virginiacouple147 Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Hi folks,I've done hours and hours of reading here, I am feeling overwhelmed and unsure.I need to start somewhere on my hubby's credit report - I'm not sure what the correct approach is to improve anything. We're not dealing w/ any CO or deliquent accounts, everything is up to date... here are the issuesInquiries and lots of them, I can't tell what they're for but it seems to me the best thing is to get as many as possible removed. Best approach?30 day lates - There are about 10 of these sprinkled throughout, none are more than 30 days. I think goodwill letters will work great for these because of the length of his accounts as well as the fact that he has several accounts with most of the banks and of those some were never late even once. Some of these accounts are as old as the mid 80's.He has a lot of accounts (26?) ....we're not closing any though until we get cleaned up and 0 out ALL of our credit cards (and may hold off even then , don't want to see a drop)An IRS lien that was put on 1995 but satisfied in 2002 (with a payment plan during all of those years, it has been listed as released)We're paying down the ratio of credit used, trying to zero out as much as possible, this is debt he carried for a long time by paying for lawyers on credit when he was going through a divorce ...15 YEARS AGO~~~ the good news is he's almost done.Also I noted some of his closed accounts that were in great standing - say closed by grantor when infact he is the one that closed them last year - why would they report it that way and should it be changed?Some accounts don't show on all 3 reports - should they? What if they're good accounts?On accounts that were never late there is a difference in the available credit and the high balance, it looks like he had went over the available balance at some point - is that a negative? If the account is closed now or paid to 0 ... should we do anything about it?One of his accounts says "2 or 3 30 day lates" - well which was it, 2 or 3 and can they report all willy nilly that way?At the risk of being out of context... what does it mean when the CRA says "other" - can we ask for an explaination of that from them?I greatly appreciate any insight that any of you have the energy to share, hope you have had a wonderful day!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatGadsby Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Inquiries and lots of them, I can't tell what they're for but it seems to me the best thing is to get as many as possible removed. Best approach?call the CRA and dispute the inquiry. they'll tell you that you can't, but you can, you just have to be insistent.Also I noted some of his closed accounts that were in great standing - say closed by grantor when infact he is the one that closed them last year - why would they report it that way and should it be changed? closed by credit grantor is a derogatory remark, and if he closed the accts, then they need to change it to simply say closed or closed by debtor.Some accounts don't show on all 3 reports - should they? What if they're good accounts? not all people report to all 3, you have to be a member to report, and that costs money, some people only report to 1.One of his accounts says "2 or 3 30 day lates" - well which was it, 2 or 3 and can they report all willy nilly that way?I wouldn't think so.At the risk of being out of context... what does it mean when the CRA says "other" - can we ask for an explaination of that from them? don't know what it means, but certainly you can ask them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin3344 Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 (edited) I can only tell you what I did, and hopefully it will help.- First, I made it a point to get all 3 of my scores. I went to myFico.com and paid the $44.95 or whatever it was, to see where I stood. This gave me a place to start from. Nothing beats knowing where you are.- Second, I made it my resolve to pay my current bills on time. Nothing affects your credit more than the present, and you have to make sure, today, you are creating a good history for yourself each and every month.- Third, I established positive trade lines (TLs) for myself by refinancing my car. Then I opened a secured credit card account. Later I got a mortgage. Slowly but surely, these are affecting my credit for the better.- Fourth, I wrote the credit bureaus and got stuff updated/removed. Notice that this is fourth, not first! (actually this step should be #3b). Make no mistake, it's a painstaking process. They don't make it easy. And you have to wait a month for them to respond. Chances are, you will have to do it over and over again. Eventually, you will start to see stuff come off.- Finally, I visit this board often for updates/new approaches. Believe it or not most of us have been where you are, with the "where do I start?" questions. Work hard and be patient, and you will begin to see results. It's not easy, but well worth it.________Wellbutrin side effect Edited September 9, 2011 by kevin3344 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Hi virginaincouple,Welcome.Here are two short threads that will help you get started...Beginning Credit Repair-http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24558&highlight=and what we've learned...http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26997Best wishes, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginiacouple147 Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Thanks for the responses! I have so many pages bookmarked and printed from this site its crazy, I have a whole new folder of printed posts lolI'm sure I'll be asking more questions in time, we're writing GW letters today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Hi Virginaicouple147,You might want to buy the book Good Credit is Sexy which was wrttien by the Lady who started this site and is the Site Admin...It lays out everything you need and coupled with the info on this site can really get you where you want to go...Good luck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginiacouple147 Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 Thank you!!!I'll be checking into that today!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginiacouple147 Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 I have officially purchased the book! thx again - We have spent all day pouring over credit reports, making notes, calls (for minor easy to fix things like wrong comments) .... what a day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 I have officially purchased the book! thx again -Great -Good luck..We have spent all day pouring over credit reports, making notes, calls (for minor easy to fix things like wrong comments) .... what a dayOne more thing.. My pet peeve - Please buy a LOCKING File cabinet ($50.00) and LOCK up anything related to this subject or that could expose you to Identity Theft. That way you can keep your business - YOUR BUSINESS not your neighbors or anyone else who walks in your home.I personally found this very theraputic, After organizing everything like you did, I locked it up and I always KNOW where all this importat data is and I know that no one else can look at it and I don't have the nagging feeling that I am forgetting something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginiacouple147 Posted June 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 Great advice, we have just the thing for this - a huge empty locking lateral in a storage closet in the basement..I think that would qualify as private - great advice.Hey - where in the metro are you? We're in Loudoun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio_Guy Posted June 12, 2005 Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 Hey that's not too far away. ,I'm in (beautiful ) Mongtomery County, MD!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginiacouple147 Posted June 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2005 neighbor!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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