Let me start by saying that I'm recovering financially from divorce and marriage to an extremely financially irresponsible person so I know the devastating impact a spouse/former spouse can have on one's financial life. Mine didn't pay his taxes (among other things) and I ended up with 6 tax liens because we filed jointly. My credit was awesome when we met. However, probably 80% of my credit and financial situation post separation was him...but, 20% was me. There were things I could have done to deal with the situation better or earlier and I did not. It's easy to get overwhelmed and ignore the problem but that doesn't make it go away. You have to face it and understand your part in it, take responsibility and move on. What worries me in your scenario is that it doesn't sound like he's the one who is taking responsibility. Certainly some of his issues are due to the divorce but sounds like some are him. I know you're not looking for a lecture but help so I'll just say to please do some soul searching and serious talking with him and make sure for your own sake that he is stepping up and being accountable and financially responsible going forward or you will get dragged down into the quagmire and if you are not employed...you won't have an easy time digging yourself out. Personally, I will never marry or be involved with someone again unless I was certain that they were financially responsible. Even then, I'll never file taxes jointly or have joint CCs with anyone again and I would be super careful about a home purchase as well. OK, enough about that...on to my suggestions about the situation.
Best of luck. 
@Anonymous wrote:
My boyfriend has very poor credit. 524.( just went down 35 points because of the two recent collection accounts reflecting the most recent update)..I recently ran his report and it was awful. He made the mistake of not checking it after the last 6 years from a bad divorce.
Here is what he currently has on his credit report:
Federal Tax Lien- The good news on this is that once he gets the amount down below a certain threshhold (I think $25k), and if he's made all on time payments, he may qualify to have the lien withdrawn under the IRS Fresh Start program.
$49, 552...working with his attorney to help negotiate these. From tax year 2007 when he was married. Currently paying for his ex-wife tax bill that year...will re-file to show expenses because he was a real estate agent.
Automatic/installment payment in effect.
Charge Offs- Are the CC's/loan still showing a balance but have been charged off? I believe they should show $0 if charged off. Those are probably killing his utilization. The bigger problem though is that, at those amounts, I'd be surprised if he didn't have judgements filed. Have you checked the County Recorders office? If he's got judgements against him in those amounts, he might want to consider bankruptcy. For ones that don't have a judgement, you need to figure out what SOL you have. What state are you in?
Bank of America - HELOC loan - $49,664...will be removed 02/2016
Bank of America - Credit card - $1,966....will be removed 06/2014
Chase- Credit Card....balance of $0 (sold to a CA)....will be removed 01/2015
GMAC- Auto Loan....voluntary repo....$16,925....will be removed 04/2015
HSBC - CC for Gateway....balance $0 (sold to CA)....will be removed 09/2014
OneWest- 2nd Mortgage....$96,347...will be removed 04/2014 (creditor can't sue for deficiency judgement, signed off)
USAA - Credit Card....$20,483...will be removed 12/2014
USAA - Credit Card...$12,870....will be removed 02/2015
Foreclosures-
OneWest - will be removed 04/2014 (creditor can't sue for deficiency judgement, signed off)
Wells Fargo - will be removed 09/2014
Collections-
Credit Financial Services - Medical - $351...will be removed 08/2019 For medical, google "Whychat Hipaa"
Credit Financial Services - Medical - $257...will be removed 08/2019
Enhanced Discovery - Sprint cell - $468....will be removed 06/2016 Step 1: DV CMRR If they validate then Step 2: PFD
LTD Financial Services - Citi bank/home depot CC - $7,311...will be removed 08/2015 See above
LVNV Funding - Chase CC - $2321...will be removed 07/2014 See above. Also, lots of threads on here for dealing with LVNV
LVNV Funding - HSBC for Gateway Computer - $3409...will be removed 03/2014
He also has two letters from attorney's collecting on medical bills for $59.40 and $259.41 not showing on his TU report (he will be paying this with his next paycheck) Deal with this ASAP before it gets added.
He has outstanding medical bills from this past Fall because he didn't have insurance....Hospital is $866.54 and $5,280.59. Another is $1394 from the actual doctor/specialists that is currently on its way to being 120 days past due. He is contacting these medical bills on Monday to work out a payment plan. Deal with this ASAP before it gets added.
We need help....BAD! He didn't open his mail for months....now medical bills are going into collections. He now knows just how bad his situation really is!
I am taking control of his credit because we are determined to own a home one day. I have no income but good credit. He has the income to pay a mortgage but horrible credit/credit history.
I've been reading up on repairing credit but we feel hopeless because we have no idea how to even begin.
I added him as an authorized user on my good standing credit card I always pay off in full every month. So that shows up in his report as good.
What do paid collections look like on report to lenders? We are obviously going to let the charge offs in 2014 fall off and not pay on those. What about the ones in 2015? He doesn't have money to pay for old debts at this point.
Do Goodwill letters work on OC for $0 balances from selling the charge off to a CA? Worth it to write and ask to remove those? Or do we have to wait until the removal date?
HELP!!!!! Please I beg anyone to help!!
Wow, thank you SOOO much! We are trying to go about this the right way. However, He is helping me figure this all out. I think once he got divorced he just simply gave up on any way to fix his financial problems and just ignored it. It devastated him. No excuse but can't unchange the past. I was aware of his tax lein and foreclosures and bad credit before we were together. But I will not be marrying him until at least 90% of this has been taken care. No way i am ruining my credit by taking his name or applying jointly to anything until his credit is above 700 etc etc.
See below in red for my responses to yours
Federal Tax Lien- The good news on this is that once he gets the amount down below a certain threshhold (I think $25k), and if he's made all on time payments, he may qualify to have the lien withdrawn under the IRS Fresh Start program. I asked him about this and they have told him they will not allow this due to his income right now. I think he has a couple years until they consider this option. Right now the IRS wants as much money as they can take.
$49, 552...working with his attorney to help negotiate these. From tax year 2007 when he was married. Currently paying for his ex-wife tax bill that year...will re-file to show expenses because he was a real estate agent.
Automatic/installment payment in effect.
Charge Offs- Are the CC's/loan still showing a balance but have been charged off? I believe they should show $0 if charged off. Those are probably killing his utilization. The bigger problem though is that, at those amounts, I'd be surprised if he didn't have judgements filed. Have you checked the County Recorders office? If he's got judgements against him in those amounts, he might want to consider bankruptcy. For ones that don't have a judgement, you need to figure out what SOL you have. What state are you in? We live in South Carolina and the SOL for open accounts is 3 years, for written contracts is 10 years. No judgements showing on his report so we are good there. Only one who could potentially sue is B of A for the HELOC account. So far, nothing. We are good on the open accounts trying to collect on the charge accounts.
Bank of America - HELOC loan - $49,664...will be removed 02/2016 Due to written contract, shows the balance. Won't come off till 2016 unfortunately.
Bank of America - Credit card - $1,966....will be removed 06/2014 shows the balance but can't collevct bc of SOL....just wait until they remove it from CR??
Chase- Credit Card....balance of $0 (sold to a CA)....will be removed 01/2015 is there any way to good will this account and ask to remove since it was sent to collections and showing $0 balance or do we have to wait until 2015?
GMAC- Auto Loan....voluntary repo....$16,925....will be removed 04/2015 shows balance....just wait until they remove it from CR???
HSBC - CC for Gateway....balance $0 (sold to CA)....will be removed 09/2014 See Chase comment
OneWest- 2nd Mortgage....$96,347...will be removed 04/2014 (creditor can't sue for deficiency judgement, signed off) Just need to wait till this comes off correct?
USAA - Credit Card....$20,483...will be removed 12/2014 They have sent 1099-C for last year, didn't add to his taxes but he can claim insolvency if audited. Past SOL so they can't collect or sue. But shows the balance and doesn't have any judgements against him.
USAA - Credit Card...$12,870....will be removed 02/2015 Same as above
Foreclosures-
OneWest - will be removed 04/2014 (creditor can't sue for deficiency judgement, signed off)
Wells Fargo - will be removed 09/2014
Collections-
Credit Financial Services - Medical - $351...will be removed 08/2019 For medical, google "Whychat Hipaa" Does this work for unpaid, valid collections?? Confused on this process or how to go about this. He will be paying these but if we could get them to delete the tradeline altogether that would be amazing, but don't know the correct process of doing this.
Credit Financial Services - Medical - $257...will be removed 08/2019
Enhanced Discovery - Sprint cell - $468....will be removed 06/2016 Step 1: DV CMRR (whats this stand for again?) If they validate then Step 2: PFD
LTD Financial Services - Citi bank/home depot CC - $7,311...will be removed 08/2015 See above We have no intention of paying this b/c he can't afford it. Still send DV and then what??
LVNV Funding - Chase CC - $2321...will be removed 07/2014 See above. Also, lots of threads on here for dealing with LVNV Same as comment for LTD
LVNV Funding - HSBC for Gateway Computer - $3409...will be removed 03/2014
He also has two letters from attorney's collecting on medical bills for $59.40 and $259.41 not showing on his TU report (he will be paying this with his next paycheck) Deal with this ASAP before it gets added.
He has outstanding medical bills from this past Fall because he didn't have insurance....Hospital is $866.54 and $5,280.59. Another is $1394 from the actual doctor/specialists that is currently on its way to being 120 days past due. He is contacting these medical bills on Monday to work out a payment plan. Deal with this ASAP before it gets added.
You are simply amazing for taking the time to reply!! I cannot thank you enough!!!!!!!
@Anonymous wrote:Wow, thank you SOOO much! We are trying to go about this the right way. However, He is helping me figure this all out. I think once he got divorced he just simply gave up on any way to fix his financial problems and just ignored it. It devastated him. No excuse but can't unchange the past. I was aware of his tax lein and foreclosures and bad credit before we were together. But I will not be marrying him until at least 90% of this has been taken care. No way i am ruining my credit by taking his name or applying jointly to anything until his credit is above 700 etc etc.
See below in red for my responses to yours
Federal Tax Lien- The good news on this is that once he gets the amount down below a certain threshhold (I think $25k), and if he's made all on time payments, he may qualify to have the lien withdrawn under the IRS Fresh Start program. I asked him about this and they have told him they will not allow this due to his income right now. I think he has a couple years until they consider this option. Right now the IRS wants as much money as they can take.
You are confusing this with the Offer In Compromise. Withdrawal of the notice of lien will not mean he doesn't have to pay or pay a reduced amount, just that he can get it removed from his CR once he's below $25k owed assuming he meets the other criteria. Check the link above for more info. A tax lien is not only a major derogatory with a huge impact to his credit score but he will not be able to qualify for any mortgage with an open lien.
$49, 552...working with his attorney to help negotiate these. From tax year 2007 when he was married. Currently paying for his ex-wife tax bill that year...will re-file to show expenses because he was a real estate agent.
Automatic/installment payment in effect.
Charge Offs- Are the CC's/loan still showing a balance but have been charged off? I believe they should show $0 if charged off. Those are probably killing his utilization. The bigger problem though is that, at those amounts, I'd be surprised if he didn't have judgements filed. Have you checked the County Recorders office? If he's got judgements against him in those amounts, he might want to consider bankruptcy. For ones that don't have a judgement, you need to figure out what SOL you have. What state are you in? We live in South Carolina and the SOL for open accounts is 3 years, for written contracts is 10 years. No judgements showing on his report so we are good there. Only one who could potentially sue is B of A for the HELOC account. So far, nothing. We are good on the open accounts trying to collect on the charge accounts.
The fact that there are no judgements showing on his CR does not mean that he doesn't have them. They don't always make it on or make it on correctly. The process is not automatic, it's a manual process where the CRAs hire a company or people to troll the County Records for liens, judgements , etc and thus add them. Most County Recorders have online search available. You can just type in his first and last name in to a search and see if anything comes up. If he's moved counties, be sure to the others as well.
Bank of America - HELOC loan - $49,664...will be removed 02/2016 Due to written contract, shows the balance. Won't come off till 2016 unfortunately.
Bank of America - Credit card - $1,966....will be removed 06/2014 shows the balance but can't collevct bc of SOL....just wait until they remove it from CR?? If it's charged off it show $0.
Chase- Credit Card....balance of $0 (sold to a CA)....will be removed 01/2015 is there any way to good will this account and ask to remove since it was sent to collections and showing $0 balance or do we have to wait until 2015? Doesn't hurt to try.
GMAC- Auto Loan....voluntary repo....$16,925....will be removed 04/2015 shows balance....just wait until they remove it from CR??? I don't know much about repos. I'd suggest doing some searches here on the boards for others who may have had luck with this.
HSBC - CC for Gateway....balance $0 (sold to CA)....will be removed 09/2014 See Chase comment Doesn't hurt to try.
OneWest- 2nd Mortgage....$96,347...will be removed 04/2014 (creditor can't sue for deficiency judgement, signed off) Just need to wait till this comes off correct?
USAA - Credit Card....$20,483...will be removed 12/2014 They have sent 1099-C for last year, didn't add to his taxes but he can claim insolvency if audited. Past SOL so they can't collect or sue. But shows the balance and doesn't have any judgements against him. Should show $0 balance.
USAA - Credit Card...$12,870....will be removed 02/2015 Same as above Should show $0 balance.
Foreclosures-
OneWest - will be removed 04/2014 (creditor can't sue for deficiency judgement, signed off)
Wells Fargo - will be removed 09/2014
Collections-
Credit Financial Services - Medical - $351...will be removed 08/2019 For medical, google "Whychat Hipaa" Does this work for unpaid, valid collections?? Confused on this process or how to go about this. He will be paying these but if we could get them to delete the tradeline altogether that would be amazing, but don't know the correct process of doing this. It actually works best for unpaid but I believe it can also work for paid. There is a whole site and a section of another board dedicated to this. We can't talk about it on this board.
Credit Financial Services - Medical - $257...will be removed 08/2019
Enhanced Discovery - Sprint cell - $468....will be removed 06/2016 Step 1: DV CMRR (whats this stand for again?) Debt Validation letter. Keep it simple. His name and address, their name and address, date, account number from CR and something like this:
To whom it may concern:
I pulled my credit bureau report, and I discovered that you claim I owe you a debt. Under FDCPA 809 send me validation of this debt.
If they validate then Step 2: PFD
LTD Financial Services - Citi bank/home depot CC - $7,311...will be removed 08/2015 See above We have no intention of paying this b/c he can't afford it. Still send DV and then what?? If they can't validate then they should delete. If they do validate then you can decide if you want to try a PFD. You can offer a much reduced amount. They probably bought it for pennies on the dollar. The more you offer the more likely they are to accept.
LVNV Funding - Chase CC - $2321...will be removed 07/2014 See above. Also, lots of threads on here for dealing with LVNV Same as comment for LTD
LVNV Funding - HSBC for Gateway Computer - $3409...will be removed 03/2014
He also has two letters from attorney's collecting on medical bills for $59.40 and $259.41 not showing on his TU report (he will be paying this with his next paycheck) Deal with this ASAP before it gets added.
He has outstanding medical bills from this past Fall because he didn't have insurance....Hospital is $866.54 and $5,280.59. Another is $1394 from the actual doctor/specialists that is currently on its way to being 120 days past due. He is contacting these medical bills on Monday to work out a payment plan. Deal with this ASAP before it gets added.
You are simply amazing for taking the time to reply!! I cannot thank you enough!!!!!!! Just paying it back. I've gotten loads of help from the wonderful folks on this forum.