on my credit 1 was paid, 1 was not (recent added within the last 30 days). I disputed with the credit bureau and both came back verified.
The collection that was paid was actually drafted out of my checking account, somehow it got sent to a CA and they put it on my credit file. I did some digging for my old bank records and called the original creditor and they verified to me that they account was drafted by them from my checking account and should not have gone to a CA (I GOT THE NAME AND NUMBER OF THE PERSON WHO VERIFIED THIS).
The second one that was just turned over came from a hospital bill that my insurance had denied because they did not provide the doctor number (my insurance denied 5 times) because of that reason. I spoke the billing department at the hospital and the supervisor there told me once it was paid, they it would say paid on my credit report. I called my insurance and got a copy faxed to me showing all 5 denial letters and the reason why. Next, I read the HIPPA thread wrote down some important information and from there I called the HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR and explained why my insurance had not paid, gave them the information that was on the EOB from my insurance and she replied she would look into it immediately and call me back. Well, that was Wednesday, 01/02/2008. She faxed the information to my insurance company and provided the information personally and my insurance processed the claim and paid the entire claim.
Then I had 2 accounts with HSBC and every month I pay on line both accounts at the same time. In July 2007 one of the accounts was marked as 30 days late and I was charged and late fee and over the limit fee (35 dollars each). After going through my records and seeing where I had wrote the entry in my check book with the confirmation code (Ok, I did not think about this at the time when I was arguing with customer service), HSBC closed the account because of it.
Somebody from this forum provided me with upper managements email address and with I emailed a letter to him and provided 1 full years history of payments and confirmation numbers. I stated in the letter that I thought the error had occurred on their end and would he please look into it. GUESS WHAT, he did and I got a call from him personally saying that they acknowledge the mistake and would remove the 30-day late from my report and on top of that with all the fees they had charged for 2 months because of it, they owed my $175.00 - got the check in the mail today (Did ask if I wanted the card reinstated and I declined since the limit was only $300).
Next step, I faxed a letter of dispute with the Equifax and provided the name of the computer and each person's name and contact number. I then called Equifax the next day and asked that since the information had been verified twice by them that they expedite my request and change the credit file. Customer service said the investigation would take 30 days, I then asked to speak with the supervisor because I thought another 30 days was not right (this was on Wednesday 01/02/2008), they agreed at this point to call each contact that I had provided and fix the problem within 5 days -- It only took the 3 days to verify this information and correct it.
Prior to November I was trying to get this all fixed but I was talking to the wrong person. Through this forum, I gathered all the information I had, began to document all contacts with name, title and number and once I verified it myself, I sent it to the Equifax.
I have learned to take charge of my credit file. To be more aggressive and when I think the response is unfair with lower management, to take it to the next level. This proved to be very effective for me.
So, for those out there is who are discouraged, don't give up, go to the next level of management and keep good records and if possible (although it seems like a like of work) provided the necessary information to the credit bureau.
Wife went from 585 to 629.. 700's here we come!!!
