Hello all,
I have been browsing for some time gathering tips, information, templates, etc. I have been wanting to clean up my credit for awhile now and finally have taken the steps to take charge and begin my transformation. I guess a recent attempt at collection spurred this.
I would like to use this forum to document what I do and the results I get as a first time self-help rookie credit repairer. I would love the input from those on the board and hopefully this will benefit those who haven't decided to take this into their own hands yet. It will also serve to assist me when things get sticky and I don't know what to do. So without further delay I will begin:
Background:
I have a score of 546. WOW! pretty low. This was spawned by poor credit decisions in my youth.
I had 10 potentially negative items on my report and only 4 good marks.
-The negative are mostly collection accounts, some charged off, some still with the original creditor I assume.
I don't have any major credit card accounts open.
No Judgements against me.
I have a large number of hard inquiries.
What I am doing right now:
-I have sent DV to all negative listings on my report. Reguardless of collection status I hope to either a)get it removed or b) get it validated and gain more information about the debt, such as who I actually owe, account numbers, etc. Information is control, and that's what the goal is.
-I have sent 1 PFD letter to a charge off for a relatively small amount ($64). Not a large amount and probably cheaper this way than to continue sending certified correspondence to them. I know this debt is mine, will update if they accept.
**-Currently attempting to find the dates in which the statute of limitations apply on my debts. I am having difficulty in locating the dates of which these accounts went south. I am a resident of Oklahoma, all of my debts were contractual, so the SOL should be 5 years. I have one I believe I signed in Arizona(6), and was was signed in Texas (4).
**-I am also attempting to decipher the age of the entries to determine when their 7(+) years are up.
What's Next:
Once I receive validations or my return receipts plus 30 days then I am drafting letters to all three CRAs including my evidence as well as requesting the update of my personal information, and the deletion of my hard inquiries (most of which expire 01DEC08)
I have also applied for a secured Visa through my bank in hopes that this might help sometime down the road.
I am paying down my current revolving accounts down to around 30% of the limit.
So, this is what I have done, and my short term plan for the near future. I would like any advice or suggestions that could be provided. I have a feeling this could get sticky!
I will update this thread as I send or receive information from the "enemy" or if I get stuck and just plain need some help. I really hope this benefits someone in the future.
OPEN FORUM
-Spartan
Sounds like a plan.
I would suggest, if possible, pay revolving debt down to 9%.
Open secured card with big national bank( BOA, HSBC, CITI, Chase) or CU.
hi Spartan
You have no doubt a very low credit score and so you should start credit repair immediately. I would always suggest you to repair your credit by yourself rather that going for any credit repair agencies. You said that you have already send debt validation letters to the CAs. Its ok, but you should sent it by certified mail with return receipt as a proof that you have asked for debt validation. So you should now wait for 30 days for them to validate your debt. If you have not send the DV letter by certified mail, then you should send DV letters again by certified mail if they do not validate the debt within the 30 day period. If they validate the debt, you can enter into a repayment agreement with them to pay off the debt and you should also negotiate with the CA for PFD agreement. However, if they cannot validate the debt after you send the letter by certified mail, you can send a dispute letter to the Credit bureaus asking them to remove the listing from the report.
Charge off listing cannot be generally removed from the credit report before the seven year time period if the debt has already been sold off to the CAs. However, if the debt is still with the OC, you can negotiate with the OC for PFD agreement so that as soon as you pay off the debt in full, the charge off listing goes off your report. But, even if it is sold off to the CA, you should pay off the charge off debt because charge off does not mean that you are no longer liable for the debt and the CA can bring judgment against you to recover the debt till the time the Statute of Limitation in your state expires. You should first concentrate on repaying the debts that are still with the OC because it is very easy to get the negative listing removed from the credit report by the OC through PFD agreement.
I agree with you Carol that charge off cannot be removed from CR once the debt is sold off to the CA, but you should always pay off a charge off debt to avoid judgments. However, before paying off a debt, you should check whether the SOL in your state has expired or not. If it has already expired, then you need not pay back the debt because the creditor cannot bring legal suit against you after SOL expiry. Moreover, as you said that you have a lot of hard inquiries in your report. Hard inquiries can be removed from your report only if it is unauthorized. For this you should send letters to the inquirers asking them to verify the authorization else remove the listing. In most cases the inquirers remove the hard inquiry listings because they cannot verify your authorization. However, if the hard inquiry is authorized, it will stay in your report for two years.