Our Picks

Filed Chap 7 over 7 years ago. Managed to get Ex and EQ removed around 4 years ago thru technicalities. TU wouldn’t budge. Last night decided to try an online dispute (live a suburb of a major city but never in the main city that is listed on my discharge). Disputed as other with the reason stated. 5 seconds after submitting a page with “your dispute results are ready” appeared. Clicked on the link and was stunned to see “the bankruptcy has been deleted”. May be reinserted but not affecting me much. At least no Bk on the three for now.

I'm really stupid and really in trouble. Apparently you have to provide your last filed tax returns, and looking at them I kinda exaggerated some deductions. So I'm just wondering if its better to proceed or dismiss my case and refile with new returns once I file?<br style="background-color:#ebf4f9;color:#252c2f;font-size:17px;text-align:left;"> Please please please help?

How, you ask? Simple - you just can't win. Look at the two items I have here from Credit Karma  (yeah, I know - FAKO not FICO, but the principle remains the same).
 
 
Same date.......
Same amount of change in total Credit Card debt
Same direction in the amount of debt - down.
Same Credit Card Company involved in the change.
Same change in number of Credit Core points
 
What's different? One (EFX) went UP six points, and one (TU) went DOWN six points.
 
It's not the number of points that I am questioning, it is the fact that the exact same documented change cause one score to h=go up, nd another to go down, and both by the exact same number of points.
 
You have better odds in a Casino, and a crooked one at that.
.
 

I don't remember quite how it works.  So, say the first late (30 days) was June 2016. When is that scheduled to fall off? Is that the same if it was a series of late payments like 30, 60, 90? What if it is 30 days late, then on time for 6 months and then 30, 60 late?  Let's use the same start date of June 2016. 
 
Thanks. 

Walked away from a bunch of CCs/Loans in 2018. All charged off mid 2018. Since then I have paid for delete on all but one collection account which is being stubborn. FICO scores are around 650 now even with the one collection tradeline still there. 

Now I am debating disputing the 8 charged off tradelines on my reports. On one hand, any I get removed, makes less negative marks on my reports. But at the same time, they are heavily weighing my age of credit which is a positive. Below is a breakdown of accounts and their open dates. 

So what are your thoughts. If it was you, would you attempt to get the negative aging tradelines removed now and lower my average age or tradeline or just wait for them to fall off on their own? Do you think removing the aged charge-offs will help or hurt the credit score?
 
AVERAGE AGE: 7 yrs 1 mo
OLDEST ACCOUNT: 19 yrs 8 mos
 
Active Accounts Never Late
CC0 - 2022
CC1 - 2021
CC2 - 2021
CC3 - 2021
CC4 - 2014
CC5 - 2021
Student - 2018
 
Closed Never Late 
CC6 - 2015
Auto1 - 2007
Auto2 - 2015
Home1 - 2002
Loan1 - 2015
 
Closed - Charged Off - all around mid 2018
CC7 - 2016
CC8 - 2014
CC9 - 2008
CC10 - 2016
CC11 - 2016
CC12 - 2014
CC13 - 2015
Loan2 - 2016
 
Collection
1 collection outstanding for $3k

Long story short, happy to provide details if needed, but a few months ago I disputed two charges (which were paid a month before the dispute was initiated) with a merchant totaling $486.14 for services that were ultimately never rendered. I tried for several weeks to contact the merchant who did not respond. It was at that point that I initiated the dispute to obtain a refund with my credit card company (Chase). Over the course of the next 2 months I received two notices from Chase saying "we're pleased to tell you that we've resolved your dispute...we've credited your account for the full disputed dollar amount."
 
Now, a month after the last notice the merchant sends me a bill for $486.14. I talk to the merchant's billing department who says they have no record of my payment. I send them the email receipts and credit card statements showing I paid the amount on those dates, thinking this is just a billing glitch. They get back to me and say I can disregard the bill and they'll sort it out in 10-15 days. Then I get another message from the same person who says "Both payments were disputed by you to your card company and therefore both payments were voided and not posted to your account....blah blah blah." And then they go back to not replying to my emails or calls. Monday morning I get another bill in the mail from them saying payment is due. 
 
This to me seems very weasel-ish. I did not dispute the payments, I disputed the charges that I paid. It seems like a too-cute way of getting around a charge dispute they lost fair and square. Makes you wonder if every bitter merchant will go down this path. 
 
I talked to Chase and the people on the phone seemed surprised by this whole saga. They said once the dispute is resolved that's it, and they couldn't recall this happening before. They said if it goes to collections I can show the collections agency the dispute resolution letter but I'd rather resolve this before it gets to that point and I have to deal with credit reporting agencies. Has anyone here dealt with this kind of thing? Any advice or is it a lost cause once it goes to collections?

Hello, I hope someone else has experienced this and has some insight. To summarize:
 
Each year, as required, I have submitted my tax returns to my attorney to forward to the trustee.  My case was completing this past June so in APRIL the trustee sent a notice to myself and my attorney listing the items that might cause my case to not be discharged, there were 3 tax returns listed as well as a small outstanding balance. I immediately emailed my attorney and attached those missing returns and let him know I would be paying the outstanding balance soon. (paid it as stated) He replied to the email so he definitely received it. July rolls around and I decided to check in with the attorney, he later forwards me an email response from the trustee saying that she was just about to file a motion to dismiss on Monday because she never got a response to the April request and my file is still missing my returns. She also states in the email that she will hold off on filing the motion to give me time to submit the returns. This is a Tuesday. I email him AGAIN with those same returns, pointing out that I sent them to him back in April. A week later, he emails me and says that she went ahead and filed the motion to dismiss that Monday, so now he had to request a hearing. He says the hearing is in September but I've asked twice for the date/time so I can attend but he hasn't answered. I emailed the clerk myself but she didn't respond, not sure if it's against protocol for her to speak to me? Just received in the mail a copy of both the motion to dismiss but also an ORDER TO DISMISS stating the same reasons, that I failed to submit my returns.  
I am shaking and angry right now. Is there anything I can do on my own? I do not trust my attorney any longer and obviously he is not acting with any urgency. I'm literally over 5 years into my case and have made all payments on time and I am DONE and ready for discharge. To have this wrench thrown in for something I didn't do, it's just heartbreaking.
 
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
 

I was approved for the following cards. Do creditors consider CAPITAL ONE Credit Card as a subprime card? A credit rebuilder card? 
 
Do you think it's worth applying for? If YES, which one of the following cards would you choose?
 
Platinum Mastercard Quicksilver for Good Credit SavorOne for Good Credit VentureOne for Good Credit  

Thanks NYRFan!
 
UPDATED FILE IS BELOW. Changes and updates will be provided by Breeze.
 
 
CCCS2008.xls

Hello CB family! It's been a while but hope all is well. 
 
So my credit has been in great standing since for the past 2 years now. I had 3 cards (Amex, NFCU, and Discover) that were maxed out for about the last 3-6 months but this week I just paid them all off. 
 
I have had all 3 accounts for about 2 years now in perfect standing. 
 
I would like to grow my accounts now to hire limits now but I have been wanting to get into some Chase card now as I have been getting business credit card offers but also like a few of their other cards. 
 
My limits are:
Amex $9,500 (10 months old) NFCU $4,500 (24 months old) Discover $1,500 (25 months old) Cap 1 $600 (25 months old)  
I received a business line of credit offer from Wells Fargo. 
 
I understand that all these increases may be a hard inquiry and that I should keep myself to 2 hard inquiries per year. 
 
So should I grow my existing accounts and/or go for this new Chase and Wells Fargo accounts? 
 
 

By any chance, is there a list of subprime cards? I didn't realize that store cards (synchrony, comenity) are considered subprime.  Would a store card backed by citi be a subprime card?  I know there are some cards backed by Amex, are they considered subprime?  Once one gets out of subprime store card  hell, is it beneficial to stay out?   One last thing, if one has paid off one's store cards, should one close them? Or is it better to let them close on their own for disuse?  My oldest account is my Amex card, so I won't ever be closing that. 
 

I wish I would have found this board before I took action!
 
I noticed when paying my Citi Visa, that my FICA score dropped from 793 in April to 681 in May. There was notation that my credit score was impacted by a “derogatory public record or collection filed”. I then obtained my Equifax Credit Report from AnnualCreditReport and see a “Collections” notice. I did not get my Experian or TransUnion credit reports, but I assume this notice is in those two as well.
 
In September 2021, I went to the dentist and had a replacement crown. I had a problem with the crown and the dentist did not stand behind his work as promised, which necessitated me to see another dentist at my expense. I continue to have a problem and now the only resolution is another replacement crown, also at my expense. Because the first dentist did not perform as promised, I held back the $356 which was the balance.
 
The dentist ended up turning the $356 over to a collection agency who in turn wrote me at the end of January. In early February, I wrote the collection agency a certified letter explaining the crown problem and that I do not owe $356 as I offset my costs for the new dentist, which exceed $356. May 26th, the collection agency reported this to Equifax. It is under the heading “Collections” and there is a notation “Consumer disputes this account information”. But in the end, my credit score dropped 112 points. I have not heard from the collection agency since their letter of late January.
 
I am at a loss now as to how to get this off my credit report(s). One option seems to sue the dentist in small claims court. The desired outcome would be the notice deleted from my credit report.  I read that starting in July 2022, consumers can expect to have paid medical debt erased from their credit reports. But the $356 is not paid. I also read that starting January 1, 2023, all unpaid medical debt less than $500 will not appear on credit reports. I assume that “dentistry” debt is medical debt. Is this the same as saying that all unpaid medical debt less than $500 will be removed from credit reports? If so, this may be my best option as I will not need to apply for credit before.
 
Your thoughts on how to best proceed to get this collection notice for $356 off my credit report are very much appreciated.
 
Thank you,
Anovice

I've seen it a few times and checked the terms and abbreviations page but see no reference to it. What is 5/24, 6/24 and 7/24?   If it is super secret squirrel info, would someone PM me? 

Hello, 
I've not been here in several years. Things have been going just fine, or so I thought.   Some background - I've not missed a payment on any of my cards in over 5 years. I survived a stage 3 cancer diagnosis, treatment and paid all the medical bills without any going to collection. I have paid off my vehicle, paid cash for my house/property (have no real estate financing history), I have no student loans, no current installment loans, no collections, no judgements, 8 inquiries (2 of which are almost 2 years old),  and a grand total (as of today) of 4800ish in credit card debt. This debt is on two cards and both are pretty well maxed. I'm paying them down as quickly as I get the money.
 
 At the beginning of July my credit score was 580ish. Everything seemed to indicate that since, at the time, I had about 9500 in maxed cards that was what was keeping my score low.  I pulled my credit report and found a zombie credit card that is over 5 years old in the amount of 1700ish.  So six maxed cards and a single zombie debt over 5 years old and my score was 580. 
 
Here are my questions - What do you think will happen if I pay off the 1700 zombie debt? It seems like it got lost in the shuffle when I was so sick, but pre-diagnosis (June 2017).  I owe it, should i pay it and get rid of it? 
 
I'm sitting on a very small chunk of money that I could use to pay the 4800 down to about 3000. Should I equally divide it to some on both cards to get them off max utilization or put it all on one card to bring that card below 50% utilization? 
 
I have a synchrony bank store card (Lowes) that I use and pay off monthly. Up until yesterday the limit was 1000. Last night I received a notice that my limit has been dropped to my current balance 240, They cited the lack of real estate financing as one of the reasons. The other being the high utilization of my cards  Of course the paid off cards with 0 balance have not reported to the CRAs yet. So do I try to dispute that or do I pay it off or do I pay it down to a 10 balance and hope that when the CRAs get the updated information that the limit goes back up? 
 
I've used several of those credit simulators on the internet that show once the CRAs receive the new information my credit score should shoot up into the mid-700. Once that happens should I try to get a home equity loan to have the real estate financing? I hate to because I don't really need the money and it is a lot of work and will cost me more in the end to have the loan for a year then pay it off.  Is it worth it to have the loan in my credit file? I suppose having that will be the only thing that puts me over 800.
 
What say the board? 
 
Thanks
Parrothead
 
 

My CL with Amazon/Synch was $9,900.  It's been 8 or 9 months since my last CLI request, so I asked for $15,000.
 
They gave me an extra $100, bringing my line up to $10,000.

I am asking for my son. We live in California.
 
He applied for a mortgage on May 10 and they did an inquiry. The lender wasn't a fit and he went to another one and they did an inquiry last week. His score didn't go down with Equifax or Transunion, but it dropped 26 points with Experian.  He's upset and doesn't understand why his score dropped like that. I told him I'd ask the question in hopes to figure things out.
 
 
 
 

I thought that I would do a pre qual with GS Marcus for a personal loan for kicks. I have a GM Mastercard and GM business MC with them that I just got within the last 2 months. CLs are $13k and $5.5K, with $0 balances respectively. I wouldn't have accepted it even if I got approved. Interesting to know that these decisions are based on more than just credit score.
 

My car was totaled in a minor collision and it was my only means of transportation. Now I'm really nervous about being able to finance a new vehicle with my current credit scores. Here is where I am at:
 
- The car had one missed payment at the end and I was a cosigner on it. My insurance paid off the $840 dollars remaining on it, but it is still showing on my reports as a charge off with a balance of $840.
- I also have a collection for $2800 with CAP1 that was settled last month for $1,100 and is being paid in three payments.
- I have two other collections, both for an old apartment. One is for $2,900 and one for $750. These two hit the 7 year mark in July of this year.
- My TU score on CK is at 561, EQ is 628.
- My EX FICO 8 score shows as 686. This score doesn't show the charge off for the car or any collections.
- After the car was totaled I have about $5k for a down payment and could probably push it to $6K if needed.
 
I know this is far from the best place to be for purchasing a vehicle, but am I in a really tough spot, or am I overthinking it? I'm not expecting a great interest rate or anything, but I am nervous about actually being approved for anything. 

Jen’s Index
 
First of all, the idea for this post totally came from Sassy (thank you!) and her post here: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14797
 
Since her post 2003, there has been a lot of great conversation and changes, so I thought I would update it with my own spin and my own links. Use whichever works best for you But, I also used a few links that are in her index. The classics never die.
 
Nothing I could say here could totally cover every credit repair topic or situation out there. In fact, I’m not trying to. The purpose of this write-up is to provide an outline for beginners on where to go to gain the knowledge they will need for their credit repair journey. A "where do I start" primer.
 
If you are simply looking for a place to get a sample letter to copy/paste (c/p) and send off, then close this thread now, this isn’t it. The most effective letters are ones you write yourself, tailored to your own situation, and written knowing why you wrote what you wrote.
 
 
Here is a good read about the type of consumer CB can turn you into:
http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?s...=263781&hl=
 
I will only link CB threads in this index (outside the FDCPA/FCRA /govt links). I have found invaluable information also off CB, but to keep things simple, CB is the only place I will reference in this thread. On my own site, I have been working to expand this index to other sites, giving credit where credit is due.
 
Lastly, there are so many awesome threads that I had book marked (computer crash) and no longer have, or I have missed over the years. If yours is one of those that deserved a mention here, but due to my oversight was missed, you have my deepest apologies.

So after a extensive search on CB & Google, the below credit card sites are the only ones I could find that pull 'soft' inquiries to see if you qualify for their cards.
 
note: deleted original links - they're dead. please use the links below.
 
 
Courtesy of foeplay - update as of Sept 7 2010:
 
Pre-approval links
HSBC pre-qualifier (must bank with HSBC): https://www.hsbcapply.com/start/hsbccreditcard/
HSBC/Household pre-qualifier: https://www.hsbcapply.com/start/householdbank
HSBC/Orchard's pre-qualifier: https://www.hsbcapply.com/start/orchardbank
HSBC/BestBuy's pre-qualifier: https://www.hsbcapply.com/start/rewardzonemastercard
Capital One's pre-qualifier: https://cardfinder.capitalone.com/CapOne/fi...3ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Discover's pre-qualifier: https://www.discovercard.com/cardmembersvcs...ORE_pre_chk_btn
 
Database checkers (not a pre-qualifier; checks to see if they have any currently standing offers for you in their database)
Bank of America: https://preselected.bankofamerica.com/cc/SelfInquiry.aspx
Citibank: https://www.citicards.com/cards/acq/dirMail...o?screenID=4010
American Express (Click on "NOT A CARDMEMBER YET"): https://www201.americanexpress.com/secure/m...atePerfectCards
Chase checks for recently mailed offers https://creditcards.chase.com/RecentlyMailedOffers.aspx
 
Sites that have been known to give pre-approvals when you shop there/go to check out there:
Victoria's Secret http://www.victoriassecret.com
Newport News http://www.newportnews.com (you can check to see if you're pre-approved here: https://www.newport-news.com/credit/preapprove.aspx )
Spiegel http://www.spiegel.com (you can check to see if you're pre-approved here: https://www.spiegel.com/credit/eligcheck.aspx )
Metrostyle http://www.metrostyle.com
Chadwick's http://www.chadwicks.com
Roamans http://www.roamans.com

So I've frozen my accounts (again) and opted out for all 3 CRAs.
 
I have two collection accounts that are holding me back on TransUnion and they are Medical Collections. I have read the WhyChat HIPAA guidelines and I am ready to submit my Handwritten Initial Dispute using WhyChat's form provided.
 
HOWEVER, before I do this, I also need to note that these two collections have STARTED garnishing my wages about 2 months ago, and have about 1 month of garnishment left BEFORE being paid off. The balances have not been updated on my credit report, even though they are still "reporting" every month.
 
Should I wait till the garnishment is over in a few weeks and then start my initial dispute, or should I take a different approach overall?

Hi,
 
Years ago, I did this myself and had 100% success. My brother wants to clean up his credit and I offered to help him. He obtained all 3 reports and I told him to Opt out permanently via the 888 number. I looked at his EQ report online and disputed 1 address that was never his, Another one I DID NOT dispute yet, is the one I planned to dispute. It's our parents address where we lived before. It lists our parents as his current address, however, which is why I didn't dispute it. His actual current address is listed as a previous address. If I dispute the current address, what will happen? The only address left then would be his actual current address which for some reason as I said, is listed as a previous address.
 
What should I do before I begin the actual Whychat process of sending letters to the CRAs?
 
Thank you!

Does applying for a few accounts within the same day count as 1 inquiry or dosen't hurt the score?

Got a call today from a business who claims they are a law office, K&N Associates. Said they are representing a credit card company to collect an unpaid credit card from 2016. They called it a civil complaint. I did have a credit card back in 2005 that I couldn't pay due to medical expenses and death in the family. I NEVER received anything from them after 2007. This company says I owe $1400.00 but all they can tell me is the name of the credit card. They do have my SS#, address and phone number. They said I can do payments in the amount of $117,00 for 12 months if I can't pay the entire amount now. If I don't set up payments or pay the entire amount today it will go to court and it will cost me $4000.00. I said to them why haven't you sent me something in the mail regarding this and they claim they did. Never received anything from the them. They want me to give them a credit card today to take out $117.00 each month. What do you guys think about this? My wife is very ill and this is the last thing we need.  Thanks

Insurers score a win in new rule to protect patients from ‘surprise’ medical bills (msn.com)
 
"While all eyes were on Congress, the current administration handed insurers a victory in a much-anticipated rule detailing how to shield patients from pricey, unexpected medical bills. When they unknowingly get care from a doctor out of their coverage network or in emergency situations, where they can be sent to out-of-network hospitals."