I have written letters, sent in documentation over and over again and have not been able to get items removed from my credit file. Many things are not mine, information is plain wrong even my birthday and still I cannot get them changed or removed. I pay my bills on time but due to all this bad stuff... for years and years... I cannot get a good credit score or even get credit. Some of the big things are an IRS report of a paid lien dating back to 1989 under my ex-husband's ss#. Another are medical bills owed by my ex. And also a foreclosure and I have not ever had a foreclosure! I did get a bankrupcy removed by being in a class action law suit. I have never filed for bankrupcy. Help Please. This is so unfair!
if all these bills and things are from when you were married , then you both were responsible for them
your name as well as your husbands would be on the credit records
the only way you would have to slove this problem is to vist the holder of your credit file and have a talk with one of theh employes
It sounds like your in a very difficult situation. Your credit has suffered from a combination of your past mistakes and the mistakes of creditors putting wrong information on you credit file. You state that "many" things are not yours, so I can assume some of it is. What makes things even more complicated is that whenever we have a mixture of mistakes, then it is hard to determine which belong to you and which are due to creditor mistakes. You can't just look at something and say "this one doesn't look like it belongs to me" and send a letter disputing it. It's not that simple. You have to have concrete evidence to the contrary that the account you believe not to be yours really isn't yours. The credit bureau is required by law to launch an investigation, if you send them a formal dispute letter, but a collection agency can easily confirm the debt if they truly believe it to be yours even if you think otherwise. It's really a difficult situation and it takes alot of work (sometimes unsuccessfully) to have things removed from your file. Remember, people claim to not be responsible for certain debts every day, but you have to provide evidence to seperate yourself from others who are only making false claims.
Now assuming some of the defaulted debts ARE yours, you have to keep in mind that while most negative credit information remains on your credit report for a maximum of 7 years, some information remains longer. According to the three credit reporting agencies and the Credit Reporting Law of 1996, different types of credit information generally remain on your credit file as follows:
(1)Credit Accounts - Negative information remains for 7 years from the initial missed payment that led to the delinquency. Keep in mind that active positive information can remain indefinitely.
(2) Collection Accounts - A collection account remains for 7 years from the initial missed payment that led to the collection.
(3) Public Records - Chapter 7, 11 and 12 bankruptcies remain for 10 years from the date filed. Completed Chapter 13 bankruptcies remain for 7 years from the date filed, and 10 years if not completed. Tax liens remain for 7 years from the date filed if paid and remain for 15 years if not paid. All judgments remain for 7 years from the date filed.
(4) Inquiries (these are creditor not consumer inquiries) -
Inquiries remain for 2 years.
(5) Special Cases -
New York State Residents Only: Satisfied judgments remain 5 years from the date filed, while paid collections remain 5 years from the date of last activity.
California State Residents Only: All tax liens remain 7 years from the date filed.
So keep in mind that the type of debt that you have on your credit file, will determine the length of stay on your credit file. Also there were some special provisions of the Credit Reporting Law regarding amounts, ex. negative information can be reported longer than 7 years for credit transactions over $150,000. So I hope this helps but you can always find more information on the FICO website below.
Perhaps some of the debt is the result of identity fraud, as you claim. Depending on the time frame from when the fraud occurred you can take the following steps:
1) Immediately contact the 3 major credit bureaus and request a "fraud alert" or "block" be placed on your file. That way creditor who accesses your file in the future will be notified of potential fraud. But make sure you keep this in mind, it may make it more difficult for you to get credit for several months, but shouldn't affect your ability to use your credit cards. You can go to their respective websites or call them on the phone: Equifax - 1-800-685-1111, http://www.equifax.com ; Experian 1-888-397-3742, http://www.experian.com ; Trans Union 1-800-888-4213, http://www.transunion.com .
2) Get a police report promptly. You may need it to convince your creditors that you weren't on a spending spree you just don't want to pay for. If they give you a hard time about filing a police report, be very persistent because this piece of paper will be very important.
3) Notify the card issuers about the fraud. HSBC can be contacted through their website: http://www.hsbccreditcard.com or at 888-385-8916. For new accounts opened under your name, they will want you to fill out a fraud affidavit and may want to see the police report. Go to the Federal Trade Commision's website and download their identity theft affidavit: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/... . It is accepted by many card issuers, and credit reporting agencies. This report may save you time.
4) Contact your state attorney general's office. Some state attorney general's offices have units that investigate this specific type of case. Here is the site which lists all 50 state attorney's. You would want to contact the one in your specific state: http://www.statelocalgov.net/50states-at...
5) You may want to consider subscribing to a credit alert service that will allow you to review your credit report frequently. The credit bureaus above may offer it. If you've been the victim of credit fraud, then you will want to know when anyone pulls your file or when negative information is added to it. Monitor your file frequently for at least a year.
6) Keep detailed records about everything: your phone calls to card issuers, when you made them, who you spoke with, what they said, etc. If you are sending letters make sure to certify them and keep copies for your records. Negative information can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years, so you will want to keep these records for at least that long.
7) If the theft involved your Social Security number, as is often the case, contact the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 so that can make sure all your information is accurate. It is even possible to get a new social security number, but that can create more problems that it solves. You may find it harder to get new credit because your name and information matches TWO social security numbers which is a sign of fraud.
8) Get help. Contact the Federal Trade Commision's ID theft hotline: 877-IDTHEFT (438-4338) . It's the same website as above in step 3. They also have alot of great information which is free to download.
Ultimately though you need to first contact the credit bureaus and not the creditors. The bureaus are in charge of launching the investigations and every bureau has different methods on doing it:
(1) To launch an investigation of the credit information on your Equifax credit file, myFICO customers may contact Equifax by phone or mail. Currently investigations cannot be requested online at Equifax.
Phone: 1-866-238-8067
Mail:
Equifax Disputes
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256
For mailed-in disputes, please be specific regarding your dispute of an account ("not mine", "paid in full", etc.). Include any documentation that may help prove the information that you believe is correct. It is especially helpful to send photocopies of your social security card and driver's license for name updates. It is also recommended that any request for address update include a current utility bill in your name or driver's license showing the correct address.
(2) To launch an investigation of the credit information on your TransUnion credit file, myFICO customers may contact TransUnion by phone, mail or online.
Phone: 1-800-916-8800
Mail:
TransUnion Disputes
2 Baldwin Place, P.O. BOX 1000
Chester, PA 19022
Online:
http://www.transunion.com
You will be required to provide your File Identification Number (FIN) along with your dispute information. This number is located at the bottom of your myFICO TransUnion credit report.
For mailed-in disputes, please be specific regarding your dispute of an account ("not mine", "paid in full", etc.). Include any documentation that may help prove the information that you believe is correct. It is especially helpful to send photocopies of your social security card and driver's license for name updates. It is also recommended that any request for address update include a current utility bill in your name or driver's license showing the correct address.
(3) To launch an investigation of the credit information on your Experian credit file, myFICO customers may contact Experian online. Investigations by phone or U.S. Mail are not currently available to myFICO customers at Experian.
Online:
http://www.experian.com
You will be required to provide your Report ID number along with your dispute information. This number is located at the bottom of your myFICO Experian credit report.
In the end if you have already tried all these avenues and you don't seem to be making progress, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) you are allowed to hire an attorney and take legal action against a credit bureau for negligent or willful noncompliance with the law within TWO years after the bureau's harmful behavior first occurred. In some limited circumstances, you may have more than two years to sue. You can sue for actual damages, such as court costs, attorney's fees, lost wages, and if applicable, intentional infliction of emotional distress. You can also sue the creditor that supplied the inaccurate information. However just so you know these types of lawsuits are complicated and the FCRA provides creditors many ways to avoid liability. You will probably want to consult an attorney if you want to pursue this type of lawsuit.
If all else fails, consider calling your congressional representative or senator. That person can call the FTC and demand some action.
Your last resort, if you feel that a credit bureau is wrongfully including information in your report, or you want to explain a particular debt, you have the right under the FCRA to put a brief (100 words) statement in your report. If you request it, the bureau must also give the statement or summary to anyone who received a copy of your file within the past six months or two years if your file was given out for employment purposes. The bureau, though has a right to charge a fee for this statement. But be careful, it's sometimes better to explain your situation to a future creditor than to put statements in your file, because sometimes the statements remain there well after your negative information has been removed. Also, many times lenders tend to believe the bureau (Goliath) over the consumer (David).
So this is much information to process, but sometimes only time will heal your report. It's unfortunate but the little guy sometimes can't do anything about the big guy! I hope the suggestions above are helpful and hopefully provide new suggestions you may not have considered. Good luck!
You pay off your debts which places them in good standing. Most will take a "payoff" in lieu of the full amount due, unless it is already with a collection agency.
Also, if you have paid it, and it is still showing as a negative, ask the credit company to remove it, and let them know that you have paid it in full. If paid, it will most likely be removed. You can do this online at their websites.
Also, if the bill is under your ex's ss#, they can't legally put it on your credit report.
Wow.. lots of good information and some very BAD information.
First of all, negative items remain on your credit reports for 7 years PLUS 180 days - basically 7-1/2 years. The reporting period starts with the date of first delinquency that immediately precedes placement for collection and/or charge-off. Bascially that means that it starts with the first time the account went 30 days late and you never paid on it again.
Now, you most certainly do NOT have to have concrete evidence that an account is not yours. The CRA's have a duty to investigate. If they cannot verify with the furnisher of the information, then they MUST DELETE that tradeline.
If the account information is not yours, your dispute letter should say more than 'not mine'. You should say 'I've never had such and such account xxxx-xxxx-xxxx with XXXX creditor" . Dispute ANY single piece fo data that is incorrect, that is YOUR RIGHT under the FCRA.
Under the new FACT Act, consumers now have the right to dispute DIRECTLY with the furnisher of the information. So, once you dispute with the credit bureaus and if it comes back as 'verified' (and trust me they do NOT call your creditors every time to verify anything !!), THEN you write a detailed dispute directly to the creditor. They must also, under the law, investigate, and they have a time limit to do so.
If the debts were due to identity theft or fraud, file a police report and notify the CRA's of exactly that - ID theft. The credit bureaus are also NOT consumer friendly, so don't expect them to be. WE don't pay them, they creditors, banks, and collection agencies pay them and they SELL our information TO those same creditors and collectors.
I would also suggest that you head over to www.creditboards.com or www.creditinfocenter.com and learn how to handle these disputes and what other steps to take.
To clear your credit report:
If any of your accounts were charged off more than seven years ago, the damaging information on that account should have been erased from your credit bureau file, and a collection agency cannot reenter the information. This process take place under a federal law, called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), that regulates the actions of all creditors and credit reporting agencies. The law is designed to protect consumers, creditors, and credit reporting agencies. The FCRA enforces the seven-year limit; specifically, it says that information in a consumer's file concerning accounts that have been charged off or placed for collection must be completely erased after seven years from the date of last activity; last activity generally means the date the creditor charged off the account. On the copy of your report look at the date of last activity. Has it been seven years from that date? If so, write to the credit bureau and tell it to remove the account from your file. Each one of your accounts is probably different. For many of them, that seven-year limit may not be far away. Making a new payment now would merely create new activity in your account and start the seven-year cycle over. Be very careful about doing this.
Bill Collectors:
When it comes to collection efforts, each state has its own statute of limitations governing how long a debt is considered legally collectible. In general, the limit is about four to five years from date of your last payment. If a creditor waits beyond the time limit set by the statute of limitations to sue you, the case can be thrown out of court. To find out about the statute of limitations in your state, contact the Office of the State Attorney General. If you know that your debt has expired under this statute of limitations and a collection agency happens to call you, do this: Explain to the agency that you will pay only if you are taken to court and a judgment is obtained against you; otherwise, you have no intention to pay what you believe to be a legally uncollectible debt. The key here is to put your argument in writing, adding a clear demand that the agency stop contacting you. The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, another federal law, declares that if the state-regulated limitation period is up, the agency may not contact you again once it receives your letter-except to say there will be no further contact. If the state statute of limitations hasn't yet run out, paying something on your charged-off accounts will not help clear up your credit report and may start the collection agencies' clock ticking anew, so once again, think hard before you do this. Only time will repair your credit report-specifically, the seven years it takes until the credit bureau must, by law, remove the debt notation.
see an attorney
