by FlyingHighNow 9 Replies latest jw friends
I never checked mine until the other day. I only looked at Equifax. I saw there are things on there from many years ago that have long been paid. Do you any of you know how to clean up all the reports without it costing a lot of fees?
I wanted to apply for a job with Huntington Bank, but you have to have a good enough report and score. So for job hunting purposes, I need to get them corrected.
I think legally they are required to stay on for a number of years if they are the equivalent of what is called county court judgements over here. If the debts are settled then I believed that they should be removed automatically.
Does this job move mean that you didnt get your leave approveed?
http://www.faqs.org/docs/consumer/credit.html
There is a sample letter on that link too. Hope it helps.Improving Your Credit Report
Under the law, both the CRA and the organization that provided the information to the CRA,
such as a bank or credit card company, have responsibilities for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information in your report. To protect all your rights under the law, contact both the CRA and the information provider if you have a dispute.
1 First, tell the CRA in writing what information you believe is inaccurate. Include copies (not originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Your letter may look something like the one below. Send your letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what the CRA received. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.
If you have a CCJ and it is satisfied (and you have proof) you can apply for a Certificate of Satisfaction from the Court itself (should cost you £10/£20)
You can then write to the credit report agency and get them to amend their records.
So I am led to believe.
G
In the USA, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 365 days from EACH of the credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). Each has a website, and if you spend a bit of time on an easter-egg-hunt you will find the form to request your free report.
None of the three make it real easy, as I recall, but it is there. The law requires it.
Once you get your report, review it for accuracy and report any inaccuracies to the agency that provided the report. Each agency tells you how to make a report on their respective web sites.
I hope this is helpful.
If they're paid and show a good history of on-time payments, it's fine that they're there. But, if you only got an Equifax report, you've only got about 1/3 the story. There are two other companies that report credit history as well, Transunion and Experian.
I have successfully cleaned up my credit, on my own, without paying a dime for anyone else to do it (other than a small cost for all three reports in a preferred format).
1> Get all three credit reports. I recommend going to www.freecreditreport.com and signing up to get all three from them (Equifax). It's $25, but that is a small price to pay for a good service. You get all three in one report, side by side, so that you see what information each account you have is held by each credit reporting company very easily. Watch out though. Equifax's "free" credit report signs you up for credit monitoring. If you want that, great. If not, you'll have to cancel that once you have all three reports. There are other companies out there that will give you all three as well. Shop around. The important part is to get all three! (If you decide to go the totally free route, that is fine too.)
2> Accounts will stay on your credit report 7 years from the data of the last activity on that account. What that means is, hypothetically, you have a credit card and decide to stop paying on it... the clock starts from the last payment you've made. Seven years from that date, charged off account or not, it comes off your credit reports, all three of them. If, two years into it, you decide to try to make a payment... Ooops! Guess what? You just started the clock over. What I've found is that very close to that seven year mark, you will start to receive all these offers in the mail from collection agencies, or others, offering to settle the account for a significant amount les that the full amount owed. This is a trick. They know the account is about to become uncollectable. Tear those offers up and wait.
3> Now, say you have all three reports and you notice strange items, or strange information. What you do is you write up a letter of dispute and send it to each credit reporting company who has the incorrect information. You cannot legally dispute items that are legitimate. Very important, that.
Now, the credit reporting companies are required by law to forward the dispute on to the owners of the accounts on your credit report that you are disputing. They have 30 days to respond. If they do not respond in 30 days, guess what? They have to take it off your credit reports immediately.
I just did a quick web search and came up with this site that has what looks like are some good dispute letter templates - https://www.eloan.com/s/show/cr-contact
I will be more than willing to answer any questions you have. I'm no pro, and take no responsibility for what you do with this info, but I've at least been through the process. (My ex-wife managed to get a car taken off her credit this way! )
Here's a website that should help - www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/ycr_free_reports.htm
Read that info then you can order your free reports. There is only a cost if you request your credit score. The credit score will cost about $5.00 from each.
Notice the line across the top of the ftc screen that says, "Home For Consumers For Business ..."
Click on the 'For Consumers' and then see the box in the center top that says Categories. You can pull up many free brochures that provide lots of info on credit reports, etc. I think you said your computer is not too fast so you can order free copies from FTC.
Any good credit history you have (including closed/paid accounts) you want to stay on your credit report. Don't ask them to remove any good credit history. Any bankruptcy will stay on for 10 years and any derogatory credit history will stay on for 7 years.
A side note: Just because a bad loan may drop off your report after 7 years does not mean the history no longer exists. For example, suppose someone had a loan with say Bank XYZ and never paid them. XYZ is required to drop the derogatory reporting to the credit bureaus after 7 years BUT there is nothing that requires them to delete it from their own business records. The bank may not give that person a loan in the future from their own history with that consumer.
This is great information and came just in time for me!!!
I have a tax lien on mine from a timeshare I owned with my ex husband that I quit claimed to him after our divorce. This is back in 1997. The credit agency is telling me I have to go to court to get a court order requiring the deletion of the entry. (um yeah, and incur all the legal fees, miss work, etc.)
I think they are yanking my chain. First of all, it's been more than 10 years!!! Second of all, I sent them a copy of the quit-claim deed. So they KNOW the property is not MINE.
Does anyone know what I should do or have any ideas?
I once read that there is no such thing as an actual credit rating.
In the UK, information stays there for six years. Searchers of your records can use their own judgement and ignore the older stuff - Many people enter a Notice of Correction with the Credit Agency. This does not remove the item but allows you to place comment alongside it and explain why you think that it is not relevant.
One advantage to that is that any application should not be declined by an automated credit score. It would normally be referred for a human assessment
The Credit Agency could advise on the wording etc..
All the best..
Hopefully this week I will get my leave and I can straighten all this out. Either that or I will be fired and I will have a lot of time on my hands. *sigh*.
I need a better job with better hours anyway. Thank you, my dear friends.
