I will TRY not to make this boring, because it will be kind of long, but I am just fuming.
Good news and the bad news.
First, the good news. Got up this morning feeling pretty spiffy and thought I would try to do something to improve the ole credit score. I called the place where I have my car loan, which has a 30 day late on it, from back in 2005 and thought I would try my hand at getting it removed. I talked to the lady who first answered and she said, quite dryly, "we don't do that." I told her that I am pretty sure that you can do that, and she decided to let me speak to a supervisor. I spoke to the supervisor, and lo and behold, she removed the 30 day late for me. Cool. I'm really feeling my oats now.
I go to a local clinic here that had a charge off on me THAT I HAD PAID, and I spoke to the financial counselor and explained my situation and guess what? She removed the charge off. Wow...this was going great!
And now the bad news.
I have a dental bill that was charged off, that I paid, and I decided to call the dentists office to see if they could help me out. They said they couldn't, because once it leaves their office there is nothing they can do. However, she was kind enough to give me the number to their credit agency. Now, here is the deal. I am trying to refinance my house before long, and I want to get a good interest rate, so I want to remove all this negative information. And one other thing, I have not dealt with credit agencies in a long time, and I had forgotten how much I hated them.....until today.
The conversation:
Me: Hi, Wendy! I am (state my name) and I have a charge off that you all have and I want to find some way that I can get this removed.
(This lady sounded like she smoked four packs of cigs a day, and had a voice that just reeked of anger)
Snake: We do NOT remove negative information on credit reports, and according to our records, you filed a validation on this a couple of weeks ago, and we sent back records that your debt was accurate and valid.
(Hmmm.....I can alredy tell that this isn't going to go well)
Me: I am pretty sure that you can remove a charge off, if you choose to, because I just had someone else decide to help me out just a bit ago, and I was hoping that you could do the same. If I can raise my credit score, just a bit, it could save me thousands on a new loan. Can't you reconsider and see if there is a way that you can remove it?
Snake: NO....it is against the FCRA to remove negative information on your report IF IT IS VALIDATED, and yours was validated.
Me: I don't want to do anything that is outside of the law, but I really did think that there was something you can do to help me out, because I do know of others that have done this sort of thing and have had negative information removed. Look, this is an old debt, and this is a debt that I paid off, as soon as you all told me that you had it. Isn't there anything that you can do?
Snake: Maybe you have a hard time understanding........
I feel my blood starting to boil here)
Me: Maybe YOU have a hard time understanding.....we aren't just numbers here. We may be numbers to YOU, but this is our lives, and every little thing you do, or don't do, affects us all in a huge way. It was a debt, but I did pay the debt, and maybe I didn't pay it as soon as I could have, but I did pay it, so why can't you, at least, look into the fact that something can be done? I'm not sure what a debt being obsolete is, but maybe my debt is obsolete? Could that be?
Snake: The debt is validated....it's done. I've never heard of anything in the credit collection world of something being obsolete. There is no misinformation on the file. It's done and over with, and it will remain as listed.
I hung up the phone, a beaten man. I know that aren't obligated to do anything, but they could, at LEAST, be a little compassionate about it. It's like they just don't understand how much this affects our lives.
Summary: On my way home from work, I couldn't help but think that there is some poor sap out there that is going to go home and hop in bed with that reptile and have to see and hear her in the morning. He must be the only guy that feels worse than I do right now.
Message Edited by wordslayer on 02-25-2008 04:43 PM Message Edited by wordslayer on 02-25-2008 04:43 PM
Message Edited by wordslayer on 02-25-2008 04:49 PM
Message Edited by wordslayer on 02-25-2008 04:54 PM