Archive for the ‘Credit’ Category

How would you deal with this Collection Agency Problem?

Constance B asked:


I have recently obtained my Annual Credit Report from the Big three Credit Bureaus. This is a similar question to that posted a few days ago by another user. My credit report shows no deliquent accounts except for one from a Collection Agency called AFNI. It being placed on the account in 2007. They say I owe money to Verizon. I was doing business with Verizon until 1/2008, and Verizon said I don’t owe them any money and that AFNI does not do their collections. I have reported this to Attorney Generals Offices, Disputed it with credit bureaus and have written to AFNI, Registered mail. They send me back a form to do an identity theft investigation/dispute. After some research, I found out AFNI buys junk debts. That this is probably a re-aged debt which they legally cannot make me pay and that it was from most likely an old Bell Atlantic account.We have our phone reciepts from the past 7 or 8 years so if was ours it is older than that. What would you do to get them to back off?
Verizon themselves were nice enough to give me the name and address and phone number of the company who does do their collections (CBE Group) and I was nice enough to inform AFNI that I did have that information. I also have a statement from Verizon stating that my account was closed 01/09/2008 with an outstanding balance of $0.00 and that we had service with them from 2005 to 2008. AFNI only has an account number that they (AFNI) made up. I told them, you send me a BILL stating that I owe what it is you say I do from the original creditor, that is not more than five years old (statute of limitations on utilities in almost every state, it is 4 years in some) and get Verizon to tell you in writing I owe it. You can’t and won’t, and if you don’t remove it I bring you to court. How do they get away with that crap?!!

Claudia
 

Credit Score – Time and Points – Need Professional Advice?

Ryan T asked:


My three credit scores are as follows:
Trans-608
Exp-573
Equi-596
These are quite low due to some bad rental history that lead to collection agencies. I have student loans (subsidized) which show good payment history and is boosting it. The bad credit totals to around 15,000 dollars. Holy smokes! I left some apartment complex’s when I was younger…bad idea. Here is my question; by august of this year my reports will only show 5672 dollars of bad credit (checked with agencies; over 7 years old at that point); and after Jan 2010 my report will only show 1557 dollars of bad credit; so how long after these get dropped will it take my credit score to rise (hopefully skyrocket) and by about how many points. Thank you for your time.
Forgot to add that my good standing credit (loans) is 12,000 dollars.
SAMTA ..THAT WAS RETARDED ..I ALREADY KNOW MY CREDIT SCORES AND THAT WEBSITE LOOKS LIKE IT WAS MADE BY MY LEFT TESTICLE.

Mary
 

I have little/no credit: what will my credit score be around?

Roswell asked:


I’m 21 years old. I’ve never had a credit card (I always refused to put myself into such a predicament). I’ve been paying a T-Mobile cell phone bill steadily for three years, and I’ve only taken out student loans, all 3 of which are not defaulted.

I’m looking to become a renter in an apartment complex I’ve fallen in love with. The monthly rent is more than within my reach but they do a credit background check and the score needs to be 700 or higher.

I’ve never heard of “credit scores” and several people I’ve asked (including parents) have no idea.

I registered for a free credit report and it said I have no initial credit besides my student loans (didn’t even list the cell bill). It never gave me a credit score number, it just said that the server was busy (every single time – definitely a fishy scam if you ask me).

With my small credit, what will my credit score be about? Will I have a shot at this apartment? Should I take out a co-signer with good credit?
There might have been a typo: I CAN afford the monthly rent. I could afford MORE than that. I’m just concerned that my credit will pay too much of a factor.

Pamela

 

Why Credit score should effect getting hired for a job?

Alan asked:


I just recently got rejected for a job becouse of my credit rating. This not only plut me into a bigger bind then I allready was, but will effect my credit even more since im unemployed and have been barely making it. Now My credit history isnt entirely my fault durring a nasty divorce I was left with credit cards that I didnt even use with my name on them all maxed out (three total) 2 wich I paid off later when I could and one that is being handled by my attorney becouse it was opened AFTER we had allready split, she had illegaly put my name on there. Also I lost a house becouse of the divorce, I have worked hard then and since then just to provide for my family and CANNOT help the fact that I lived check by check. I never filed bankruptcy or even owe a large amount to anyone, I just basicaly have poor credit.

here is what the GA law states:

FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT

Employers have specific duties when using a consumer credit report for hiring or employment purposes. An applicant or employee must give written consent to the employer before the employer obtains a credit report. Additionally, the employer must provide the employee or applicant with a copy of the report and a summary of their rights before the employer can take any adverse action based on the credit report.

I just dont understand why they wont hire me becouse of that, im well more then quilified with 15 years experience IN FEILD, but becouse of bad credit I cannot get the job. Is that right? it just dosnt seem fair, in this day and age when the credit ratings on everyone is going down… who can get hired anymore?

Clarence

 

Can my debt just disappear?

Dog Owner asked:


Between 1998 and 2003 I incurred a lot of credit card debt, some medical bills, and a few debts from the cable company, power company etc. I recently decided to start paying off my debt and I obtained a copy of my credit report from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax however all three reports all say the same thing. I have no accounts in good standing, no accounts in bad standing, and no charge offs or anything. There is absolutely nothing on any of the reports. Any ideas on what could be going on??

Harvey
 

Question about how removal of certain bogus delinquent accounts can credit score?

olibobwa asked:


I went to the bank a while back to open a checking account. They ran my credit and i was denied. I didn’t know how to read it at the time but she showed me there was about 395,000 in tax leins. That’s why I was denied.

She was nice enough to let me take the report with me. Since then I have gotten pretty much everything straightened out. My credit score was 628 on that day.

This is everything else:
Score on day 1- 628.
had almost $400,000 in bogus liens removed.

Next I noticed there was a $33,000 bank of america credit card account charged off. This was a bogus charge as well. It stated that the account was opened in 1994. I was 12 years old. Got that removed.

There are 2 credit card accounts that were charged off. They were for $1600, & $440. These have been paid and marked as “paid charge off”

The last one which i have not finished paying for is a 2900 credit card that was charged off. I’ve got it down to about 1200 and contemplating paying it off in the next month or so.

After having the liens and 33000 credit card removed; and paying the last credit card off how much do you guys think my score will change?

There’s really nothing else on the report other than the odd checking acct here and there. I just started my own business and opened a new personal checking & business account (about 8 mo ago). I also just applied for personal and business credit cards. I know using these and paying them properly will raise my score

I have signed up with my bank to see all three reports as of this morning but it’ll be a day or two before I can access it:)
would it be wise to inquire with my bank about securing a loan to pay off the remaining credit card? Removing bad debt with good debt?

Barry

 

Help with credit score. I have a good score, but one bureau is lower, but still good?

Jay & Tiffany asked:


Let’s see, I am just starting to make enough money where I can buy whatever I want. Now, I have no late payments on equifax and transunion but experian has a late payment that was an error. At first it was on all three bureaus, but I disputed it with a letter and got it removed off of trans u and equifax, however it is still on experian. Also, I have just had a utility late payment removed. I was living at an apartment complex, and when I moved out, the manager told me that she would apply my deposit to the utility bill, ,my deposit was 250 and my bill was only for like a week, even still, I gave her my forwarding address. I never got my deposit back or a bill so I called and she had left the apartment complex and retired. I checked my credit one day and found out I owed 50 bucks for a utility bill and it was on my credit report under collections or a charge off something like that, I paid it off, and just contacted the company, they sent a letter to the bureaus to have it removed because it was confirmed that the woman used people’s deposits for her own use. SO that would mean there is no negative information on my credit report except experian, how will this affect me when equifax and transu scores are over 700 and my other experian bureau is in the very high 600’s. When I go to get a very nice car (which of course I can afford) how will this effect me, will it keep me from getting a car since my experian is significantly lower than my other two, which are plenty good enough to get approved???
I don’t want anybody telling me stuff abou tcredit scores I already know, I just want my question answered, my score is well over 700, the point i was asking about was not to go to this or that website and find out the stuff affecting my score, i’m on top of that already, i don’t need that kind of advice, i just want the answer to my question, i’ve already been told that with my equifax and transunion scores that i can get whatever i want because of my debt to income ratio, ok???

Elsie
 

An auto loan to improve credit?

rjon17469 asked:


I’m currently 22 and am a senior in college (although I’m going for one more year and then possibly grad school). I would like the possibility of being able to buy a house in two to three years, and therefore am looking for ways to improve my credit. I opened a credit card ~9 months ago with a $3,000 limit. Currently the limit on it is $4,500, all payments have been on time, and the balance is my previous month’s purchases (around $100).

In reading, many people recommend having either one or two revolving credit lines, and one or two fixed credit lines, for a total of three lines of credit. My credit card is one revolving credit line. I’m curious if taking out say a four year auto loan and making payments on time would substantially improve my credit score three years from now. The loan amount would likely be $7,000 to $8,000, giving monthly payments of around or under $200, which I can realistically afford. I’ve been paying my own college tuition and rent since the second semester of my freshman year of college, so I somewhat have of a grasp of my expenses.

On a side-note, I’m under the impression that I would be stuck with the interest rate I initially receive. I could refinance, but wouldn’t that close out the line of credit and begin a new line of credit, potentially lowering my score?

The follow-up questions are, would it be in my best interest to open a second credit card for additional feedback on my credit history? Also, I currently have a good amount of student loans, all of which are in deferment until I graduate (if I attend grad school, they will remain in deferment through that period). Do these loans count towards my credit score as fixed lines of credit? Some are federally-funded, while others are through private institutions.

For what it’s worth, Credit Karma reported my credit score at 722 as of a week ago, and TransUnion reported it at 764.

Viola

 

Can you Eliminate Credit Card Debt by Novation?

MR. Thumbs Up asked:


creating a new contract to replace the first
A Novation is a new agreement and is recognized in the law. The definition of Novation from Bouvier’s 1856 law dictionary illustrates:

NOVATION, civil law. 1. Novation is a substitution of a new for an old debt. The old debt is extinguished by the new one contracted in its stead; a novation may be made in three different ways, which form three distinct kinds of novations.

2. , The first takes place, without the intervention of any new person, where a debtor contracts a new engagement with his creditor, in consideration of being liberated from the former. This kind has no appropriate name, and is called a novation generally.

Your Novation Contract substitutes a new debt (zero) and a new engagement for the one claimed by the credit card company.

EVERY credit card company uses the novation contract process. Any time you get a Notice of an update to the terms and conditions of your credit card agreement, this update is in fact an offer to enter into a novation contract (a new agreement). When you use the credit card after receiving the new update, you have agreed to the new terms. Your act of using the card is an acceptance of the new agreement. How else could they change your credit card agreement? Insurance companies use this also, such as when you have a claim for $20,000 for damage and they send you $3,000.

YOUR CARD DISPUTE AND NOVATION

You can use the same process to enter into a new agreement with a card company, under your terms and conditions, by making the company an offer, which it can accept with an act. Simply, you send the card company a check for some amount, say $25, with the stated condition that by accepting the check, it agrees to your new terms and conditions (your Novation Contract). When the card company accepts the check by cashing it, it has agreed to your new Novation Contract. And you eliminate credit card debt in a simple, legal procedure. Get out of debt by using their law to your advantage.

Your notice of debt dispute and Novation Contract is designed to do the following:

(1) Bind your credit card company to the terms and conditions of your Novation Contract which include but are not limited to:

a) the cancellation of any and all prior in-force agreements;

b) its admission that the debt and all prior agreements are now paid in full;

c) its waiver of all claimed right of arbitration against you;

d) its obligation to report the account in dispute as “paid as agreed” to credit reporting agencies;

e) its agreement to not take any collection activity against you and to inform any assignees of the account that it has agreed that the account is “paid as agreed”;

f) the requirement that it verify under oath the amount of debt you allegedly owe in any correspondence to you; and

g) its agreement that any breach of the terms of the Novation Contract by them will injure and damage you and that it will be liable for all damages;

(2) Upon notice, bind any and all collection agents of your credit card company and third party collection companies to your Novation Contract;.

(3) Establish a legal basis for a claim of zero liability for the disputed credit card account;

(4) Establish a legal basis for declaring invalid any and all allegations of debt made against you that are associated with the credit card account and sent through the U.S. mails;

(5) Establish a legal basis for claiming injuries and damages should the credit card company or any collection agency breach the terms and conditions of your Novation Contract; and,

(6) Destroy any legal basis for the credit card company or any collection agent to ignore your card dispute and Novation Contract by your:

a) choosing and using a procedure permitted and recognized by contract common law, the Uniform Commercial Code, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act;

b) establishing the card company’s obligation and third party collector’s obligation to verify under oath the amount of any debt they allege you owe;

c) removing any controversy between your demand for verification of any alleged debt and any and all presentments by third parties containing unverified allegations of debt against you; and,

d) removing any presumption that you willfully avoided a known debt.

Gerald

 

Store Credit Card Fraud Policies?

Chris M asked:


I had three credit cards stolen today. The scum bags managed to make over $3,000 in purchases in a span of 1 hour. Luckily, after speaking with the credit card companies, the cards have been cancelled and I won’t be responsible for the charges (so they say) after I file a dispute affadavit and provide the police report.

What infuriates me is that:

1. One of the purchases was for $2,200 at Best Buy. Is is that hard for the cashier to ask for ID when someone makes a huge purchase like this?

2. At Toys R Us, Two of the cards had been blocked for suspicious activity after they tried to make a $550 purchase. They then charged it to the 3rd card. Again, is it that hard for the cashier to ask for ID especially after the first two cards were blocked.

3. The scum bags went to Target and tried to make additional charges. ALL THREE CARDS were blocked. (Also questioning the intelligence of the thieves to try using the two cards that had been declined at Toys R Us)It doesn’t take a rocket scientist here to see a red flag here. The cashier should have asked for ID after they tried using all 3 cards!

Now i can see how maybe a dumb cashier might not ask for ID in the first two instances… but when someone has 3 cards come up as blocked… shouldn’t they be required to at least ask for ID?

I am so infuriated by all three stores lack of effort to at least ask for ID especially in the Toys R Us and Target instances.

Do I have a right to go to the stores and complain/yell at the manager or would that be out of line? Seriously, stores have to have guidelines for cashiers especially when multiple cards are blocked.
Jared – Not that I ever wish anything bad to happen to anyone… but we’ll see who is a comedian if someone ever steals your credit cards.

Moon – The thief or thieves broke into several gym lockers of various people that were padlocked. It’s hard to be more careful when someone decides to cut into a Masterlock.

KDS – I’m glad there are people like you who will at least take the extra second to possibly prevent this from happening to other people.

Gladys