it's probably one of the greatest feelings ever to pay off 2 credit cards, your car, and your insurance for the rest of the year

i have a collection that needs to be taken off but your credit report only updates at the end of each month it seems (or thats when companies send the information off)

anyone else battled back from substantial debt? (at my peak it was 20k just a couple years ago)

1/1/2008 4:50:08 PM

congrats

1/1/2008 7:09:25 PM

Once you get a job, 20k is something that can be paid off easily. Just wait until you have several hundred k.

1/1/2008 7:11:10 PM

yeah it helps when you get a good job too, i carried that debt for almost 3 years barely being able to make the minimum payments and then paid it off in 6 months after i got new work

it makes you feel like you gotta grow up fast though when you're trying to fix your past mistakes

1/1/2008 11:03:39 PM

that's life for ya

1/1/2008 11:14:25 PM

they dont auto take that off, you have to check with the three reporting agencies and show them documentation that it is paid in order for it to say "Paid", it doesnt go off, it just simply says paid...I have seen a zillion credit reports. It will ALWAYS be on there as a Paid collection

1/1/2008 11:16:02 PM

Quote :

"It will ALWAYS be on there as a Paid collection"

Lies!! You can have it removed by disputing the validity of it.

1/1/2008 11:19:24 PM

Or it will fall off after seven years.

1/1/2008 11:21:46 PM

^^ truth

i bitched out the company that sent me, the collection agency, and my own health insurance

it's coming off and 2/3 of those guys have told me they will help me

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 11:22 PM. Reason : f]

1/1/2008 11:22:13 PM

nope, it is not removed, might say disputed, but never removed....I looked at tons of people credit reports for a living...i had one person that still had a lien for federal taxes that showed it wasnt paid(10 years old) but it was paid...she had to prove that to me.

BK is still on there, no mater how long ago, says discharged or dismissed, bad accounts that have long been paid or settled, still on there. They dont fall off, you credit report just gets longer.....

the credit score might of recovered but what happened in the past stays on there.

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 11:23 PM. Reason : w]

1/1/2008 11:22:19 PM

you're talking about a paid collection, im talking about a false collection

1/1/2008 11:23:04 PM

I had something wrongfully put on my credit before I was 18. So, I started off with bad credit. It took a few months (less than 6 , but can't remember exactly), but I got it erased under the fact that the bill was called for collections under my name instead of my parents when I was under 18. Now, I have a little bit of debt between 2 credit cards, but have an awesome credit rating. If you stay on top of getting this thing removed, it will be well worth it. But do not trust that "they'll take care of it". Also, I kinda worry about my student loans all of a sudden now that I am focusing on graduating in May.

1/1/2008 11:24:03 PM

if you dispute it, it will say that on there.

It takes forever for that to be settled. If it is a big amount, be prepared to answer questions whenever it is pulled.

1/1/2008 11:24:30 PM

dude, people get shit removed from their credit reports all the time.

1/1/2008 11:25:18 PM

well they pay hundreds of money for that, im just proving that they are wrong using their own information

1/1/2008 11:26:01 PM

Quote :

"the credit score might of recovered but what happened in the past stays on there."

not necessarily

The FCRA makes companies verify all of that info and if the debt is paid they seldom take the time to respond to a dispute. Sometimes even if its not paid the entry can be removed becuase they dont have enough documentation to prove its valid.

A person just has to be smart enough to beat the system.

1/1/2008 11:27:31 PM

removed? only if it is not true, and even then sometimes it isnt removed, remember, there are three agencies, one might, the other not. If it isnt suppose to be on there(you didnt do it) then you go through the hassle of getting it removed...however, if you fucked up in the past, it stays on there, just says settled or paid. You credit might be 700 now, but it will have everything on there from the get go.

I have seen pages of Paid collections, i dont really care about them, if it is settled it is ok with me, just when they are huge and not settled is when I have to have an explaination. Even BK's, as long as it is discharged(depending on how recent) I might need an explaination. It is amazing what gets put on the report that you have no idea was there.

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 11:30 PM. Reason : w]

1/1/2008 11:28:19 PM

^ wrong

If they can't verify it each time you dispute it the entry has to be removed completely.

1/1/2008 11:29:16 PM

People get stuff removed from their credit reports all the time, whether it is false info or not.


A lot of you times you can negotiate with the creditor to remove negative information from your credit reports for paying the debt in full.

1/1/2008 11:29:25 PM

Quote :

"If it is a big amount, be prepared to answer questions whenever it is pulled."

its actually a tiny amount, but i'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get faulty information off my credit report that damages it

1/1/2008 11:29:30 PM

I had a couple of late payments on my last mortgage. After I refinanced the house I sent in letters to all the bureaus arguing that it was never late. Less than a month later it was modified to show that that the payments were made on time.

A company to which you have paid a debt to in full and closed has better things to do than try to prove to you and the reporting agencies that you had late payments.

1/1/2008 11:32:01 PM

Oh by the way these people are the marines of credit repair. I know someone who used them to get a bunch of old collections off their credit and they were very effective.

http://www.lexingonlaw.com

1/1/2008 11:33:21 PM

Quote :

"if you dispute it, it will say that on there."

If you ask for validation of the debt from the collections agency, and they can't provide it (they have 30 days), it's deemed invalid. Sometimes this results in a removal of a collections notice from a credit report (e.g., the debt really was invalid and there was an error. If it really was a valid debt, and you're using the maneuver to give a big F-U to a collections agency, it doesn't remove the notation) That doesn't seem to apply here, but that is one of several situations where a dispute does remove something from your credit report.

Quote :

"it's coming off and 2/3 of those guys have told me they will help me"

You're recording phone calls, taking names, and getting everything in writing, right? Because if not, you're still proper fucked. If you don't have hard proof, you have nothing.


PSA: NC is a state that only requires the consent of one party in a telephone call for recording to be allowed. I.e., you don't need the other party's consent; almost all CSRs in every field are trained to terminate the call if the customer indicates that they are recording.

Either way, don't count on anything being done. Just keep everything you can to back this up.

Experian has been saying for all time that my name is Christiane, despite faxing them copies of my DL saying otherwise whenever they request it. I guess a new year's resolution should be to finally force them to fix it

Anyways, GG to getting it all good.

Quote :

"A company to which you have paid a debt to in full and closed has better things to do than try to prove to you and the reporting agencies that you had late payments."

Yup. + showing them you're dead serious by taking notes, and doing EVERYTHING the proper way, tells them it's MUCH easier to work with you than against you.

1/1/2008 11:34:17 PM

that wouldnt be a big deal, unless your whole credit is shitty when looking at it as a whole, like late (more than 90 days late we consider that bad).


You should still keep a credit card with a balance

^Fathers that name their son's after them, somehow, sometimes the credit reports get combined and that can really screw one of them.

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 11:36 PM. Reason : w]

1/1/2008 11:35:02 PM

does anyone else get 3 bureau monitoring? i get truecredit for 14.95/month and you get unlimited looks at your reports and scores

1/1/2008 11:35:29 PM

I usually used equifax when I was pulling credit reports. However, they arent as good in some parts of the country as the other two.

1/1/2008 11:37:46 PM

I have that too and I check it every week or so.

1/1/2008 11:37:59 PM

Quote :

"You're recording phone calls, taking names, and getting everything in writing, right? Because if not, you're still proper fucked. If you don't have hard proof, you have nothing. PSA: NC is a state that only requires the consent of one party in a telephone call for recording to be allowed. I.e., you don't need the other party's consent; almost all CSRs in every field are trained to terminate the call if the customer indicates that they are recording. Either way, don't count on anything being done. Just keep everything you can to back this up. Experian has been saying for all time that my name is Christiane, despite faxing them copies of my DL saying otherwise whenever they request it. I guess a new year's resolution should be to finally force them to fix it"

yes AND im well versed in the one party law, i have some pretty good tapes with other companies' CSRs, maybe one day ill get around to putting them up

its basically a miscommunication between my health insurance and the medical office and i have gotten all of them to mail me the bills and EOBs and receipts, etc...they have which shows i never should have been sent to collection in the first place. not to mention i was left in the dark about it because noone ever mailed me a single notice and that i can also prove (or rather they can't prove they ever sent me a thing)

1/1/2008 11:41:20 PM

reading a credit report is so subjective, one person can say it is crappy but another one says it is ok. Depends on how much the person wants to look into it...sometimes that bad credit is because of sickness, job loss, and some people dont bother to go the extra mile to explain it(supervisor has to concur).

1/1/2008 11:41:23 PM

I use national city identity protect, which is a reseller of truecredit.


It is only 8.95 a month.

1/1/2008 11:45:41 PM

this is getting in the way of me getting my Centurion card, lol

^ interesting, thanks

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 11:47 PM. Reason : k]

1/1/2008 11:46:39 PM

doesnt that thing have like a 1200 dollar annual fee?

1/1/2008 11:47:38 PM

Quote :

"sometimes that bad credit is because of sickness, job loss, and some people dont bother to go the extra mile to explain "

I also have had people who come in to look at a house, talked about how they needed all the upgrades, wanted to know about doing all kinds of other custom changes. Went on and on about how serious they are. When they get sent over to get the mortgage guy and their credit comes back in the 400's.

I am sorry but if your score is in the 400's you can't play dumb to the fact that its shitty. The 400's are hard to pull off.

1/1/2008 11:48:12 PM

Quote :

"The Centurion Card, popularly known as the Black Card, is the most exclusive charge card issued by American Express. Formerly available by invitation only, the Centurion Card provides access to a range of exclusive privileges. In the United States, invitations are no longer sent for the card. To be approved for the Black Card, one must make a request and meet the strict criteria below. As of 2007, the annual fee in the United States was $2,500."

i was joking, clearly

1/1/2008 11:48:29 PM

i think the lowest(other than 0) was like 485, most of the bad ones were in the 500 range, and they are REALLY hard to explain, 600 is more explainable to the supervisor who has to concur with you.

1/1/2008 11:51:00 PM

^^i know cockface

1/1/2008 11:55:33 PM

i bet you do

1/1/2008 11:59:27 PM

zing?

1/1/2008 11:59:57 PM

can i be your first?

1/2/2008 12:04:04 AM

first what?

1/2/2008 12:05:17 AM

HERE'S A FUCKING GENIUS IDEA. LIVE WITHIN YOUR FUCKING MEANS DIPSHIT.

1/2/2008 6:51:55 AM

lol, there's always one of you who offers such great advice like "BE PERFECT!" or "THAT WAS DUMB"

sometimes people's parents don't educate their kids about things like this and it's up to them to sometimes learn the hard way

^ id love to hear your stories about never making a mistake when you were young

1/2/2008 7:44:59 AM

it didn't take my parents. it took third grade math.

Quote :

"I have $5. This item costs $10. Can I afford this item? ($5-$10 = -$5) No, I cannot afford this item."

[Edited on January 2, 2008 at 7:49 AM. Reason : and there's a difference between making mistakes, and being stupid. ]

1/2/2008 7:47:58 AM

^ (parents probably paid for everything including college)

1/2/2008 9:38:35 AM

Yes, because financing things is never an option. Clearly a $5 or even $100 item should not be financed, however there is something to be said about paying for your $500 car repair with a credit card, or financing your new TV, etc.

1/2/2008 9:44:57 AM

I feel pretty good about myself

my debt never really goes over $1000-1200 at a time

1/2/2008 10:02:14 AM