@Oorahwrote:
I received the results of my 2nd dispute with Equifax regarding the bogus late payments, and they VALIDATED the debt, even with a copy of the dismissed with prejudice court order. I am amazed. I guess I have to file a complaint with the feds now to get it removed. In addition, they dropped my score another 17 points. I have added no new debt, have zero lates, zero collections, and one inquiry on my report and they have my score in the mid 500s. It makes no sense. The other two have me in the mid to high 600s, but I havent pulled a score since they deleted the account. I am baffled and not even sure what else I can do.
Seriously frustrated.
Ugh, sorry to hear this, Oorah. I wish I could help on this one. If you haven't already, you might want to post this issue in the General Credit Topics forum. There are very knowledgeable folks that would know what your options are. 
@Anonymouswrote:I am new to the forum. Looking forward to setting goals and improving my credit!
Welcome, sryan112213! Glad that you're here!
@Anonymouswrote:Update: I was persuaded that Macy's would pull a soft inquiry when considering a credit limit increase, so I asked for one. I used the credit limit increase request button on Macy's website, but didn't ask for a specific amount. I had initially been given a $600. limit, but Macy's increased my limit to $5,600. Now I wonder what might have happened had I asked for more. I love seeing my credit utilization drop to a miniscule 1.2%.
Congrats, sfgeoff! That's an awesome CLI.
Thanks Bella. I did post over there, and no help except what I have already done.
Equifax customer service is now apparently located in the Phillipines, so they are very hard to understand.
They apparently don't know what dismissed with prejudice means, and are telling me that they cannot remove it, that they report what the lenders report to them, even if it it inaccurate. I asked him pointedly, that even though I sent info that proves the debt is not valid, they will still report it, and he answered yes as long as the lender replies that it is still valid. This makes no sense to me at all.
I have sent the paperwork to my Congressman, and I am filing a complaint with my state attorney generals department and the CFPB.
They can't even give me a fall off date, which should be from a 5/2011 first delinquency, or last payment date of 12/2011 they are reporting, which are obviously dates that they pulled out of a hat.
Starting Score: 593
@Oorahwrote:Thanks Bella. I did post over there, and no help except what I have already done.
Equifax customer service is now apparently located in the Phillipines, so they are very hard to understand.
They apparently don't know what dismissed with prejudice means, and are telling me that they cannot remove it, that they report what the lenders report to them, even if it it inaccurate. I asked him pointedly, that even though I sent info that proves the debt is not valid, they will still report it, and he answered yes as long as the lender replies that it is still valid. This makes no sense to me at all.
I have sent the paperwork to my Congressman, and I am filing a complaint with my state attorney generals department and the CFPB.
They can't even give me a fall off date, which should be from a 5/2011 first delinquency, or last payment date of 12/2011 they are reporting, which are obviously dates that they pulled out of a hat.
FYI, you can always asked to be transferred to a US Agent for special handling. I ask right away.
@Anonymouswrote:For my first month in my goal was to get my credit useage down to below the 8.9% mark, on my new reports it is showning at 7%. I didn't see the bump that I thought I would see but it was still a increase to my scores. I also had a couple of inquries fall off my report as well as having my auto loan age to 1 year. It leaves me with one personal loan that is less than a year, which is the newest thing on my credit report. I have two credit cards that will be hitting the 2 year mark in the next few months and am hoping to see a bump in my scores at that point as well. I am also in the middle of disputing the last few baddies on my credit report.......not sure how much of a bump I will get from having them removed since they are sitting right at 7 years old now. All in all I made some progress althought it is hard sitting in the garden and not applying for any new cards.
Congratulations on your progress, startingover1!
Your scores are definitely going to go up as you persevere, and especially as those baddies come off of your reports! I know gardening is really hard. I started rebuilding in June 2016 and my scores haven't changed much, maybe 10 points, since about a year ago. This is because I kept apping instead of gardening! It's hard, but it's definitely worth it!
Stay strong.
@Newbie2018wrote:
I think I've about accomplished all of February goals. Im ready for March. New goals are to SAVE SAVE SAVE! And not apply for anything else. I want to reach 690 for March.
Awesome, Newbie2018! Me too. Save, save, save, and no apps!