Who told you the collection would be removed in 90 days upon sending a PIF letter to the CA? You should try to get that promise in writing. Also, if the account number listed on your reports is incorrect (per the mailroom person) then that is grounds for 623 dispute / deletion.
TU will EE up to 6 months before the drop off date. Easiest way to request from the is a direct dispute through credit karma, Reason: "too old to be reported." I just successfully requested deletion of an item scheduled to drop in July. Deleted in 36 hours. EQ will grant an EE (usually) up to 3 months before drop date.
TU will EE up to 6 months before the drop off date. Easiest way to request from the is a direct dispute through credit karma, Reason: "too old to be reported." I just successfully requested deletion of an item scheduled to drop in July. Deleted in 36 hours. EQ will grant an EE (usually) up to 3 months before drop date.
The 11 year old account is a charge-off though, correct? So it's hurting more than helping. Besides, it's going to fall off in a few months anyway. It's also very possible that the points gained from removing a derogatory account will mask the points lost for age - even if it doesn't, it's still better to have a clean report with a short AAOA than it is to have a long AAOA with negative items. Charge-Offs, just like collections, also hold your scores down - so even if you're doing everything right, you won't see as much movement in scores as you should - including the gain from such a huge drop in util (great job on that!).
And yes, the dispute for the incorrect account information would be taken up with the CRA. My apologies - i mentioned a 623 dispute in the previous post but I misread and thought this item was being reported by the original creditor, not a collection agency (623 only applies to the OC). If, after you dispute with the bureaus, they verify as accurate, then dispute with the CA for innacurate reporting - there's a chance the bureaus won't be able to verify given the incorrect account number.
Check this out regarding FICO and Child Support: https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/delinquent-child-support-credit-score.php
I meant to respond to your last post about the early exclusion for TU, but I forgot (sorry) -- you can also call them and ask them to do it over the phone, it would be faster than a dispute through their website. If the agent pretends to not know what you are talking about, it's probably because they are not authorized to remove - so ask, politely, for a supervisor and they'll do it.
As for my scores... I was fairly lucky. I started out with 2 unpaid charge-offs, 1 collection, and a state tax lien on all 3 reports. I hadn't read anything about repairing credit at the time so did what I thought was best.
The charge-offs (First Premier and Fingerhut)
First Premier:
Credit Limit: $425
Balance Charged-Off: $390
Last Payment 12/2013
Reported with 93% util.
I Paid it in full. Once it updated to show paid-charge off/closed/$0 balance - I received an immediate score jump (the 10/8/2017 scores in my sig). Charged off 4 years ago so I think the damage to my score is lessening. I'm leaving it alone for now.
FingerHut:
Charged off in 5/2011 for delinquent balance of 707; Reporting $0 and closed. So I ignored it till this month (this is the one I just had removed early from TU, will request from EQ in March, doesn't show in EX). TU gave me a 10 point jump for removal.
-- opened card # 1 - secured from USAA.
Collection Account - Verizon $770
I paid the collection company in full -- this was before I learned about pay for delete (PFD). Once I paid it, i read about PFD and was so upset that I didn't know about it before I paid. But then, I read about Goodwill letters. So I figured, what the heck? I'll try it. I Googled till I found the CEO information for the collection agency that I paid and I emailed him directly with my sob story and begged for forgiveness and a second chance. He responded 2 days later telling me good luck with my future and that they would delete the Collection. And the following month, they did. That gave me a jump to 745 on EX. TU and EQ didn't move much - maybe 10 points - because of the tax lien.
- opened card #2 - Amex blue cash everyday -- (they only pull EX so it worked out)
- opened card # 3 -- TD Cash Credit (I bank with them so... and they only pull EX).
Tax Lien -
It was unpaid. EX either already removed it or never reported it, I don't know. But it showed on TU and EQ. So - I read up on how to remove. I disputed based on the new NCAP rules. That didn't work - TU verified as accurate, EQ updated to paid/released (it wasn't).
I was also concered that the lien would be refiled at the end of 2018 because it's a GA state lien, and after 7 years of no collection of funds, they can refile for another 7 years - which would allow the bureaus to report it for another 10 years from that file date. So I paid the lien in full. Then I went back to disputing. Once the lien was paid in full, I was removed from the GA delinquent tax payer list and received a letter of tax clearance. I disputed with TU for FCRA violations in reporting inaccurate and unverifed information and presented them with a copy of my tax clearance letter. They apologized (!) and removed it. My score shot up to where it is now.
EQ is a different story - because they are sort of reporting it correctly now since I did finally pay the lien and it is released. But they updated it to reflect paid in November 2011 - which would make the drop off date November 2018. But, in reality, I didn't pay it till December of 2017 - and if they were to find that out and update it again, the lien could stay on my report till 2021 (tax liens stay on report for 10 years or 7 years from date of payment, whichever is shorter). So - because EQ "claims" they verified through LexisNexis, I placed a security freeze and opted out of LexisNexis - this suppresses public record data, supposedly preventing entities, such as credit bureaus, from viewing your data. I then obtained a copy of my full disclosure from LexisNexis, disputed the lien they had on file, and once I received confirmation that the lien was removed from their database, I opened a new dispute for EQ demanding a method of verification from their last investigation which requests they provide whatever documentation they used to verify this lien or delete it. I also mentioned that LexisNexis has no such records available. Hopefully this will work and they will delete.
I filed my disputes through CFPB and BBB - I did not mail any letters becuase I'm impatient and I did not dispute through their websites because waiting 30 days was just too difficult. CFPB and BBB both require initial responses in 15 days. This worked great for me, not for others - some have better luck disputing by certified mail.
I keep my util at 2% or less and pay in full every month.
That's my story...
Another data point - I didn't have any other credit cards prior to the three I mentioned in that post. So I received extra score boosts for obtaining credit. This also gave an extra boost for having a good credit mix because I have student loans that are all in good standing. So I think this is why, even with a short AAOA, I was able to hit the 750s so quickly.