My husband and I are trying to qualify for a mortgage. He has a 90 day and a couple of 30 day lates from 1.5 years ago on his student loan, which we would like to have removed. Is goodwill a possibility? The loan has never been in default and has been paid on time or in forbearance since then. It is currently in a 2 month forbearance but is listed as deferred on his report. Any advice on how to deal with this would be great. Thanks.

Nope. They wont remove them unless the error was theirs.

I think you should not give up and you should try.

Send Goodwill letters, emails, make phone calls, and do whatever. When you get rejected try again.

Everything I've read on this forums shows that exceptions happen and after much avail, usually records are removed.

The response I got from a Wells Fargo rep recently regarding a student loan I have is that "they cannot remove the late record because they have to report correctly" but when I pressed her she said they won't remove records unless the error is theirs.

I accepted that and will keep trying until they agree to remove. I believe that they will and will keep going and going... a few minutes for an email here or phone call there can earn me hundreds on improved loan rates later in my life.

Don't give up! Try 20 times and if you don't succeed, try 40 more times...

Cool, thanks. At least there may be some hope then. I guess it depends on the lender, and the loans are still with the US Dept. of Education. Will let you know if the government is nice to us.

They definately will not delete. They follow the rules to the letter of the law.

You can actually make it worse by disputing and/or attempting a good will. It's happened to people here in the past. I would suggest you proceed with caution, particularly if you're trying to get a mortgage.

Ok, thanks for the warning. I am inclined to leave them alone then, but since his loans are not yet consolidated, is it ok to go ahead and do that? Just wondering if consolidating prior to getting the mortgage will hurt.

I'm also trying to remove a late on a loan from over 5 years ago.

I read in this forum another person who had success with Wells Fargo and a late by sending a Goodwill request via email.

I read in these forums that no part of the FCRA requires creditors to leave negative records on there. If I'm incorrect, please state which law says that the creditors can't help you.

I'm going to keep trying. How have people been hurt by pursuing a goodwill? I can understand if something was 60 days late (reported) and when it was checked out it was actually 90 days late, and the creditor reported that, but even that I would think could be removed by a continuous attempt at forgiveness.

Wouldn't you all agree?

Nope there is nothing in the FCRA that requires creditors to leave negatives. HOWEVER, all government vendors are REQUIRED in their contracts with the DOE to report factually. And the DOE does audit.

Ok thanks for the answer about the FCRA.

I understand having to comply with an audit. What about the negatives from 5 years and 2 months ago? Would removing a late from that long ago get them in trouble?

Also, if someone else had a late removed by sending a goodwill, sympathetic letter, isn't there hope for us?

It really doesnt matter how old the late is. Changing the records would in effect be fraud by the bank.

Ok I see your angle, but another person here on the forums had a late removed by Wells Fargo EFS and it wasn't a bank error.

What would you say about that? That's what I'm getting at here too... that there is hope... right?

It would be a very dim hope. And it CAN hurt you because the lender can ADD lates that are not being reported.

It's your dice; toss them if you wish.

That is Wells Fargo. I guess Wells does it to maintain good customer service. They have other products to sell. If audited they will be penalized and it will probably go back on.

You are Direct Loans. Direct Loans is the DOE, who wrote the rules. They stick by them.

Well that really sucks

I'm sort of in the same situation. I have a SL with my school (perkins loan). It's showing up on my CRs as 90 days PD back in November 2005 so it's relatively fresh. I'm in the market for buying a house. Got a lot of the bad stuff removed, including two collections, which made my FICO scores increase by more than 100 points in less than two months. The only thing killing me now is this doggone SL! The rate the mortgage company wants to charge is ridiculous, even with my so-called good scores.

So really, there's no hope?

I wouldn't say NO hope ... but only slightly better than a snowball's chance of surviving the underworld.

Have you tried a broker instead of a mortgage company? They may be able to get you better rates even with the SL issue.

Yep! I went through a broker and I just think the rate is ridiculously high. I've got one more trick up my sleeve before I give up. Thanks!

From what I understand from the credit forum, lates matter less and less the longer ago they were. If your concern is FICO, I belive they don't count after 2 years of paying on time.


RB73

Incorrect. They affect your score less, but they will continue to drag it down for seven years past the date it was late. If it is the only baddie on your report it will have an even greater effect.