Sidewinder

I had just stayed at the Holiday Inn, see. Was driving from Minneapolis to Boston for Thanksgiving and Indiana wasn't yet on my List of States I've Sent Mail From. (Now, however, 'tis. Thirty-two to go. )

If it's where Lana Clarkson was murdered, wouldn't it be haunted?

The only Indiana post office I've ever used is the one in Fremont (46737). I mailed my JCPenney card payment from there.

See, this is me learning that "chêne" is the French word for "oak."

Barclays. (Forgot to say that Barclays is also in the underwriting game.)

As with everyone, you'd have to look at all three of your reports to get a better feel about why your scores are where they are. Not all lenders report your accounts to all three bureaus.

It's a little difficult to say without knowing what the rest of your file looks like. But given the minuscule size of the debt and the number of years gone by, I doubt you'd see as much as a 5-point change in score, and that's if there's any change at all.

Since I was subprime for a long time, my List of Non-Subprime Lenders Who Like Me is important to me. Venerable ol' BofA granted me their Platinum Plus Visa in 2012, it opened at $5,000 and they've given me a series of automatic CLI's so it's now at $16K. Yay. A few years later, after learning lots from CB, I went on an app spree and was granted a Platinum Visa from U.S. Bank, Citi AAdvantage World Elite, Chase Sapphire Preferred, AmEx SkyMiles Platinum and BCE. Also in the CC underwriting business are Fifth Third, PNC, BMO Harris, TD Bank, Key Bank, FNBO (gross), SunTrust, and BB&T. And because I'm just SUCH a non-subprime guy anymore, it's annoyingly important to me to get in with all of those banks. And I think probably it shouldn't be important; I don't think any of them are famous for offering the kinds of high limits that make the AAoA hit worthwhile when apping (U.S. Bank gave me $15K, Citi $10.5K, CSP $13.9 (now $19.9K), SkyMiles $15.3K, BCE $5K). SunTrust's and BB&T's proposed merger has created a ridiculous sense of "urgency" to get in with those guys, just to have more entries on my List of Non-Subprimes. I think at the end of the day this is not a component of a sound credit-building strategy, but it nags at me. Conventional wisdom is that it's good for your score to have a diversity of types of credit (revolving & closed term). Is there any edge to being in with a greater number of issuers? Is the person who has three $15K cards from BOA and two from Citi worse off than the person who has cards from eight or nine different underwriters? (I would like my mind to be free of this if, in fact, it leads to bad apping decisions.)

I have a 3-year-old collection reporting (gross) on EQ and TU and my scores with them are actually in the 690's. (However, I have a fat file with piles of positive stuff in it.*) * not gross

See, further to what cv is saying, reading the first coupla paragraphs of the article raised some questions here I'll first disclose that I've long had a low opinion of The New York Times and I consider far too much of its reporting to be biased in favor of a certain political agenda. The debt collectors in Des Moines are supposed to recoup $34-40K in delinquent debts per month. I've not worked in collections so I don't know if that's a silly goal or not; but the article said nothing about workers being penalized if they don't meet it. Is it a quota or a guideline? The article doesn't say. It also said "there is a general fear" of retaliation. Did The New York Times bother to document this before reporting it to their gigantic audience - one that deserves objective reporting? Two (2) mortgage-processing employees in Minneapolis "were pressured" to send out documents with incorrect info. Out of how many mortgage-processing employees? Did the Times ask for the managers' side of the story? This is not good journalism. I think it's anti-business sophistry & opportunism. Gross.

What about a system in which she gets the cards she wants and you get the cards you want?

(Same is true of Wheeler Station in downtown St. Louis, Miracle Mile Station in Coral Gables, and the post office in St. Croix Falls.)

now goes on your List of Post Offices Sidewinder Has Mailed Things From.

The part where she tells you to identify the clothes you don't want to wear again and then donate them to charity... I mean that's just pure gold, is what that is.

Haven't you contacted the institution where the phantom checking account is, to get some info about that account's status? And ask U.S. Bank if the auto-payment is via ACH or traditional check presentment (yes, even an auto-payment can appear to the on-us bank as a traditional check).