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In addition to Ohio and Nevada, states included in the settlement are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The multi-state settlement comes nearly three months after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a similar agreement with the same CRAs. http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Media/News-Releases/May-2015/Attorney-General-DeWine-Announces-Major-National-S Higher standards for data furnishers: • The credit reporting agencies must maintain information about problem data furnishers and provide a list of those furnishers to the states upon request. • The credit reporting agencies and data furnishers must use a better, more detailed system to share data . Limits to direct-to-consumer marketing: • The credit reporting agencies cannot market credit monitoring services to a consumer during a dispute phone call until the dispute portion of the call has ended. • The credit reporting agencies must tell consumers that purchasing a product is not a requirement for disputing information on their credits reports. Added protections for consumers who dispute credit reporting information: • The credit reporting agencies must implement an escalated process for handling complicated disputes, such as those involving identity theft, fraud, or mixed files (in which one consumer’s information is mixed with another’s). • Each credit reporting agency must notify the other agencies if it finds a mixed file. • The credit reporting agencies must send a consumer’s supporting documents to the data furnisher. (The credit reporting agencies implemented this change after the attorneys general initiated their investigation and raised the concern that the pertinent complaint documents were not being sent to the furnishers.) • Consumers may obtain one additional free credit report in a 12-month period if they dispute information on their credit report and a change is made as a result of the dispute. Limits to certain information that can be added to a consumer’s credit report: • The credit reporting agencies are generally prohibited from adding information about fines and tickets to credit reports. • The credit reporting agencies cannot place medical debt on a credit report until 180 days after the account is reported to the credit reporting agency, which gives consumers time to work out issues with their insurance companies. • The credit reporting agencies must require debt collectors to provide the original creditor’s name and information about the debt before the debt information can be added to a credit report. Additional consumer education: • The credit reporting agencies must tell consumers how they can further dispute the outcome of an investigation into a dispute, such as by filing a complaint with other agencies. • Each credit reporting agency must provide a link to its online dispute website on the website www.annualcreditreport.com, and the credit reporting agency’s dispute website must be free of ads and any marketing offers. The changes required under the settlement will be implemented in three phases to allow the credit reporting agencies to update their IT systems and procedures with data furnishers. All changes must be completed by three years and 90 days following the settlement’s effective date.

Ok, so after getting some great advice from the experts here, I am back to ask for a little more. I'm looking for some general advice as to what you think I should work on next. Sorry in advance for the long post but I want to lay everything out in one place. My Current Situation: Starting in 2006, my FICO scores were about 550 and I had plenty of bad things going on with my reports. Since then I have been lurking on credit boards, and I have been taking a long term approach and rebuilding. With the help of Credit boards 6 or so years later I have no baddies whatsoever on any of my reports (Thanks CBers). I still have a fairly large amount of consumer debt that I am comfortably working on paying down but am not yet debt Free & doubt I will be until late 2017 at this rate. My FICO Scores are currently ~750 to 770 or so, My home and car loans are less than one year old, with great interest rates & I am comfortable with those exactly as they are. Now I want to take a more proactive approach on maximizing my credit profile and take advantage of rewards in a systematic way.I just went through an App & CLI spree that will net me some hard inq's & some newer accounts (impacting my AAOA). My Goals: Goal One: Pay off my CC debt ($11k ) on PSECU & get rid of credit card debt and interest for good. I know this is a big number, but it's been going down, and I haven't added anything to it at all. I am comfortably Paying $500 a month (Over double the minimum) & adding any extra cash I get towards this. The interest bugs me and. I am considering opening a card with a BT offer but doubt I will have it paid off before the 1 year intro period. 9.9% is currently my lowest apr. Goal Two, Earn Travel Rewards towards Vacation, Flights & Travel stuff. Take advantage of my work travel situation to get even more points: Opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred. All Travel Related spend will go on here (PIF Each month). Applied for a Chase Freedom, not instant approval. Called recon & got them to approve me by moving CL from an old Slate card & part of my CSP above to the new card (Approved $9,500). All monthly spend that isn't on the CSP will go here. I am now considering co-branded cards based on Konrad's advice in another thread, but our hotel stay & flight situation is fairly all over the board (Different chains & airlines depending on price) and I am also not sure I want a lot more cards to manage points on. I am not interested in M$ or things of that nature (Best of luck to those that are though. it makes for interesting reading, and I might change my mind later if it doesn't get shut down). Goal Three: Continue to improve my FICO Scores In general & get out of paying fees & Interest. I also want to leverage my Higher limit cards into better & better cards & offers with an eventual Goal of 800 just because. I'm in No real hurry & don't mind taking inquiries or New accounts if it gets me to my other goals faster. I waited until my Car & Mortgage settled & reported & am now I'm currently working on the "Leverage" portion, hence the App sprees, CLI requests, etc... Wondering if closing some of the lower limit cards would help? I have cards with AF Just because they are my oldest cards. My current Open accounts: USAA World Mastercard opened 6/1/2011 CL $30,000.00, Just got a CLI from 13,200 to 30,000. My Highest to date. Used Phone App. NFCU Cash Rewards Visa opened 6/1/2011 CL $25,000.00 Just requested a CLI. Pending Decision on CLI Request… PSECU Visa opened 4/1/2011 CL$20,000.00 Balance: $11,500 My only card with a balance. Util is high, I'm working on it. Have not tried CLI here, should I? Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Opened 8/4/2015 CL $16,000.00 Just Opened this for Monthly Travel Spend. Chase Freedom Visa opened 8/7/2015 CL $9,500.00 Opened this for other non travel spend. American Express "Blue" opened 3/1/2008 CL $7,500.00 BofA Signature Visa Opened 3/1/2011 CL $5,000.00 BofA Gold Visa opened 6/1/2006 CL $1,000.00 0 $29 AF. Kind of want to close this, but it's My oldest Active card. Capital one Quicksilver One Mastercard opened 5/1/2009 $1,000.00 0 This was just PC'ed from an older Cap1 Card, Will request a CLI once I get it. Capital one Quicksilver Visa opened 6/1/2006 CL $750.00 This was PC'ed from an older Cap1 Card, Will request a CLI once I get it. American Express Green Card opened 11/1/2008 $0.00 This has an AF, Not sure if I should close this or request a PC to something else, or what. I really don't use it, but it's one of my older cards. Amazon Store Credit Opened 4/1/2010 $5,000.00 Just got a CLI up from $4,400 Paypal Credit opened 2/1/2010 $3,050.00 Dell Account opened 12/1/2006 CL $4,000.00

Hey Creditboards, I recently sent IC systems a dv letter in regards to an old utility account they were collecting. They responded with a letter that says "accept this letter as confirmation IC will no longer pursue collection of this account and will return it to OC". What should my next steps with this be? Am I safe doing nothing? I am assuming OC will just send it to another collection agency. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Since the Canadian Forum is looking like a ghost town, I thought I could start a thread that people could update. I'm a credit rebuilder after a horrible 2010. I've finally paid everything off and have one secured card. I want to know what credit cards you've been approved for and what your credit score(s) (TU or E) were. I know a 700 score on either should get me an unsecured card, but how about 680? What I have learned so far: Capital One Secured MC - will only give you a card if you've paid off outstanding recent debts. Home Trust Secured Visa - will accept you with unpaid derogatory accounts/Collections on your credit file (They check Equifax not TransUnion) Anyone have any successes (or failures) to share?

I had a small $56 baddie from an electric utility that went to Online Collections. I'd left it sitting around because it was < $100 any my only baddie. Now it has disappeared. Nice to have a clean report. Should I pay the OC, my local electric utility the $56 to make sure it doesn't come back? DFD is 6/2011 this has three more years to bite me. (I'm not in New York.) I have three debts like this; small missed final payments from a move. Wondering if it's better to pay them or to leave them be.

Hey CBers, So I'm a seasoned newbie on the board, and have been perusing the board in my credit repair journey. I have had some hiccups along the way, but I have had some progress. Now I'm stuck, and a tad bit confused. So I will be restarting my journey to continue and get the baddies off my report. So for more of an accountability factor, I will be posting my journey and also will be updating as I make progress. I would love advice, and feedback on making better choices as well. So lets get it started. GOOD TLs Honda Auto Loan - Opened May 2013 and got approved. Full on time payments. Got this before I had to voluntarily surrender another car from Santander. CareCredit - Opened March 2014 for a dental procedure that I needed. First credit card approval in a looonng time. $800 limit. CLI in January 2015 to $1800. (Looking to transfer balance if possible) NCFU Cash Rewards Card - Opened 11/2014. $5k limit. Onto the baddies... Equifax (FROZEN) - 5 Baddies Total Santander -- DOFD: 06/2013 -- $10682 balance -- Charged OFF BofA -- DOFD: 06/2008 -- $943 balance -- Charged OFF -- disputed; came back verified Macys -- DOFD: 07/2008 -- $293 -- Charged OFF (Never sent to collections. Called Macys to reconcile account and keep TL, but no account could be located) - disputed; came back verified Midland (TMobile) -- DOFD: 08/2009 (however date opened says 10/2011 -- Date of Major Delinquency: 01/2012 -- $807 balance -- disputed; came back verified Enhanced Recovery Services (DirecTV) -- DOFD: 08/2009 -- $187 balance -- COLLECTIONS (This is a new one on EQ. I disputed this with TU when I first started as it was owned by another company, and it was removed. Seems like it was sold to ERC and reinserted.) 15 INQs Experian (FROZEN) - 7 baddies total Santander -- DOFD: 06/2013 -- $10682 balance -- Charged off BofA -- DOFD: 06/2008 -- $943 balance -- Charged off -- disputed; came back verified Cap1 -- DOFD: 06/2008 -- $1108 balance -- Charged off -- disputed; information came back "updated" Credence Resource Management (AT&T) -- $1135 balance -- COLLECTIONS (This account was opened under my dads name, I paid the bill, but never applied for it with my social. Disputed with AT&T and they sent last statement with a balance and MY name instead of my dads name) FALL OFF DATE: 7/2019 Enhanced Recovery Services (DirecTV) -- DOFD: 08/2009 -- $187 balance -- COLLECTIONS (This is a new one on EX. I disputed this with TU when I first started as it was owned by another company, and it was removed. Seems like it was sold to ERC and reinserted.) FALL OFF DATE: 5/2016 Macys -- DOFD: 09/2008 -- $293 -- Charged OFF (Never sent to collections. Called Macys to reconcile account and keep TL, but no account could be located) - disputed; came back verified Midland (TMobile) -- DOFD: 08/2009 (however date opened says 10/2011 -- Date of Major Delinquency: 01/2012 -- $807 balance -- disputed; came back verified -- disputed; according to EX, "Account information disputed by consumer (Meets requirement of the Fair Credit Reporting Act). " FALL OFF DATE: 5/2016 4 INQs TransUnion (NOT FROZEN) - 5 baddies Santander -- DOFD: 06/2013 -- $10682 balance -- Charged off BofA -- DOFD: 06/2008 -- $943 balance -- Charged off -- disputed; came back verified (TU not showing disputed status) Macys -- DOFD: 7/2008 -- $293 -- Charged OFF (Never sent to collections. Called Macys to reconcile account and keep TL, but no account could be located) - disputed; came back verified Enhanced Recovery Services (DirecTV) -- DOFD: 08/2009 -- $187 balance -- COLLECTIONS (I disputed this with TU when I first started as it was owned by another company, and it was removed. Seems like it was sold to ERC and reinserted.) Midland (TMobile) -- DOFD: 08/2009 (however date opened says 10/2011 -- Date of Major Delinquency: 01/2012 -- $807 balance -- disputed; came back verified 7 INQs Will be posting my plan tomorrow, but I'm more than open for advice. Thanks.

Hello everyone, I had a joint-lease that was broken only a few months after we had opened it. Three years later it showed up on my CR... Since 01/2011, when it first became delinquent, I had not received any correspondence from the CCA regarding the debt. I hired Lexington Law, they disputed it many times, I fired Lex Law, and today I finally received a letter in the mail from NCC Businesss CCA with details about my debt. There were a total of 3 roommates including me but I lost all contact with them since 12/2010. WE owe around $3,800 total... I dont want to be the person paying the entire amount because all three of us were responsible... What should I do.... I am very reluctant to contacting the CCA,,, I just want this off my credit and want to avoid being sued since the SOL in Arizona is 6 years.... The date of delinquency in my opinion is the first month that rent was not paid which was Jan 2011 -- why then does it report on my credit as March, 2013? Attorney fees are $250 per hour. Yikes!

Hello everyone. I'm an anxious newbie. My equfiax official Fico is 535 and I have one medical collection that I need to take care of before I tackle the other negative items(there are so many) on my reports. So I mailed the pre hippa cra letter to equfiax and Experian via certified mail. The medical collection does not appear on my TU report. Mind you I did not put my email on the letter, but I received an email from Appladm. This is an equifax email address. This is what it says: Your most recent Equifax reinvestigation has been started. This process can take up to 30 days to complete. For faster delivery of your results, you can now receive the results of your investigation online. To accept receipt of the results of your investigation online, please click on this hyperlink: Any reinvestigation that you have created within the timeframe of this request will be available for your review online upon completion. We appreciate your help as we work together to protect our environment by going green and increasing your account security with electronic delivery. To allow us to protect your privacy and deliver prompt service, please visit our website. If there are items you believe to be incorrect, you may be able to initiate an investigation request via the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at: http://www.investigate.equifax.com Using the Internet to initiate an online investigation request will expedite the resolution of your concerns. Unsubscribe: If you do not want to receive these emails, please click on this hyperlink to unsubscribe: Please DO NOT REPLY to this email as this is a system generated email and will not be read. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you, Equifax Information Services LLC Should I select the online option? Also, I have two judgements and about 9 CO to address and I want to get my old addresses removed. This medical collection did not happen at a previous address. Should I wait until EX AND EQ gets done with the pre hippa issue before asking them to delete addresses. I'm also a F E D employee who was affected by the O P M breech so could I mention that?

Hello CB , newbie here. After reading, researching, and information overload — I have decided it would be in my best interest to document my journey in one place. This is the best place since I spend most of my free time scouring these threads. For referencing purposes, I’ll be posting everything I’ve learned and including links to them here. This is mainly for me to keep record, but you all are more than welcomed to give advice. Or, correct any outdated or incorrect info, although I hope not to come across any. Current FICO scores (as of 08/15): EQ: 530 TU: 579 EX: 525 Current COs (as of 08/15): Amount DOFD Paid/Unpaid Notes Enhanced Recovery: T-Mobi. $166 01/14 U AT&T $304 11/12 U National Credit System (Apt) $1273 07/09 U Disputed I C System: Uverse $664 01/13 U Procollect (Apt) $3494 07/09 U Disputed Unique Natl Coll. $104 U ? Credit Protection Assoc. $172 10/12 U Medicredit $200 03/15 U Why Chat* North American: Suntrust $255 04/12 P reporting unpaid,will dispute Medical $549 04/14 U Why Chat* Revolving COs?? BofA CC P Scana Energy $315 04/13 U revolving? Scana Energy $65 06/09 U “ Scana Energy $170 02/10 U “ National Recovery: Verizon $1524 05/13 U “ Accounts in Good standing (revol. & instal.) USAA Secured Master 0% Never late/paid as agrees USAA Secured Amex 0% “ Student Loan 97% “ *Initiated Why Chat’s Program 08/15 These amounts are so small in comparison to what I see others dealing with . I feel like a fool for ever allowing my credit to get like this. Ignorance isn’t bliss. But what is done is done, moving forward.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/business/big-credit-reporting-agencies-to-overhaul-error-fixing-process.html?_r=0 The nation’s giant credit reporting agencies — which keep records on more than 200 million individuals and influence their ability to obtain credit — have agreed to overhaul their approach to fixing errors and their treatment of medical debts on consumers’ reports. Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney general, announced Monday that his office had reached a sweeping settlement with the agencies, affecting consumers nationwide, which was prompted by an investigation that began in 2012. Even though consumers are entitled to dispute any inaccurate information in their credit reports, the entire process has been criticized by consumer advocates for years: The bureaus often outsource thousands of disputes daily to workers overseas who generally are told to translate the problem into a two- or three-digit code that is fed into a computer; the code and any documentation are sent to the credito If the creditor verifies the information, no further investigation takes place. Now, those automatic rejections will no longer be tolerated. And specially trained employees will have to review all supporting documentation submitted by consumers involving mixed credit files — in which a consumers’ file is blended with another person’s report — fraud or identity theft. Requiring the credit bureaus to wait 180 days to list any delinquent medical debt on credit reports is another victory for consumers. Given the complex way in which medical bills are charged and paid, it is not uncommon for delays in payment to tarnish credit reports, often without consumers’ knowledge

Good Morning all. I have been researching on the internet on how to repair my credit along with my husbands. Our goal is to be able to buy a house and get some better interest rates. We used Lexington Law awhile ago with little to no results. Decided to "fire" them. Went to see if we qualified for a home loan and was referred to another local credit specialist. 500 for both to start and 160 a month thereafter. Anyways, long story short, my bank manager told me I could do this all on my own for far less money and in the same amount of time as she could. So, here I am. We have a BK on our reports that will fall off 4/16. We also have a judgement and then of course ALL the medical bills. I am however, drawing a blank on whether we added some of them into our BK or not. I already opted out, but still have to delete addresses on our reports. My questions...... When sending the letter to the CRA's, what reason should I be putting down as to why I am disputing? I have accounts showing up as paid that are still on there as well. Also, if it comes back "verified", how many days do I have to pay the OC? Am I in a position to "negotiate" for deletion or no? And before I start the process, do I need to have a nice sizable stack of cash available or can I do it one at a time? Like I said, I am new to this and between all the things I have researched, I am trying to do the right thing and looking for the guidance. Another problem I will run into is our insurance has changed and I don't have access to the online account where I could bring up EOB's for anything if anything does come back verified. Basically, I want to know if I am just doomed and have to deal with this and let time pass or if I can actually take care of all this. My husbands report is the worst out of both of ours with the collections. Thanks in advance for any and all info provided here after.

Well, this is it. After long enough time sitting on the pot, I finally decided to s**t. I subscribed to my fico last month and have my online reports and scores. Fortunately, after reading this forum I learned to be skeptical of online credit reports and called each bureau to request that reports get mailed out. I hate having to wait, but I know it will be worth it. I currently have two new revolving accounts. I know that many members will frown upon my decision to open accounts with both Credit One Bank and Fingerhut, but my scores have all gone up from acquiring them and that is what I care most about. I truly look forward to improving my credit. My quality of life. And I also hope this will help others in similar future situations. Let it begin...

I need some advice from the Synchrony Bank CB mafia (you know who you are on here). I've been to use the correct credit terminology (gardening) come October 1st, 2015 39 months since I last did a credit application (I know I know don't have a panic attack on me credit app junkies...take a deep breath and blow into a paper bag). Those two apps were Wal-Mart and Amazon store card. In this entire time period, I have never (slaps himself in the face back and forth) asked for a CLI from either of these Synchrony backed cards (credit ignorance before I found CB and Myfico is expensive I tell you) and I was approved for the Wal-Mart MasterCard in late August. Before my Wal-Mart Cinderella slipper falls off on October 9th, which is my deadline to say no to the upgrade. I want to ask for $25K from Wal-Mart and hope they counter to at least $4K-$5K and so I will have an MC at that credit limit when it converts over. Same for Amazon ask for $25K and hope for a decent counter. But I think I might've messed up from all the reading I've done on here. I usually use both cards at least once a month for the most part and my last statements just cut (Amazon is tomorrow) and both are at zero balances. I had purchases showing on both cards from my last statements (August). My question is should I buy something on (9/19 day after the Amazon statement cuts) on both cards and then pay them both off once both items post online in three or four days. Still knowing that my due date 10/7 and statement date 10/14 for Wal-Mart is going to be past when I ask for the CLI on October 5th. For Amazon my next due date is 10/10 and statement date is 10/18. I don't want my current zero balances to not be zero the day I ask for the CLI, but I've read to make sure you use the cards every month and PIF at least 2-4 statements for maximum CLI juice before you ask for the CLI. I'm also going to use the ultra-aggressive "Mendy Method" and every 61 days (should I wait 61 days from the day I get the CLI or is it 61 days from the statement date of that month I got the CLI?) I will ask for a CLI on Amazon, Wal-Mart and Lowe's. My credit every month from now until next summer will see dramatic score increases every month from my remaining few baddies following off and I will be 100% baddie free by no later than August-2016. Thanks for any help in advance and may the credit Gods bless you with massive BobWang credit lines. Sincerely, Mr. CreditLuv

I was recently introduced to a lender " Self Help Credit Union " in San Francisco who lends to Non U.S. CItizens who do not have social security numbers. To my knowledge the credit bureaus do not report ITIN Numbers nor do they recognize them as their system is designed to block 9 digit numbers beginning with a "9". So the credit profile of the non U.S. Citizen is created based only on their Full Name, DOB and past addresses. There are many lenders who lend to different ethnic communities and report to the bureaus in this manner. When ordering a credit report they simply enter 000-00-0000 where it states " Social Security "and as long as the address and past addresses match that credit profile comes up. Unfortunately, I was asked how to "unmerge " a mixed file of an individual as this Non U.S. Citizen's credit profile merged with another persons credit who had the same last name. I am familiar with un merging Jr's and Sr's as this is typical since they lived at the same address and shared the same name. All I would have to do is provide ID's and SS Cards and the documents will obviously show they are 2 different people. I have forwarded the passport of my Client, including his ITIN Letter from IRS, Notarized affidavit of Identity, 2 bills with his address and name. I keep getting the same letter stating that they do not recognize ITIN numbers and to provide them with a SS Number. YET this Client has built up credit, has a 700 score, has a credit profile and the bureaus state they cannot locate a file for him. I have done a background check on him to make sure there were no other numbers used and there are no other name variances - associated with him and there was ONE name close to his first name and same last name - Jestuso vs. Jesus, same DOB and different past addresses with an actual Social Security Number. Obviously a different person and it keeps merging with my Clients credit when ever it is pulled. We know this is a different person as his current address is in Texas. Not California. The common denominator is they both lived at the same apartment complex in california but different Apartment numbers at different times. Does anyone know how to correct a "MIXED FILE" when there is no Social Security Number to reference? Is there a special mixed file department at the bureaus? By the way when I tried ordering an annual credit report from each of the bureaus - they all still tell me they cannot locate his file. Keep in mind he owns a mortgage (from Self Help Credit Union), best buy cards and Sears etc. I even sent a copy of this report to the bureaus but still no luck. HELP! ANY SUGGESTIONS? - By the way I am a Credentials Specialist - with the County and work with a lot of Re-Entry men and women coming out of prison who's identities and credit have been stolen. So I am kind of a database expert already with 20 years behind me but this situation has me stumped and the bureaus are never a help with their canned responses! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Addresses, letters anything. Thank you.

Hi All! I'm new here - been lurking for a few weeks, trying to soak up all the words of wisdom I can from some seemingly brilliant people! I'll admit I don't fully understand every bit of what I've read as of yet, but I'm light years beyond where I was when I discovered this magnificent place. I have LOTS of questions and I plan on starting my own "Personal Credit Repair Journey" thread eventually (sooner rather than later), but I'm going to try to keep this first one short and sweet (too late, I know). So I, like so many others, messed up when I was younger and am doing my best to remedy things now. I swore off credit cards for years and finally decided I needed to get back into the game if I ever wanted to really build my credit. I researched proper use of credit and finally took the plunge. I was approved for a Capital One QS in July (I know, people pretty much seem to hate them...especially here, but beggars can't be choosers, right? And at lease I'm getting some cash back) - only $500 CL, but at least it's a start!! I've been using it for any and everything I purchase and immediately pay it off in full. I was also approved for a car loan with DCU in August with a 3.9% APR for 60 months (though I plan to have it paid off sooner than that). I also have a student loan that I've been paying off (on time!) for about 3 years now. Other than that, I've paid off any debts I'd had, but I still have some baddies on my report that need to age off (some soon, some not so soon). My Equifax credit score is 675 (I'm planning on paying to find out my other two as soon as my QS card reports. Even though I've had it since July, it hasn't made it onto my reports yet for some reason). I know that's not good, but it's improved about 40 points since late June, so at least it's moving in the right direction! Here's my question(s): I've read that people have had luck asking for CLIs at 60 days (and then possibly still getting their automatic CLI at the 3 month/statement mark). I'm thinking of trying this, but I'd also like to apply for another credit card. I'd love to do Chase Freedom, but I have an old baddie with them (it's paid off - recently - but it's got a while before it's off of my report), so they're not going to approve me at least until I can prove I can handle my credit like an actual adult for some time. So I'm now seriously contemplating a Discover It card (again, I know, a lot of people here absolutely hate Discover). I read about the Apple Pay promotion that they're having and I like the idea of their double cash back the first year. I was also thinking of applying for the Target card for the 5% off in stores (there's one near me that has a grocery store, so that could be useful) and to add more available revolving credit. So I'm wondering in which order I should try this? My guess was go for the CLI first, then the discover? But I don't know if that's right at all. I'm thinking I should probably do the Target card last, since I feel like that one is probably least important. I currently have 4 inquiries (2 from DCU - I guess they pulled when I opened my checking/savings account and again two or three days later when I went for the auto loan. Overkill? I kinda thought so, but who am I to say?) and I'm worried about looking too desperate to Discover (I hear Cap 1 is hard pull happy, so I assume a CLI request would trigger another hard pull). Ugh, I'm basically just really nervous and assume I'll probably be shot down anyways and I'd hate to add too many hard pulls... but at the same time, I'd love to start working on increasing and diversifying my portfolio. Ok, so I know this was a jumbled train of thought-type post, but any and all advice would be so greatly appreciated! I just keep reasoning myself in circles - I should do the CLI to have more available credit so Discover might give me more if I'm approved, but maybe I should do discover first so I have fewer hard inquiries, blah, blah, blah. I'm gonna drive myself cray by the time I'm finished. (and please don't judge me for my sub-par score and lack of credit. I'm doing by best to fix my past - it ain't easy )

I am a noob and trying to buy a house in 3 weeks.Please help with any and all tips to help me jump 100 points. Just kidding disregard last sentence lol. I am 30 and just got a new permanent position making some good money. Wanted to invest, buy a home, finance a new car in the immediate future. Before i do any of this i am planning to pay off my debt and increase my credit score.I realize i will get raped in interest for buying a home or financing a new car etc. My tools at the moment are credit karma. My friend pays 1-2k to increase his credit buy outsourcing the work to a law firm. I thought this was foolish since u can do the work yourself. TU score is 607 and EX is 604 .Debt is 20k Student loan/ 8k Car loan/3 credit cards and one defaulted loan i am paying off. I will be planning on financing a macbook pro very soon and going the recon route if i get declined by barclays but other than that no big purchases lined up. If u cant get financed i will buy it cash. No bankrupties or foreclosures on my credit history. A barclayd hard inquiry in the past yr if i can recall i was trying to apply for a Best Buy Card.My credit balances have always been low which i never understood. $300 cl for my macys card, $500 for my bank of america which was previously a secured credit card and my highest is a $1500 cl thru capital one which recently got upgraded from $500. I plan on paying off my debt all 20k worth in a year. The normal method of paying off debt and keeping a good history seems like forever. I notice maybe 5-20 points in a year. Any tips in guiding me in the right direction or starting off i should say

I recently found out that two medical accounts from the same Hospital was sent to collections and now are/will be reporting on my credit report. I was curious to see what they had on file for me as I NEVER received any kind of letter that this was to be sent to collections at all! I called the CA to see what accounts they were from and they were an OC that I am aware of One for $1013.00 And another that will post to my CR on 4 May 2015 of $2626.00 I also stated that I hadn’t received any notice from the CA nor that is was to post to my credit report. The lady read off an old address from when I was in college 5yrs ago! And that the correspondences were being sent there. Is that legal? I have been living at my new place for 1 year and before then 3yrs years. Why would they have my college address? There has to be something in place to where I can bring the account back and pay it faithfully…right? I had no idea that this went on until I signed up for credit monitoring and saw that this was on my report a few months later. My CS to a dive!! I was distraught after my miscarriage last year (2014) and honestly couldn’t think about paying something at that moment in our time of grief. I have insurance but it didn’t cover everything being as how I just started a new job last year. I finally got on my feet and looked past my grief and tried to create a new sense of life. So with that being said I called the OC this past Monday and asked if they could reclaim the account back so that I could make payments. Her answer was a straight no! They could not make that adjustment being as how they stated to make “several calls and messages” which I never received. I know that the bills are mine so I want to take responsibly for them. I am currently trying to get my credit back and apply for a mortgage next year. After this hit was posted on my CR I am stuck wondering what to do. I wouldn’t let something like this slip. Just wishing they had my correct address to begin with. Is there anything that I can do? Any information would be helpful and so appreciated at this post!!

Today began wonderfully - I finally got Experian to EARLY DELETE my last collection (a medical from 2009) -- I was so excited!!! Immediately after deletion, my score DROPPED 10 points!!!! FICO 8 went 642 --> 632 with the deletion. I alkmost cried!!! FICO 04 still shows unchanged at 650 which I guess is good/neutral. This makes zero sense, and I am so very upset. Why would this happen?! NOTHING else has changed .. collection was old, I must say -- 6.4 years. But, Im told any collection regardless of age harms the score and is not part of AAofA! So what gives? I am so over this FICO scoring, I am ready to throw in the towel. i've worked so hard to get my scores up from 550 to this, and this is a blow. I did do 2 inquiries on 9/23, but they did not change my score and 1 of them is being removed by the Creditor as a courtesy ,as it was supposed to be a SP. I mean on manual review my report looks better with NO COLLS of course .. but why the 10 pt drop!? I have paid my UTIL dwon even further so hopefully with the update on 10/5 my scores will boom a bit. UTIL 39% now, will report at 28%. Snapshot: Scores: FICO 8: 632. FICO 04: 650 Baddies: 1 Charge off, FIRST PREMIER 06/2009 - Aging off in March 16 as an EE 1 Charge off, CAP ONE 2012 - Closed and sold to PRA 12/14, paid in full and PRA deleted their TL from my report - saw a 22pt bump with that deletion 3 - 30 day lates on student loans from 10/14, almost a year old now. POSITIVE: ALL DEBT is 100% current, with NO COLLECTIONS (now) - Last late 11 months ago. UTIL: 39%, will report as 28% soon AAofA: 6.7 years, 12.5 yr oldest - this did NOT CHANGE after collection removed - verified here on myFICO I'm told I may have been RE-BUCKETED with this collection deletion ... no idea what that even is... anyone care to expalin this?? I'm told it is a good thing and with the COL gone my scores should rebound quickly in the new "bucket", since my report contains less negs - but I am so very disheartened !! Thank you all.

Hey all, I've been lurking CB's for a couple weeks now. I've had bad credit for years now, trying to finally get it sorted and I think I'm close to finally making real progress. Here's a breakdown of where I stand today: FICO scores: TU (562), EQ (597), EX (554) Credit cards: 0 Loans: $22,000 Auto Loan (GM Financial) at 17% APR Open Collections: 2 accounts $647 total Credit Inquiries: 23!! (Didn't realize how damaging they were when try to get approved for car loan) Missed Payments: 24 total - 22 of which are from two student loans I defaulted on in 2010. Student loans have since been paid in full. The other 2 are from a gas utility from 2014. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I've had quite a few collection accounts removed by Lexington Law, I recently read on here that I should stop using them, called about an hour ago to cancel and they gave me a free month. That being said, they have saved me about $3,000 in collection accounts removed in the last two months. Should I pay off the 2 open collection accounts, I'll be able to pay the balance in full this month but is it worth asking to pay less, will that jeopardize my chances of getting them deleted from my report? Once that's paid, I think I'll be at the point where I'm ready to begin building my credit. Would love advice on the best way to approach building credit from the low point that I'm at. I havne't applied for any secured cards because I'm worried I'll be denied due to the 23 inqueries on my account. My business partner is willing to add me to one of his rather high tradelines with low utilization, is this something that will still help or is that no longer relevant? Thanks in advance for any advice I receive. I'll continue updating this thread as progress is made.

Hi... First time poster, thanks for all the great info on this site...hoping you can help. Mid-aged single person, have finally gotten to a financially stable point in my life. Pulled my credit yesterday from Experian's $1 offer, and my scores are good, not great. 701 (Experian & TransUnion, Equifax: 698. I would like to get my credit above 780, but to be able to use my credit cards for as many purchases as possible so I can get points to travel (I do several international trips a year). History Had a terrible history with credit, dating back to college. Used them as free cash and got into real trouble. Finally 10-15 years ago, realized that I had a problem managing my credit. Really scaled back and cut back on cards (using only my ATM/Visa and 1 BOA) to get used to buying within my means. Opened up my first card (SPG Amex) almost 2 years ago, and have had good success managing that (pay in full every month), so I'm ready to build on it. The current stats: Good wage earner: $16k+ month. It's just me. Own home: $320k in mortgage. All on time payments last 24 months, was 60 days behind in 2010/2011 (see below). 1 small car loan: $10k. All on time payments. 1 Corporate AMEX: (doesn't show on my credit reports) 1 SPG AMEX: Opened 12/13: $17k credit limit, high spend of $8k. Pay in full every month. 20 month clean payment history. Have been using it for everything possible for SPG points. But realizing I'm charging too much on it (the report said something about using more than 30% of my credit). Oddly enough, I just found a writeoff due to an old utlity bill ($72 bucks!!!)...so I have to figure out how to get that off. The only 'deliquent' that shows active on my account. Old accounts: Fixed Owned a condo before the house. Tried to buy the house/sell the condo at the same time during the recession (2010/2011), had to carry 2 mortgages for a year. Ouch. Had some trouble manging both payments, as you'll see below: DCU: HE load for condo renovation. Potentially negative close (but I Paid in Full before closeout). 15 months of okay payment 4 months 30 days late 1 month 60 days late NHSA: Condo mortgage: Potentially negative close (but I Paid in Full before closeout). 18 months of okay payment 2 months 30 days late 1 month 60 days late 1 month of 90 days late DCU: Car Loan. Potentially negative closed. Paid in full, all but 1 on time payments. 30 days late. Was traveling, forgot to send in payment (duh). Old accounts: Credit BOA Card 1: Opened 3/1/2004, High balance of $15k, potentially negative close. Closed the account after I closed on the house, as I used it to fund repairs to get the condo sold. Past History: 2013: ND, 2014-2015: OK (odd, because I dont' think the card was open). Should I re-open this card? I had called last month (I ran across an old card), and they were happy to reopen it. Challenge is, I won't/will rarely use it (no points) but it's good credit aging. BOA Card 2: Opened 11/2006, High balance of $5k, Current close. Past History (2009-2010): All ND Chase Cards (2): $15k and $6k credit limit. Looks to be closed in 2007, okay payment history for 2006-2007. Store Cards: Macy's, Linens, Lowes,Talbots, Yale Electric : All closed, good payment history. So the question is, how do I increase my credit score. I'm thinking I shoud: 1. Dispute this old National Electric charge 2. Reopen my BOA account 3. I'd like to open another account, for points. Either Chase Sapphire or Citi Premiere/Prestige. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!

A friend just recently paid off their C/O Amex account and got the Optima Card last month. Ive read that once you pay off Amex in full and get a Optima Card, the negative tradlines "fall off" your reports. Has anyone had recent experience with this?

Hello CB! I have a few questions pertaining to DOFD. I have read some prior threads about DOFD and felt I needed my own conversation as a new guy looking in. Advice is welcomed! First, I have 5 accounts listed on all 3 bureaus that list no date for DOFD. Some even list N/A. All 5 accounts have at lease one month reported of 30 days and 3 accounts have 60 days late. These are not charge off's or bill JDB's, they are credit cards and personal loans that have a $0 balance and closed. Second, once I establish DOFD, how do I determine when the account should be removed from all 3 bureaus? None of the 5 give a removal date from the CR. Lastly, when I dispute as obsolete, does it just remove the one period of delinquency that is older than 7 years or the entire account from seven years after DOFD? I do have current delinquencies form 2010 and 2012 that are not yet ready to fall off on 4 of the accounts that actually went delinquent in 2008 and 2009 but were brought current. thanks for any and all advice!

Folks, I have been reading this site and it has helped me tremendously in my credit repair journey . I have deleted all previous addresses on Equifax and TU . Experian is a work in progress. I also successfully opted out of LN . I have an unpaid Federal and KS state tax lien on my report on all three CRAs. Transunion I disputed both items with TU in July and they came back verified . Now, TU indicated the Federal tax lien was relieved in bankruptcy . Funny thing is I never filed . I redisputed in Sept after successfully opting out of LN . It came back verified . I filled a complaint with CFPB . Here is what I wrote " I received my credit report from Trans Union and it contained two public records which I have disputed and they have come back verified. I have spoken to the clerk of both courts and have been told they don't report nor provide any information to credit reporting agencies including Trans Union . Moreover, court records do not list Social security numbers. I would like to know how Trans Unionm keeps verifying this account. My SSN and the SSN listed in the courts do not match. So how does Trans Union tie this account to me (MY NAME). My Social security number does not match what is in the court records. If the court records don't match my records Trans Union needs to have documentation that matches my exact nine digit SSN, if it does not Trans Union must DELETE this account from my credit profile. Worse of all , there is an item Trans Union claimed has been relieved in bankruptcy . I have never filed for bankruptcy " After about 7 days , they replied with this "We have reviewed your complaint along with the information you previously provided regarding this issue. We contacted the Shawnee County District in reference to Docket # at (785) 251-5429 and verified your name and social security match to the State Tax Lien. Additionally, we contacted Cobb County Superior Court at 770-528-1332 in reference to Docket # and verified your name and social security match to the lien. The clerk also provided information that in their records the bankruptcy filing had been dismissed. Based on this information provided by the court, the tax lien under Docket # was removed from your TransUnion credit file. The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows: Unpaid tax liens to be reported for an indefinite period of time, depending on your state of residence. " They deleted the Federal lien and left the State . How do I attack the State lien in my response . I seriously doubt they contacted the court . Equifax Disputed both items with EQ . They deleted the Fed tax lien and said the state lien was released/satisfied . It can't be as I haven't paid this lien. I intend to file a complaint with the CFPB next week . Need ideas on how to attack this via a CFPB complaint . Should I use the same TU complaint ? I also have a CA account that EQ deleted after three weeks and TU verified in 7 days . I also intend to file a complaint with CFPB on this CA . Thanks for this great site .

If a person filed for chapter 7 bk protection and included three judgments as part of the bankruptcy, how should those judgments report to one's credit file? How long should these judgments stay on one's credit file?

This will be a running thread of sorts. I’ve lurked on CB for years. Google guided me here on July 7, 2008 while I was researching BK. I still have the reports I printed that night from annualcreditreports.com. I had been forced out of my job in March 2008 in an effort to avoid paying a bonus and then denied unemployment. Being young, I didn’t realize what was going on or that I had any recourse as it was my first job after the military. Live and learn. I was 4 months into the 6 months of savings that was beaten into my head and didn’t know what to do, so BK seemed like my only option since my credit would have been a barrier to me getting back into the military. I finally got another job in November of 2008 that paid less than half of what I was making originally. I started rebuilding with approximately 50k worth of debt over CCs, a repo, and, finally, an eviction. At the worst of the storm my credit reports were 15 pages long each with two judgments and I even looked into bankruptcy a second time in 2009 when a car place that caters to the worst of the worst laughed me out of the building, but I managed to persevere through couch surfing with my friends and family and a buy here, pay here car place. I was denied a job in 2010 and I didn’t dare look for an apartment because I couldn’t stand the thought of the embarrassment of them checking my credit report. I went back to college and plowed through while couch surfing because I couldn’t afford a dorm. I lived like a pauper with every extra cent going toward my valid debt. I took my fight to the BBB and CFPB if I didn’t receive satisfactory results from the CRAs, CAs, and OCs. I read just about everything I could on CB. I graduated in 2014 with things were finally looking up on the credit front. Reports were still “dirty” in that there were full of paid COs and judgments; however, I was finally able to see the light at the end of the credit tunnel by January 2015. I applied for my first cards in 7 years in February, got into a good graduate program in the spring, and was on my way. I also finally created a CB login to say thanks! Where I started in Jan 2015 $13/hr seasonal part time job, no savings Bank accounts: · Chase Savings, PNC Negative Accounts: · 2 Judgments (eviction [EQ, TU] and CC [EQ, EX]) · 4 CA (eviction [TU], power bill [EQ], school debt [TU], medical bill [EQ, EX]) · 1 JDB (cable bill) [EQ, TU] They weren’t reporting, but I still had had outstanding COs totaling about $3,500 with USAA and Verizon. Positive accounts: Student Loans $33,000 My Scores TU 556 (CK), EQ 556 (CK), EX 620 (AmEx denial) (I’d paid off most debts and negative accounts were starting to drop off at this point.) The good: No lates, Student Loans on IBR The bad: No revolving credit, spotty reports The ugly: Pay was abysmal I made a list of goals for 2015: · Gainful employment · Get into grad school · Clear credit reports · Build available credit · Increase scores to 620 · Start emergency fund I applied for a few cards and was denied Discover it, Nordstrom, and AmEx BCP. Where I am today: Positive accounts: · Student Loans: $33,000/$33,000 (IBR) · Barclaycard NFL Extra Points Platinum Visa $0/$2,500 · BBVA/Compass NBA Visa $0/$5,000 · Cap1 QS1 $0/$2,500 · Chase Slate $0/$5000 · Chase Freedom $0/$2500 · NFCU CLOC $0/$15,000 Bank accounts: · PNC Virtual Wallet, PenFed, NFCU, Chase savings Plan of attack: · Track the last changes: o TU has a CA that I need to work on and Judgment that will come off this month o EX and EQ have a Med Collection. Filed CFPB complaint. The CA refunded the payment (<100), said they’d delete the record and send the file back to the OC. I’m sure I’ll have to fight with the OC soon. · Pay off and re-open USAA (I plan on buying a car and want try for an auto loan and the insurance) Planned apps for the rest of 2015: · Chase Sapphire Preferred (Maybe a PC as opposed to an app since I have 5 new cards this year alone) · AmEx Blue Cash Preferred · AmEx PRG · Discover it Revisiting the 2015 goals: · Gainful employment · Get into grad school · Clear credit reports · Build available credit Went from $0 to $32,500 · Increase scores to 620 This is a bit faulty because I was using CK. Oops. · Start emergency fund I use my PenFed and NFCU accounts for savings 2016 Goals: · Increase savings · Increase credit scores to 720 · Increase available credit by 25% · Car (NFCU or USAA Auto Loan, but also may look into Logix and DCU) 2017 Goals: · Increase credit scores to 780 · House (Maybe NFCU) · Bank of America BankAmericard Alumni CashRewards · American Express Platinum · Citi Prestige My scores today: I'm still not good at what determines scores, but I think what I'm looking at is fair for what I have in terms of negatives on my reports and new accounts. I avoided the trap of subprime CCs and store cards. I realize now that I should have gotten a few secured cards years ago. I wasn't in the "rebuilding" mindset because I was focused on getting my debt gone. I believe I should hit, and stay over, 700 by the end of the year, so thanks A LOT CB!