Hello, I am new and I need help please.

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I consider myself a little lucky for stumbling upon this forum and the loads of information provided on it. I looked through some of the other threads to see if I could get answers on my questions before asking, but there are more intense issues than what mine are.

Nevertheless, I have some questions and if anyone could give any advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

I had been totally oblivious to my credit and my credit report until this year. I tried to apply for a credit card in September 07 and again in November 07. I kept getting turned down and I was wondering why. I eventually learned about a credit report and I pulled one up. I looked at my credit report for the first time early this year and realized that I had a collections account on it dated July 2002. I was confused as to how that got there and I asked my mom about it. Turns out that she pulled a "no-go" and got cable in my name when I was seventeen and I had not known a thing about it. I was going to dispute it but after she told me what it was, I just went ahead and paid it. Having read a little, I know that it will come off next year sometime, which is not too bad. However, after I paid the bill I applied for a credit card again on March 08. I was wanting to build some credit, but now it is a little hard to do with that old collections stain on my report. I have also noticed that on my report, no Employer information is entered.

My questions are:

How do I fix information that is not right on my credit report such as Employer information and Current Address info?

Since I am in the military, someone recommended applying for a Military Star Card from AAFES, but is that a good idea being as though I've applied for credit three times already within a 12 month period?

My scores are:

Experian - 616

Equifax - No clue

TransUnion - 596 (It was 616, but it went down due to all of the hard inquiries.)

Does anyone have any advice? I REALLY do not like to learn things the hard way, especially with my credit. I do not have a car, but I plan on buying one, but I think that I will have lots of trouble trying to get an auto loan if I do not have any credit besides that old collections one. I am aware that my situation is not the worst, but I do not know very much about the credit process and all, other than what I have read.

I appreciate any and all replies, thank you.

[granny031350]

I am no expert but you probably should start by reading the credit 101 threads that are here and also all about credit repairing. 

You can write a good will letter to the cable company and ask them to remove their collection since you have already paid it.  

And I have like 12 inquiries.  I do have  the notation that "I have been seeking new credit"  but sometimes you have to do that to improve your scores.  

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

A Good will letter can get that taken off? Thank you for that information. I will look for more info on how to do that.

I appreciate it.

[RobertEG]

Tahldon, you can try a GW letter, but it has allmost no chance.  If you paid the collection account, you legally acknowledged it as being a lefit debt.  A creditor, under the FCRA and FDCA, is not supposed to remove a proper derog from a CR.  They will do it only if (a) you can show that it was improper, or (b) they want to bend the rules because they will see substantial future econonic beneift to them by doing you a favor.  I do not see the cable company doing that, and can almost gurarantee that it will hit their circular waste basket within 15-20 seconds after they open your letter. 

Correcting your name/address info requires only a simple letter to the CRAs, including some minimal documentation, such as a recent bill paid under your name and address.  A recent pay stub to document your current employer.  They get tens of thousands of these letters every month, and if you provide some documentation, it will fly through like grease through a  hen.