Trying to repair credit score, help!!
Date: Tue, 05/31/2011 - 07:41
So, I have two accounts to the same collection agency that we paid off at different times last year. I'm looking at all 3 of my credit reports and only one account shows a zero balance on only one bureau, another one it is just blank and then the final bureau doesn't even show the account. So Question #1 is a blank balance the same as a zero balance? However one report under Payment Status it says "Seriously past due date / assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor's internal collection department" and the other says "Collection Account". According to the collection agency who I just got off the phone with the status should say paid in full. On this particular account we did not settle, we did pay the full amount we owed. Question # 2- Should I be writing the bureaus to have this changed?? And is there a way I can call them instead of waiting for snail mail? I'm a stay at home mom right now, I have no problem calling everyday to be the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, I just want to raise my credit score which has been tanked!(524, 530, & 544 depending on the bureau). Also, this account began showing the hated red KD boxes on the experian report ever since february, even though we paid the account off last September. Question #3- What can I do to have this fixed??
On to the second account. All three bureaus list the account balance as the balance we settled for. The collection agency says it was a settlement however, it was not lowered until we sent in our copy of the leasing agreement that showed some information they were given from the apartment complex differed from ours, and we shouldn't have been being charged what they were trying to charge us. So according to the collection agency, who I just got off the phone with, the account should have a $0 balance and the payment status should say paid in full. The person in charge of our accounts said that the information they updated in December when we made our last payment would not list anything about a settlement or what the original amount they were trying to receive was. So, Question #4- Again should I write(or call, or email or w/e) the bureaus requesting this balance to be corrected to $0 and the payment status changed to Paid in Full ( It currently reads the same for the two bureaus mentioned along with the first account. The third bureau lists it as Unpaid!!! It's been paid for almost 6 months now!) Also, this account has on the Experian report quite a few KD blocks as well as ND blocks, including after we had the agency off in December. Again I asked the representative at the agency and she said this would be due to the fact that the bureau had not updated the account to paid in full. Question #5- Is this true? How can I have this corrected? They show up even during the months we had an agreed upon payment arrangement and were making the monthly payments.
Continuing on, On my very first credit card, like a lot of dumb kids at 18 I charged it up and had it closed on me. I ended up paying it all off and have all OK boxes except one 60 day box back in 2008. Question #6- Should I give a "goodwill" letter a shot and see if the bank would take that off? Or can they take it off now? Would this help improve my score at all or is it not worth the time? Everything else shows up fine, $0 balance, paid in full, closed etc on all three bureaus.
Finally I have two accounts, one with TXU and one with Verizon that say Paid, charge-off. Question #7- What does that mean? Is that hurting my score? The Verizon one on Experian has two KD boxes for Feb and Mar of 2009 and then an OK box for April 2009 and nothing after. Equifax shows OK boxes since Mar 2008 til Feb 09 and then nothing. For TXU it has one KD box from Experian for April 2010 and then OK boxes from Equifax from July 2008- Mar 2010. Question #8- What can I do about these accounts to improve my score??
Oh and one last question(#9), I have a few federal student loans that end up getting passed around from bank to bank and the old banks are still listed on my credit reports with notes saying the account was transferred. Is this hurting my score??
I don't know what blank balance is. May be the community expert
I don't know what blank balance is. May be the community expert Soaplady can answer your question better. Yes, you can request the credit bureau to remove the negative information from your credit report. You can send the following letter to the bureaus for removing the inaccurate information from your report:
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/sample13.html
If you have paid off the second account in full, then you can dispute the account status with the credit bureau. You can use the following letter to dispute your account status:
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/sample26.html
The answer to your question no 6 - Yes, you can send a goodwill letter to the bank. You can give a shot. Lets see what happens.
Once the status of your accounts get updated and the negative information is removed, your score will improve gradually.
Creditors charge off the accounts when they have been unable to get money on the accounts for around 6 months. They claim losses on the accounts when they file their income tax return. Charge off makes a negative impact on credit score big time. You should try to settle the account as early as possible. Your credit score may get a hit as your accounts are getting transferred from one bank to another.
