Helping my Sister In Law's credit

[Anonymous]

Hi, Thanks in advance for any help. I only know the basics of credit repair and Im trying to help my SIL who has no idea. She has closed student loans and some other closed retail cards, total 11 closed.  No payment history or Credit card use. She does have 2 collection accounts one from AFNI for $879 which says sprint and Midland Cred  for $993 that says Synchrony bank. She doesnt know the original amounts but is willing to PFD. I have a couple questions.

1. Is the first step to dispute? Credit Karma says we can dispute with them there. Where is the best place to dispute?
2. We dont know what the original credit amount, if they come back after the dispute as valid do we send a PFD or call to bargain? She doesnt mind paying it off.
3. Do we only pay if we can get a PFD, i read somewhere that AFNI doesnt do PFD.
4. Dates on credit Karma arent the dates of when she thinks the the collections were sent. How do we find the exact dates and original amounts?

Thanks again for any help

Thanks again for any help

[Anonymous]

Summary:
Collection:
AFNI - Sprint $879 (June 2020)
Midland Cred - Synchrony Bank $993 (March 2020) this date isnt accurate

What would be the best steps to take to remove this? Willing to pay it off if its removed.

[FireMedic1]

Go https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action  and get all 3 credit reports for free. Its the real deal. Dont dispute anything. It comes back verified and their scores will get a hit. Look at what the 3 real reports say. Then you'll know where your SIL stands. The real amount and fall off dates. Yes Midland will delete. AFNI no so much. Any telecommunication collections agencies are a bear to work with.

AMN

[OmarGB9]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Summary:
Collection:
AFNI - Sprint $879 (June 2020)
Midland Cred - Synchrony Bank $993 (March 2020) this date isnt accurate

What would be the best steps to take to remove this? Willing to pay it off if its removed.

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What does that March 2020 date say? Is it the "open" date?

[HowDoesThisAllWork]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, Thanks in advance for any help. I only know the basics of credit repair and Im trying to help my SIL who has no idea. She has closed student loans and some other closed retail cards, total 11 closed.  No payment history or Credit card use. She does have 2 collection accounts one from AFNI for $879 which says sprint and Midland Cred  for $993 that says Synchrony bank. She doesnt know the original amounts but is willing to PFD. I have a couple questions.

1. Is the first step to dispute? Credit Karma says we can dispute with them there. Where is the best place to dispute?
2. We dont know what the original credit amount, if they come back after the dispute as valid do we send a PFD or call to bargain? She doesnt mind paying it off.
3. Do we only pay if we can get a PFD, i read somewhere that AFNI doesnt do PFD.
4. Dates on credit Karma arent the dates of when she thinks the the collections were sent. How do we find the exact dates and original amounts?

Thanks again for any help

Thanks again for any help

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Good morning and welcome to the forum!

You have two really smart people in your corner in @FireMedic1 and @OmarGB9 .

I was going to suggest that you go to annualcreditreport.com and look at each of the three (Equifax, Experian, Transunion) and see exactly what is listed.  And please do not ass/u/me that if you see one account - good or not so good - on one that you will find it on the other two.  That does not always work out that way.....for several reasons.

So, pull the actual credit reports from annualcreditreport.com as a first step.  SIDEBAR - since COVID-19 hit, the Credit Reporting Agencies has changed their stance.  We are now allowed to pull our credit reports every seven days.  Yes, that is correct.  Every SEVEN days.  This is in place through April, 2022 so we have about six months remaining (and we will see if this gets extended....again).  So, checking your credit reports every week - if you so desire - is an option for awhile.

I would humbly suggest that you look at Credit Karma (or Credit Sesame or Wallet Hub or Nerd Wallet or all the others....and, yes, I have an account with all of them) mostly as a "has this thing shown up on my Equifax or Transunion credit report yet" type tool.  I would *NOT* base any decisions on what any of those "services" suggest.  Keep in mind that they are businesses and are trying to sell you things (using the term "sell" loosely here...).  And, they make use of VantageScore 3.0.  That is "the other" Credit Score model.  Most of the world uses FICO.  So, what I am suggesting here (additionally) is that you do not pay attention to the Equifax | Transunion scores that you will see in Credit Karma.  Those scores - as a starting point - have little value (again, as a starting point....).

Once you have all of the accounts listed on a sheet of paper you have really good information as to what is going on.

You will - if you have never looked at a credit report from annualcreditreport.com - see that there are open accounts and that there are closed accounts.  You will also see that each of the three (again, Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) will list out the "NEGATIVE" accounts in a slightly different way.  That will make sense when you are actually looking at them.

If you are comfortable with this, then I would suggest - as others have - that you list out the negative accounts.  Sounds like you have listed out two already.

Have you seen the link that lists out what Collection Agencies will entertain a request for PfD (Pay for Delete)?  If not, here it is:

Collection Agencies and Paid for Delete 

Please please please do not dispute ANYTHING at this point.  That is something that can backfire bigtime (as already suggested).

So, let's see how we can help you help your Sister-in-law!

[Anonymous]

@HowDoesThisAllWorkwow thank you so much for taking the time to write that message. Clears up alot of things. Great I will start with getting the free report and be back with some answers. thanks again.