any way to clear up items on the negative side?

[Anonymous]

a quick story, a few years ago i was going to file bankruptcy, and i realied with my new business i was able to pay everything off within a short time, so i did that...so when i paid everything off listed on my credit report, and figured out who was owed what, like home depot had been charged off and handed over to a collection agency, i paid the collection agency that bill, but pretty much ALL of them i did in settlements...NOT knowing that was actually going to destroy my credit. so time ahs gone by and my credit is still low...and there a few items i want to remove from the report in the negative area that are already paid off, either by collection or directly to the company.

is there any option i have to get them remove from experian or the other agencies? i have already done the disputes and they come back and say the marks are going to stay on. so what can i do if anything?

[Anonymous]

Hi GoTTi-

The thing that pretty much everyone is going to tell you to do is to send Goodwill (GW) letters like crazy.  There are numerous samples on here and you can find multiple addresses for pretty much any company you may have on your file.  Good luck and happy mailing.

[newstart2010]

Welcome to the forums!

Can you list your bad trade lines, and whether you settled with them or not?  Its actually a good thing you might owe a few of them still, because it gives you leverage to work with.

You are going to want to send Debt Verification (DV) letters to make sure you have all the information on the debt that is left.  Even if you know its yours, this will help to get you all the info you need to work on the debt.

Once you have all the information, andything that is still owing, even on settled accounts, you can send Pay For Deletion (PFD) letters asking them to remove the trade line for paying off the rest of the debt owed.  Some companies will be willing to do this.

Also, take a close look at what time is left on each account.  Are they close to dropping off the report?

If the account is closed, and there is no left over amount to send PFD letters for, then you will have to send a lot of Goodwill (GW) letters requesting that they remove the trade lines out of the kindness of their hearts.  Not easy to do, but persistence pays off a lot, so never give up.

[Anonymous]

CENTRAL FINANCIAL CONTROL    
DateOpened: 08/2005
Status: Paid in settlement. 

CHASE BANK USA    
DateOpened: 05/2002
Status: Transferred,closed. 

GE MONEY BANK/LOWES    
DateOpened: 07/2003
Status: Transferred,closed. 

GE CAPITAL/MERVYNS    
DateOpened: 07/2003
Status: Transferred,closed. 

NCO FINANCIAL SERVICES    
DateOpened: 07/2006
Status: Paid,Closed. 

HOME DEPOT/CITIBANK    
DateOpened: 03/2003
Status: Paid,Closed. 

there was a lot more but dropped when i disputed them on experian...these remain though and answerd the disputes i sent in via experian....

they are all paid either directly or with the collectors.

[newstart2010]

All of them, except the one that shows paid in settlement, will require a goodwill letter.  Do you know when any of them will drop off? 

As for the settled debt, can you pay the remaining balance?  If so, send them a Pay For Deletion for the remained of the debt and see if they are willing to take it.  The rest you just need to bombard with goodwill letters begging them to remove the trade lines.

[Anonymous]

where can i see goodwill letter templates?

[Anonymous]

Just search GW or Goodwill in the search field at the top of the screen. That should take care of it for you.

[newstart2010]

make sure to keep them simple, and keep them tailored to your situation.  let them know why you are wanting to clean things up, and that its really importnant to you.  Handwritten seems to get people more success, so try that if you can.  and send them to every address you can find for the companies.  you can also try emailing.

[Anonymous]

been a LONG time since i viewed this thread...i just received a letter in the mail for a card i applied for with bank of america, and the letter showed my sad credit score.

i checked my report again on experian and the items are still there. i havent done the goodwill letters yet.

question i have is, where do i send the goodwill letters to? all of the links for the debt that is transfered closed have po box addesses, is that where im suppose to mail the GW letters to?

[Anonymous]

also in experian, when i view the page "Requests for Your Credit History Summary" i have a LOT of items under "Requests Viewed Only By You" area. under the "Requests Viewed By Others"   area there is 9 of them:

• BANK OF AMERICA     Date:   July 28, 2011
• AMERICAN EXPRESS    Date:   May 28, 2011
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION    Date:   April 12, 2011
• US BANK CONSOLIDATED   Date:   January 25, 2011
• UNION BANK NA    Date:   December 29, 2010
• INNOVATIVE MERCH SOLUTIONS    Date:   July 16, 2010
• MACYS/DSNB   Date:   June 12, 2010

• AMERICAN EXPRESS    Date:   September 18, 2009
• BANK OF AMERICA   Date:   August 21, 2009

and i remember there was a TON more from a few years ago, 2006-2007 when i was opening my businesses up i had a lot of request coming in. they have fallen off. my questions on this is, the first group i mentioned, viewed only by me, do these affect my score or is it the 2nd group i mentioned, request viewed by others, that affects my scors as "hard hits" or whatever? shopping for credit?

thanks.