So I thought I had decent credit a few months ago. My scores were 655, 702, and 727. Not great by any means, but just decent. The 655 score was from an incorrect write-off from a utility company a few years ago. So I disputed it online with experian, who after a month said it was updated. From the link that was emailed to me I checked the “updated” report. It didn’t change. So I again disputed it, and only 2 days later it was then changed to deleted. So then to really improve my credit(or so I thought), I had my dad add me to his business credit card with a limit of around 20000 and a balance of 0, opened in 1997. So after checking on myfico.com, my credit has dropped to all below 700s and the utility write off is still there(not on experian’s freebe check directly from the website though), and to make matters worse, now something else popped up. Something back in 2000 for 12$ medical charge. That wasn’t on there a few months ago!! And I did a very through check a few months ago!! There is no other information on my report to tell me who it is, let alone what it is. What gives??
Maybe I should have just left it all alone. I would have been better off. From what I understand, when I check my report it doesn’t ding me any.
I am on a rant and I apologize for it. My credit is important to me and I really want 750 plus scores.
Not all credit reports are the same, but there should be contact information for either the medical facility who charged you the $12 or the collection agency they sent the bill to. Get in touch with them and challenge it- that is really your only option. Even a small charge off like this will bring your score down significantly.
here is the 12 dollar item as listed on myfico, how would I go about finding out what or who this is???
lection #1
Collection Agency 619YC00000
Original Creditor Not on record
Account Number M15XXXX
Whose Account Shared
Date Assigned January, 2000
Date Reported November, 2005
Amount $12
Balance $12
Balance Date November, 2005
Date Last Activity November, 1999
Collection Status Unpaid
Status Date November, 2005
Thanks, that is what I did, although it’s very hard to dispute something when you have no idea who the creditor was or even the collection agency’s name!! I just put not mine. They had my name wrong on my report I noticed as well. I told them to change it, maybe that is where the problem lies.
That’s really weird. I have a $12 debt on my credit record as well. No clue who it is. You’re not a vet are you? Over 26 million vets had their personal info stole.
No, not a vet. I did finally find out what this was. When I went to print out the letter that myfico.com creates for you to dispute, the entire account number and name of creditor was on that letter, but as you can see from my post the info on the website report was anything but complete.
So I guess lesson here is print out the dispute letter if you want all the info. Anyways I called the creditor, they gave me the collection agency’s phone number to call as they had no clue who I was and couldn’t find me using my SSN#, After giving the collection agency my account number(from the printed myfico dispute letter), they confirmed the 12$ delenquency belong to a married couple (i’m single) with the husband having a similar name to me. Also this agency is located very close to the town I grew up in.
So Equifax somehow got confused and showed it as mine(or maybe the collection agency did this???). I paid the 10 bucks to go directly to the horses ass on Equifax’s website so I could do an online dispute giving them all the phone numbers they needed to call. That was a few days ago, haven’t heard anything, as I didn’t expect to over the holiday.
I’m just going to give you a little insight on how credit is viewed. The ideal is based on married couples but since you’re single, I’ll just stick with a few basics.
4 open accounts that are around $5k or more.
Accounts that you are actually paying on with a balance.
Accounts that have a history of more than 6 mos. preferably a year.
Type of accounts to include; car, mortgage, credit card (2)
An credit card with a high limit and no balance doesn’t prove anything. It only reveals what you “might” do, which would be a detriment to your “debt to credit ratio”. Credit worthiness is based on history and current activity.
With respect to the blemish in your credit report, when properly identifying the miscues; you must first write a coherent letter stating the discrepancy and demanding that it be removed with in a certain time frame. Furthermore, you must state HOW the amendment needs to read in the modified report. Just be persistent but make sure everything you do, you document and set parameters.
Some incorrect info here…
Keep account balances less than 50% always, under 25% is better which is why consolidating everything to one card and maxing it out is bad…
FICO scores are based on a 24month history…after an account is 24months old it has a smaller affect on your score. (Paying off a bad account, that has had no activity in over 2yrs will result in lowering your score since the new activity will get factored into your score again)
Established credit is 3 tradelines all over 2yrs old
Credit Cards and loans from major banks ending with the letters N.A. will boost your score. Inhouse financing, or car loans from say Ford Motor Credit will actually have a negative impact on your score as opposed to getting the car loan thru Chase Manahattan Bank, N.A.
When you want to dispute your credit, order credit reports via phone and get them mailed…must better report and its free…just select the button that your credit was reviewed…it works over90% of the time…
If you find yourself with a real debt that is yours tell them you will pay it off in full today with a credit card or check by phone if they will provide you with a Letter of Deletion to have account permantely deleted from your credit file…Summit letter to the Experian, equifax and transunion right away…
Inquires can be removed also… Equifax is easy, just call them and say unauthorized…within 1 week they will be gone…the other 2 are tough…they require you to send letters to the company pulling the inquiry requesting to have it removed…get the letter and send it in to them…
Some incorrect info here…
Keep account balances less than 50% always, under 25% is better which is why consolidating everything to one card and maxing it out is bad…
FICO scores are based on a 24month history…after an account is 24months old it has a smaller affect on your score. (Paying off a bad account, that has had no activity in over 2yrs will result in lowering your score since the new activity will get factored into your score again)
Established credit is 3 tradelines all over 2yrs old
Credit Cards and loans from major banks ending with the letters N.A. will boost your score. Inhouse financing, or car loans from say Ford Motor Credit will actually have a negative impact on your score as opposed to getting the car loan thru Chase Manahattan Bank, N.A.
When you want to dispute your credit, order credit reports via phone and get them mailed…must better report and its free…just select the button that your credit was reviewed…it works over90% of the time…
If you find yourself with a real debt that is yours tell them you will pay it off in full today with a credit card or check by phone if they will provide you with a Letter of Deletion to have account permantely deleted from your credit file…Summit letter to the Experian, equifax and transunion right away…
Inquires can be removed also… Equifax is easy, just call them and say unauthorized…within 1 week they will be gone…the other 2 are tough…they require you to send letters to the company pulling the inquiry requesting to have it removed…get the letter and send it in to them…
To Whomever this is:
That information couldn’t be more correct (in MY post). What I gave the person in question, was a generalized and formal method of “proper credit scenario”. There is NO specific file or rule that applies to all mortgage lenders. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a neophyte in the industry. The scores in a credit file are indeed the “science” HOWEVER the actual reposrt itself is the ART. I’ve been a mortgage broker for 10 years with more than 100 employees at any given time. Be careful who you listen to.
Your a mortgage broker…enough said…Mortgage brokers do not deal in credit repair…they contract it out generally…Many are to busy or lazy to repair the credit for there clients or do not know how…
Just like only 1% of the realtors know how to work with investors, only about 1% of the mortgage brokers know how to work with investors…I can call 100 brokers up with a tough deal and about 95 of them will say they can close when in fact they can not and about 80 of them will want to pull my credit report instead of seeing a copy…
These days no you do not even need a H.S Diploma to be a broker…its so sad how the industry turned…
But also…if your looking for A+ paper loans or even usually B paper you will not 24month credit history…
Now I am not a broker but do have a license, it was a joke, sit in class for 63hrs and sleep, then study 1 day and take a 100 question test…Come on…these are the people doing my loans when i looked around the test center…i would not deal with 95% of them in real life…
Your main inaccuracy is lenght of accounts to be open…6months is to weak…No established yet…banks wont even increase your limit yet, except for a few out there…
Want to get quick established credit…ask parents, siblings or friends to add you as authorized signer on there cards…then have you removed about 6months later…the account will remain on your file…but bal will just no be updated anymore…just make sure low bal and high credit limit…account will show from when they got the card activated and make sure they always paid fine with no late notices reported on the tradeline…
Yes thanks a lot A. R. You’ve always been a wealth of info. Hows the pre-con doing??
I gotta try to get this straighted out. I am assuming that if one score is hit hard such as my equifax, and I get that cleaned up, the others will raise to match it? The collection is coming off, as the collection agency confirmed it wasn’t mine, but somebody with a similar name, now the only questions I have is how long and what will happen not only to my equifax, but my other 3 as well. My goal is to get them above 750 for all 3. Its gonna take work and time, but I will get it done.
If your collection is only on equifax then only that score will change…The others have nothing to do with it. …Also in general you only need 2 high scores, as the banks use the middle score, they throw oout the highest and lowest scores…getting over 750 is nice, but a 720 or a 750 will not really change a the terms of the loan…Actually shoot for being over 780…Not that you wanted to hear that since its 30points more than 750…
Is this true?? There are 3 people that I owe money two from about 3 years ago. I was getting ready to call them to try to settle, hoping that it would improve my credit. Should I just forget about it?
Yes it is true since it will be factors again…This is how you approach your 3yr old debt…
You have to sound like you know something when you call them (it would help if I knew the type of debt you want to pay off)…
Tell them the debt is over 2 yrs old and you know it is no longer factored into your FICO score and that in 7yrs from the date you last paid them it will drop off (of course this is in case of a credit card, if its in collections or a phone bill,cable, etc, it will get sold before the 7yrs up and will last forever really) and you want to take care of this bill but you want a DELETION LETTER from them 1st stating they will permanetly delete this tradeline from all your the credit beauras like it never existed.
Now everyone says try to settle at 25cents on the dollar and work up…Chances are you may have to settle at fullprice for the letter but its worth it…DO not mention your buying a home or anything, if they do ask, tell them your back on your feet and have a decent job now and thing went bad which is why the bills were charged off…Now i want to take care of what I owe…
Also they wil want to update your info, give it out dont worry, they cant bug you that much…plus they will want to think about it and call you back possibly…
Pay cingular…tell them you pay the bill in full for a letter, they should not give you a problem, just remember its all in how you present yourself over the phone to them…
visa should be paid,but since its not in collections in 7yrs it will disappear…you may want to dispute it first for a few months to see if it comes off…
They is a what if simulator that I use to boost credit score.Drop me an email and I will point you into the right direction. I use it to do loan and help my client.Also I can send you a a free credit repair form. I did it by mail and was deleted and updated in 30 days. I let the bureau do all the work.