Help with my Score please!!??

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone!

I have been trying to raise my score for a couple years now and it has not moved at all.  Its currently floating around 610. Here is my situation.

THE PAST

- I bought a house back in 2001. 

- Lost my job in 2003. 

- By early 2004 I still could not find employment and my reserves had run out. 

- By mid 2004 I went "past due" on my 2 credit cards, personal loan, and mortgage for several months until I was able to recover and get back on track. 

- I made a payment arrangement with one credit card company to make automatic payments in exchange for a 2% interest rate and not use it untill it was paid in full.

- I also fell behind on my condo fees and had a judgement filed against me. I was able to pay off the judgement within about 6 months.

- I have been on time and "Paid as agreed" for a couple years now.

- I did a re-fi earlier this year but my mortgage is still not showing up on my credit report.

THE PRESENT

- I have a high balance on my one and only credit card now. 

- I have 2 "open" medical collections showing on my report that were supposed to be paid in full by the setttlement company back in March07 when I did my re-fi. 

- My judgement is showing as still "open" but was paid in full 2 years ago. I have the court documents to back that up.

- I have been on time with no late payments for 2 years now.

What can I do other than paying my bills on time to get my score moving upward?

Thanks in advance to everyone!

[sl]

Hi John,

There are several things you can do:

1) send a GW letter to the companies that you were late with. Explain that you lost your job and have since got back on your feet and ask them for special consideration in removing it from your CR. If they say no, wait a few months and send them.

2) If you have any open collections, send a PDF letter and hope they will work with you.

3) If the information is not reporting correctly on the CR, disbute.

4) Also, get your balances down and make a committment to continue doing so.

[Anonymous]

Hello Sl !

Thanks for your helpful response! I have a couple of questions for you.

Of my 2 medical collections, one is from June of 2001 and one is from Jan 2004.  The information on my credit report is vague with regard to the complete name of the companies and only gives the last 4 digits of the account numbers.  Is there a way to find out more info on who I can send the PFD letters to for each instance?

[Anonymous]

'Sup johndoe -

By law, complete contact information for any creditor listed on your CR has to be provided by the CRA. If you're a member of TrueCredit (highly recommended for regular tracking of your CRs), that info can be found at the bottom of the page containing your 3 in 1 report. I had a collection account that seemed vague this year and when I called TrueCredit they were able to provide a little more info. In the past, once I got of the name of the OC or CA I've had pretty good luck finding contact phone numbers on the web.  The 2001 collection by the way, should drop off next June because it'll be 7 years old. If you're not in a hurry to make any purchases, wait until then and then & if it doesn't drop off automatcially, dispute it off with CRA's. If you have proof of paying a settlement company for this debt, then contact the CA and see if they'll close and delete the account from your CRs  based on that proof.  If you choose to do a PFD I'd negotiate very hard (offer a lot less money) because their leverage is running out. CAs are just greedy and they'll take any dime they can get most of the time - use that to your advantage if you can. 

Good Luck

Message Edited by Lowlife on 07-30-2007 11:24 AM

Message Edited by Lowlife on 07-30-2007 11:30 AM

Message Edited by Lowlife on 07-30-2007 11:31 AM

[Anonymous]

Start with GW letters and then give them a couple months to go through the system. I actually got form letters back saying that they couldn't help me, but then the baddies were in fact dropped, so do not get discouraged.  Not trying to sound like a "know-it-all" but here is a copy of the GW letter that I sent to Walmart back in June, and they just removed my one baddie, I have used the same basic letter for another successful GW request. Feel free to use it as a guide, as I got the basic construct from this web forum. (The foormat got a bit screwy).

(Your Name)

(Your Address)

June 22, 2007

Walmart Credit Department
P.O. Box 981400

El Paso, TX

79998

To whom it may concern:

     I have been a Walmart customer since 1997 and during that time, I have enjoyed my experience with Walmart greatly. I am writing to see if you would be willing to make a "goodwill" adjustment to your reporting to the three credit agencies.

     I have one late payment on the above referenced account that dates back to 2001 (listed as Oct 2001 on Equifax and Dec 2001 on Experian). I am unable to confirm or deny whether I actually made a late payment, but I would concede that I most likely was indeed late. 2001 was a horrible year for me.  Starting in May, I filed for a divorce from a cheating wife, and since we were a two-income family and she refused to help pay any the joint bills, I was forced to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  I was not carrying a balance on my Walmart account during my bankruptcy filing, so I was able to safeguard that account. During that summer, I was trying to get myself established in an apartment and get my life back on track.   I relied heavily on Walmart as I needed to purchase many items for my new home and I had no other credit.  Before the bankruptcy was officially signed off, I fell behind in some other accounts and this caused a ripple effect on my other bills. Since that time I have been an exceptional customer paying every month on time.

     The credit report entries in question are due to drop off my reports sometime next year, but I have been working very hard to improve my credit rating. My current FICO scores run from 701 to 740. Because of my exceptional payment history over the last 6 years, and the 4 years before this incident, I would like you to consider removing the negative payments from my credit report. I hope that Walmart is willing to work with me on erasing theses mark from my credit reports.

     I have been a very happy customer in the past and hope to continue a long relationship with Walmart. With today’s credit industry so competitive, I know how important it is to maintain good relationships with customers.  I hope that you will seriously consider my request.  I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Message Edited by KevKaos on 07-30-2007 11:32 AM

Message Edited by KevKaos on 07-30-2007 11:32 AM

Message Edited by KevKaos on 07-30-2007 11:33 AM

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your input!  With the one account that I have that is coming off next year, should I contact the CA or the Original Creditor ( hospital) to try to negotiate a discounted payment for deletion?  I have seen it suggested different ways on this forum!  Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Although I don't have much experience with medical bills and such, I have a friend that has a medical collection going on right now. The OC has never been the originator of the tradelines on her CRs, (3 in the last year) only the CAs. Chances are, the hospital that is your OC is not the originator of the tradeline on your CRs either and probably never will be .This probably means that the CAs haven't bought the debt from the OC, and the OC will just keep on hiring CAs as long as it can. Contact the hospital first and if they play ball, great. If not, try going to the CA with a PFD, but make sure to specify that your payment is to be accepted as payment in full for all of your outstanding debts with the CA and the hospital as well. You should also specify that the Hospital and CA agree to C&D all collection efforts for that account forever and that any remaining debt will not be assigned to any other CA.

Good Luck

[Anonymous]

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