movinup Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Hello,I have been a lurker for a while and decided it was time for me to start using some of the info. I have learned here. If you don't mind I will tell you a little about my situation and what I have done so far. Me and DH filed Chapter 7 BK in 8/98. Kept our house and cars. Anyway, 3 years later we moved from that town and have been renting up until last month when we bought a new house !! We got a FHA loan and got approved for more than I ever thought we would. Last year we had to buy DH a new can and we financed that at 17.9% UGH ~0 . We have my car which is leased so that's not a problem. We have an Orchard Bank, Target, and Sears (reaffirmed) but no other credit cards. We pay them ontime and keep the limits low. So basically that's where we stand financially. I have done a lot of reading on here but I am scared to death to actually dispute anything and really don't quite know what to dispute. I just joined privacy guard so I can keep and eye on what's going on with our credit. So I guess my major question is where do I start? Do I try to dispute the BK? I would be greatful for any help. I just need someone to kind of guide me in the right direction. Thank you so much if you have gotten this far, I tend to ramble. Can't wait to get to know all of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movinup Posted July 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Hellooooooooo.............???? I'm getting burried down here. Any help? Please!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADSOFT Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Can you break your question up into paragraphs ??? :) [Edit by ADSOFT on [TIME]1057600523[/TIME]] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonniegirl2 Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 <blockquote>Originally posted by movinupHellooooooooo.............???? I'm getting burried down here. Any help? Please!! </blockquote> Welcome to the board , Don't feel bad about lurking, a lot of us did the same thing .I really don't know what you're trying to do though by disputing the BK. Here's a good starting point:1/ Pull all three credit reports (individually, not 3-in-1)2/ Purchase Kristy's book and CD3/ Read the threads on credit repair4/ Read the threads on Debt ValidationThat should give you a little direction #) . Oh, btw, consider yourself a fellow member since you took the plunge and posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creditfix Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 movinup, sounds like you are on the right track. I would definitely dispute the BK, starting with NOT MINE. What is "reaffirmed"??? I've never heard that term before. We had a BK in 1982 and included Sears on it. Have wondered if they'll ever let us have another chance with them. I need a new refrigerator and I want to buy it from Sears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movinup Posted July 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Thank you everyone for your replies and welcomes. 1. I guess I just wanted to make sure that I am doing this correctly by disputing "not mine on every trade line that says "discharged by BK". I don't want to end up messing up the good credit that I do have.2. Should I dispute my old address as "not mine" since that was the address I was living at when my bk was discharged?I guess I should do some more reading. Creditfix, we reaffirmed Sears and even though it was included in our Bk we continue to pay and can still use the card.Thanks again for your replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADSOFT Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 <blockquote>Originally posted by movinupThank you everyone for your replies and welcomes. 1. I guess I just wanted to make sure that I am doing this correctly by disputing "not mine on every trade line that says "discharged by BK". I don't want to end up messing up the good credit that I do have.2. Should I dispute my old address as "not mine" since that was the address I was living at when my bk was discharged?I guess I should do some more reading. Creditfix, we reaffirmed Sears and even though it was included in our Bk we continue to pay and can still use the card.Thanks again for your replies!</blockquote>Remember the first two rules of Credit Repair.#1. Never call a CA, all communication should be done by mail: There is reason to call them the FTC gives you all the avenues you need to resolve 90 % your problems by mail. When you do contact them you should have already sent at least a DV.#2. Remove all old addresses and telephone numbers prior to disputing any TLS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creditfix Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 <blockquote>Originally posted by movinup...Creditfix, we reaffirmed Sears and even though it was included in our Bk we continue to pay and can still use the card.</blockquote>Thanks. I applied online and the message that came up was they were unable to complete the process online and would notify me by mail. That could go either way. Target did that to me. It ended up that they had approved me but could not verify the address I gave them so they sent it by mail. Wish we had never done BK - 21 years ago and it still hurts us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Me and DH filed Chapter 7 BK in 8/98. Kept our house and cars. Anyway, 3 years later we moved from that town and have been renting up until last month when we bought a new house !! We got a FHA loan and got approved for more than I ever thought we would. Well this is good news because you have left yourself with existing credit to rebuild on.Last year we had to buy DH a new can and we financed that at 17.9% UGH ~0 . We have my car which is leased so that's not a problem. We have an Orchard Bank, Target, and Sears (reaffirmed) but no other credit cards. We pay them ontime and keep the limits low. So basically that's where we stand financially. Ok, this one is a problem, see what we can do to help you re-finance this for a better interest rate.I have done a lot of reading on here but I am scared to death to actually dispute anything and really don't quite know what to dispute. This is not a problem, the CRAs deal with these disputes everyday, they are not going to hunt you down and say shame on you... lol Really you will do fine, some things will be trial & error, and just take some time, but it can be done. And the rewards are well worth the effort, plus the education you will recieve by the end of your clean up efforts. I just joined privacy guard so I can keep and eye on what's going on with our credit. So I guess my major question is where do I start? Do I try to dispute the BK? I would be greatful for any help. I just need someone to kind of guide me in the right direction. Thank you so much if you have gotten this far, I tend to ramble. Can't wait to get to know all of you.So to start out, you sit down with all 3 credit reports, make extra copies; highlight the ones for each CRA you want to dispute (everything that is negative) except for accounts with nothing more then late pays, will want to try good will letter first on these to see if creditor will help out and make them positive again for you.I would suggest rotating your disputes; like if you have 10; the first month send out five & the second month send out the second five disputes. That way you can; let 5 rest 30 days until the next round - and they can't catch on so quick to the spam disputes to send you letter of being frivolous.But anyway back to the others, when you send them in dispute "no knowledge of account", if it comes back in 30 days, dispute something else, if you take the time to look for real reporting errors this will be of a big help also. Like incorrect status, incorrect balance... and if you are still at it in a few months you can go back to the 1st round disputes again saying "no knowledge of account". Ok, welcome aboard, and nice to meet you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movinup Posted July 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Thanks so much for all the great advice. I have a few questions about it though....1. As far as refinancing the auto loan the finance co. called and offered to refinance for us. They called back later and told us to try again in 9-12mo.? Why did they call us in the first place? Do you know of a place that we should look for better rates?2. If I want to dispute my bk as "not mine" do I do all those at one time? I think that's it for now. Creditfix I will keep my fingers crossed for your Sears card coming through! Thanks again for all the wonderful advice!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted July 8, 2003 Report Share Posted July 8, 2003 Yes, don't refinance your car loan until you are satisfied that you have improved your credit & score to a better position. The dealerships will say anything, cause they are trying to make a fast buck on the sale, but each tiime someone talks you into trying, they are hurting your credit, because of the added inquiry to your credit report. And right now, with the fragile state of your credit score, you can't afford to be running up inquiries unnessasarily. 10% of your score is affected by these, and more then 3 in 30 days really hurts the scores.So just hold off, I know it is not a good interest rate you have there now, but timing has to be right, when you scores have improved better.I would suggest rotating your disputes; like if you have 10; the first month send out five & the second month send out the second five disputes. That way you can; let 5 rest 30 days until the next round - and they can't catch on so quick to the spam disputes to send you letter of being frivolous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movinup Posted July 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2003 Thanks for all the help kb9tbq. I just thought if I were going to dispute the BK that I should do it all at once. If I got my credit report and it "really" was a "not mine" I would be freaking out and dispute all of the "included in bk" at one time. I understand not wanting to overwhelm them and get a frivolous letter but if it is all the same reason shouldn't you lump them together? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted July 8, 2003 Report Share Posted July 8, 2003 I know there is the urge to rush these things, but what happens if they verify some of the accounts, then what are you going to dispute next month?If you try to re-dispute the same thing within the following month, they may just shut you down, costing you another month putting space between you and the last dispute. So I really do think, if you rotate them, then you can get a good motion of disputing going each month. Believe me, them CRAs have seen about everything, you will be fine, on cutting them in half, ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movinup Posted July 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2003 That makes sense. Thanks again for all the help. I will let you know how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts