Could really use some advice

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone first post here, and I could REALLY use some advice. I got my experian credit report and score from freecreditreport.com and it said 633. I know now that site is a hoax but i cancelled it and now moving on. Later once i realized how to do it the right way (and free), I pulled my 3 reports through annualcreditreport.com. They couldn't give me the FICO score because there isn't enough activity on my credit. No credit cards, no monthly installments or anything like that, I've been quite inactive. I did get some info i can use, but its really confusing to me because I'm really new to credit reports.

I have 0 accounts in good standing.
I have 3 potentially negative items.

Here are the 3 items:

The first is a collection from 10/2001, it reappeared on there exactly 4 years later to the month, on 10/2005.

The 2nd is another collection from 2005 and reappeared in 2006. (I do still owe both of these)

The 3rd is a student loan from 2001 that is very interesting to me. This shows up on there dated as 2001 and 2004, which is when i "think" i paid it off finally. It says on the report Current status: PAYS AS AGREED. What the heck does that mean? Is that credit bureau talk for paid as agreed? It also says amount past due $0. I had 2 very late payments on the student loan is why I am guessing it shows on the report, but i am nearly positive it has been paid.

Ok here are my questions if anyone can please help me out.

For the student loan, is this one of those things that just takes a long time to drop off, or can i have it removed since it has been paid? Also how can i tell if it actually has been paid? I am having some trouble understanding all their jargon..

As for the collections, i want to pay them but it will take me a little while to be able to do so. When i do pay them, how do i ensure that they will be removed from my report when i pay, or can it not be removed? Also i pay the collection agency and not the actual company right?

One last thing.. "Outstanding debt" is what my collections are listed under. When i pay will the "outstanding debt" actually go away or do i need to remove it in another way, and how much effect will that actually have on my score?

Message Edited by Credit_is_life on 01-14-2008 02:36 AM

Message Edited by Credit_is_life on 01-14-2008 02:37 AM

Message Edited by Credit_is_life on 01-14-2008 02:38 AM

[SmartCookie]

Welcome Credit_is_life, please start here:  http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=2654

Before you begin, what is your debt state's collecting SOL? http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b2.asp?caret=8

1) What is the DOFD/DOLA on this account?  If this appeared previously and was removed, you should be able to have it removed again due to reinsertion rules.  This does not deal with the debt issue, just the reporting.

2) Same question and comments

3) Student loans are in a class of themselves and can report for longer than the 7.5 years.  Dispute if inaccurate, GW if accurate.  Be very careful with disputing as anything derog that might have not been reporting has a high chance of coming back along with what is reporting.  Seems like from what you are saying and how it is reporting, it is paid.  Even if it is paid, it will remain, and can remain longer than standard CRTP.

With the 2 CA's the SOL and DOLA/FD dates are very important.  With those taken into consideration the standard procedure is to try to see if the OC still owns.  If so, PFD with them.  If not, PFD with CA once they have validated the debt with a DV letter you need to send them CMRRR.  Again, if it is paid, it will still report until it is due to drop per CRTP unless you PFD first, or are able to obtain GW later.  Never rely on GW for unpaid debt, it's just a small chance of a backup plan. 

It's best not to make payments to a CA but PIF or for a settlement amount.  Making partial payments can re-age a debt and add to the overall general confusion.  Just put the money aside till you have it all together before you PFD if that is what will be happening.

Hold off on applying for anything until #1 and #2 are 'repaired'.

[Anonymous]

Thanks alot, when i get home from work i will pull out the common abreviatations guide to make sense of all that =) But i can see you know your stuff and i'll do what i can to make things work out, thanks again !

[Anonymous]

Credit_is_life wrote:
I got my experian credit report and score from freecreditreport.com and it said 633. I know now that site is a hoax but i cancelled it and now moving on.

...

I pulled my 3 reports through annualcreditreport.com. They couldn't give me the FICO score because there isn't enough activity on my credit.

...

Current status: PAYS AS AGREED. What the heck does that mean? Is that credit bureau talk for paid as agreed?

...

For the student loan, is this one of those things that just takes a long time to drop off, or can i have it removed since it has been paid? Also how can i tell if it actually has been paid? I am having some trouble understanding all their jargon..
...
As for the collections, i want to pay them but it will take me a little while to be able to do so. When i do pay them, how do i ensure that they will be removed from my report when i pay, or can it not be removed? Also i pay the collection agency and not the actual company right?

One last thing.. "Outstanding debt" is what my collections are listed under. When i pay will the "outstanding debt" actually go away or do i need to remove it in another way, and how much effect will that actually have on my score?

---

freecreditreport.com isn't a hoax, but it is more than a little misleading. It ain't free, and the score you get is a FAKO score.

You can only get your FICO scores from MyFico.com, Equifax, or if you have a WAMU CC then you get one FOC.

Paid or pays. Tomato or tomatoe. So long as it's listed in the good section on your CRs, it's fine. The comments might read "Hasn't beaten oldest child in a week", and it wouldn't affect your FICO score. Although it would probably work out handsomely when your lawyer sued and they settled.

Read the CRTP link in my sig to understand how long things report.

Don't pay a collectiion in the hope that it will just go away once you pay it. What are the DOFDs for them? If you don't know, can you estimate? I ask because something from 2001 might well be approaching the "too old to report" category, and it might be best to just let it wither and die from natural causes of the aging process.

Paying a collection can, in some instances, actually LOWER your credit score--at least in the short term. IMHE, over time and with age, paid collections don't get better. Best to pursue a PFD with them.

[sunrise]

You can get a real FICO from transunioncs.com 

[Anonymous]

The debt states' SOL (Iowa)is 10 years written contract, 5 years oral contracts, promissory notes and open accounts (including credit cards).

The first collection is actually 2 seperate collections from 2 different CA's both sent by the original creditor. Let me give you the dates on both of those:

This is on my equifax report.

First CA DOFD - 04/2004.
It doesn't say date of last activity specifically, it says: Date assigned 11/2005, Date reported: 08/2006, balance date 08/2006, status date 08/2006. They did offer me a settlement on the phone just now so im going to PIF that asap.

The 2nd collection, which is from the same original creditor but from a different CA, is on my Experian report, the dates on that are: date opened 11/2005, date of status 08/2006, reported since 08/2006, account history: collection as of august 2006.

The student loan i am going to GW to, after looking closer at the report it has 2 late payments that caused it to show up, but is paid. Date opened on that was 9/2000. last activity 1/2004, most recent date reported 2/2004

Message Edited by Credit_is_life on 01-14-2008 05:57 PM

[Anonymous]

---

Credit_is_life wrote:

First CA DOFD - 04/2004.
It doesn't say date of last activity specifically, it says: Date assigned 11/2005, Date reported: 08/2006, balance date 08/2006, status date 08/2006. They did offer me a settlement on the phone just now so im going to PIF that asap.

---

Just so you clearly understand, if you PIF a collection that will NOT remove it from your CRs. It can remain for 7 years plus 0 to 180 days from the DOFD, or 2011.

The company line around these parts is that paid collections become "less worse" over time, but quite a number of folks, here and elsewhere, report their FICOs rising significantly when an old paid collection which had not been updating disappeared from their CRs.

My mantra is to NEVER pay a collection unless:

1) You get a PFD (Pay For Delete) agreement signed in hand BEFORE you sent 'em a check

2) You have to--usually either the collection is within the SOL and it appears they are going to sue, or you're trying to get a prime mortgage and the lender demands it be paid

Never agree to anything over the phone. Get it in writing, otherwise it did not happen. Cannot tell you how many posts I've read, here and elsewhere, in which the CA promised something verbally then never delivered.

[Anonymous]

Ok so i understand this correctly: I have 2 CA's from the same OC on my case here. They both reported originally in 11/2005, then the last time in 08/2006. I recently talked to one of the CA's on the phone and told them i want to pay. It isn't a huge debt (379$) and I don't want it reapearing (again) from either or both CA's so i just want to pay it. I know not to do it over the phone.

I am a little confused about how to ensure that they will remove the 'outstanding debt' portion from my reports (i know the actual CA report won't be removed from the reports.) I read that i should PFD them with certified mail and get the PFD signed. Is that right? Then what, i send them the check with a photocopy of their signed PFD?

Also, when a account changes hands from one CA to the next, does that mean the 1rst CA now has nothing to do with it? If I am reading it correctly they are not reporting the owed ammount any more, so theres nothing more i can do with them except wait for it to drop off correct? The OC told me when they get their money they will tell the CA's to remove from the credit reports.. Sorry for my ignorance here, still very early learning curve.

[SmartCookie]

First things first... do not speak with a CA on the phone.  All communication in writing.  I'll get back to that.

Now if there are 2 CAs reporting the same OC, and it is also for the same exact debt... dispute the older CA as 'not mine' and get it out of the reporting picture since it is not in the collecting picture.

With the remaining CA that you assume is accurate, first see if OC owns the debt as you will want to deal with them.  If they do, you will send them the PFD and pay if they agree to the specific terms in writing.  This will also remove the CA reporting.  If they do not own you will PFD with the CA, and that again is how you will ensure the removal.  You can send the PFD CMRRR.  You don't need to photocopy anything but you can enclose a copy with your payment if you wish.  With an OC is is ok to send a check, with a CA stick to money order or teller's check etc.

It's good that you are asking questions!  What was the situation with the third CA and which was the medical one (if I remember correctly)?

[Anonymous]

Yes the 2 CA's are certainly from the same debt. They have the same dates, the same OC and the same debt amount. I know which owns, where can i dispute the older one? I got my free reports (annualcreditreport.com) about 3 days ago and can't log in to view them again. Can i do that with a Myfico scorewatch? (thinking about getting that anyway.)

With the CA that owns the account (same one i talked to on the phone)i will certainly send the PFD CMRRR.

The 3rd CA i can't really do anything about at the moment can't afford to.

The other negative on my report was a student loan. I'm pretty sure it's paid off, date opened 9/2000, reported 2/2004, last payment 1/2004. I printed out a GW to send but I'm not sure if i should? It seems i can't get it removed anyway. It isn't causing any outstanding debt. But anyway all ammounts on that one are listed as $0, except "high credit" which is 620. Scheduled payment, ammount past due and balance all = $0.

Message Edited by Credit_is_life on 01-15-2008 07:00 PM