pointman Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Howdy from Texas!I joined last night and read some really informative threads. I was inspired by reading posts of the small "victories" that will collectively lead to achieving the posters' goals.I successfully achieved a self-initiated credit repair project about 11 years ago. I had to clean up my negative credit reports in order to purchase my present home. Unfortunately, with the clean reports came untold numbers of new credit cards and accounts. The clean reports allowed me to purchase more home than I initially set out to buy, and then open the accounts to furnish said home.Financial setbacks within 3 years of the home purchase led to 2 CC charge offs and a few late pays. For the past 5 yrs, I have maintained a "never late" status on at least 8 solid credit lines and the only negatives are CC accounts (3) from around 2003-04.I am about to embark on my second journey into repairing my credit.I will undoubtedly ask more questions here; many have already been answered by reading along. The knowledge, and open sharing of such, is really noticeable in these forums. I KNOW it is possible; I've accomplished it once before.My initial questions today are: Is signing up for a credit score monitoring service my "best" first step? (Besides acquiring "the book" of course)Since the derogs are from 03-04, am I within the state SOL (TX = 4 yrs) to initiate a SOL dispute?I have read opinions on both; denying the accounts and/or admitting to the accounts but, deferring to any of several viable dispute options.I know it was long, and trust me, I searched many threads before I posted this.Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyssarene Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Yeah, another Texan!First step would be to obtain the full reports free from the annual credit report website. They have much more detail than the monitoring sites.Not sure what you mean by SOL dispute? Although TX is 4 years, they can still report it on your credit report for 7-7 1/2 years. They can also still sue you but you have a SOL defense. I use True Credit to monitor my reports currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 How I got here (this site).A few days ago I Googled for sample letters to send out to the CRAs. I stumbled across a repair service who uses LAW in their name...I mulled over their pitch, testimonials and fees. I'm incredibly busy right now and was looking for someone else to do the work for me. I wasn't sure I wanted to dive into the self repair venture again. So last night I Googled again and was sifting thru the hits to find their website when I came across a link for Credit Info Center...So here I am. I just ordered my copy of GC is Sexy, plus the 2 CRs I didn't have. Now I'm off to sign up at True Credit.I have to keep reading all your posts for encouragement, 'cause I'm still not sure which way I'm gonna attack this beast."Texan by Birth; CIC Forum Member by Luck!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyssarene Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Attack it one step at a time - keep reading and reading and absorbing If you are set on paying someone, I am sure a ton of members here will take your money for easy work.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I was going to pay someone till I found this site then decided to have another go at it!WOW... I just pulled my reports via True Credit and there's a whole lot of crap on there that I have no idea where it came from! Some are mine and then some are flat out OC flatulence!07-12-07 TU 513 EX 561 EQ 547 :-( :-( :-( "Texan by Birth; CIC Forum Member by Luck!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilton1 Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 I was going to pay someone till I found this site then decided to have another go at it!WOW... I just pulled my reports via True Credit and there's a whole lot of crap on there that I have no idea where it came from! Some are mine and then some are flat out OC flatulence!07-12-07 TU 513 EX 561 EQ 547 :-( :-( :-( "Texan by Birth; CIC Forum Member by Luck!"Welcome and happy journey ++ Keep in mind that the Truecredit (TC) scores are FAKO scores they are not FICO scores. For a FICO score you would have to go to www.myfico.com. In the mean time use the TC to monitor the report. The accounts that you know are not yours dispute those and work your way down to the ones that do belong to you. Start with the ones that are pass SOL and/or have a small balance that you can afford to pay.Leave the accounts with large balances that are not pass SOL for last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyssarene Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Pointman - Congrats on the first step!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof5 Posted July 13, 2007 Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 Welcome!!!! I am glad you went with TC instead of annualcreditreport.com. When you pull your freebies, the CRAs get 45 days to update instead of 30! If you need direct reports, You can go to their OWN sites to pull...OK, in all your bad TLs, find the DOFD. That is computed by the date you initially went delinquent and then never became current again. That will show you your scheduled delete date. For SOL computation, figure out what was the date of last payment. Add 4 years and you have your SOL date.I don't recommend challenging anything that is within SOL. You might prompt a lawsuit. Let sleeping dogs lie until SOL has passed.You will learn a lot here. Remember that some of the rules have changed since you last embarked on credit repair, but we can give you the skinny on that! Good LUCK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted July 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2007 This is a sampling from my CR pulled last night.Looking at the bottom image; am I reading it right as the DOFD being Sept '01? It doesn't say on the report, but it looks like this one is scheduled to drop off this year.Thanks for all the replies so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof5 Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Yes, Sep 01 is the DOFD....deletion date per FCRA is 7.5 yrs, but in reality, the CRA's delete at 7....so Sep 08 -> next year, not this year. Around March, start disputing as obsolete. Many have gotten early deletions this way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 RATS! I thought I had one less TL to dispute... I'm sending off another round tomorrow; still working on the ones that are definitely not mine. Hope the book comes this week. I'm ready to have it all in one condensed location... Not that I don't enjoy surfing the boards... I just keep forgettin which threads I need to "clip" the really good info from! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Remember though - every thread you reply to is automatically turned into a "subscribed thread"...Until you reply to like 100 threads or whatever it's a nice feature. Or you could always bookmark threads in your browser - i do both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted July 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Good point, A-83! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Roughly 3 weeks into the process and I'm seeing some changes.After 3 online requests, TU has finally removed two random addresses they had for me and 2 of my old previous addresses. They responded once, saying that they could not find an account I was disputing and that they needed copies of my DL, SS card and utility bill to prove my address.. Someone here replied that it was just a stall tactic. I sent nuthin, just waited. Yesterday I received a new TU report with the address changes made and two NCOs DELETED! I have 6 CMRRRs in the works; 3 accepted and returned signed, so far. I expect more baddies to fall soon.Thanks to EVERYONE who has replied, suggested and encouraged! I also have to thank the folks who posted their Excel worksheets for tracking the process. I use them daily to log my work and results.Now, back to writing more letters... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted August 6, 2007 Report Share Posted August 6, 2007 great results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted August 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2007 07-12-07 TU 513 EX 561 EQ 54708-06-07 TU 517 EX 561 EQ 589 Just FAKOS but an UPWARD trend is good to see! 42 point jump with EQ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted August 6, 2007 Report Share Posted August 6, 2007 up is the right direction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted August 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 DELETES To Date: TU/6 EQ/3 EX/3INQS Removed: 5 / 3 / 3Collections Del'td: 4 / 2 / 2Stay with it folks! I suffered a small FICO set-back when a couple of CA's reporting only to TU decided to tag me on one of the other 3 CRA's, but I'm back at it again with a vengeance!Everytime I get an updated report from either of the BIG 3, I get another boost. I still have nine (9) bad accounts that I know for sure are not mine so I should get some more good news soon!Heck, I'm setting a new goal for high 600 / low 700 FICOs by December! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 Received updated TU report today; 4 more baddies gone!MyFico alert indicates two (2) accounts previously showing a late payment have been updated to Current - Pays as agreed status! This update brings the total baddies DELETED from TU to eleven (11)!!!Good news to start off the week-end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whocares Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 Looks like slowly it's working...you did not get bad credit overnight and it will not go away overnight either...Congratulations on the success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted September 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 Thanks!Went out on a limb... Submitted a Capitol One application online after I got their pre-approved offer in the mail today. Instant approval! No interest till 3/08, then 18.9%. Credit limit unknown - will come in the mail with card later this week. 18.9 sucks for a rate, but I'll activate it, use it once a month for a meal or Starbucks, pay in full every month nurturing it along for 90 days and waiting to see if they really increase the CL like they said they would. It's a small victory after being denied back in June.I'm still in the clean up process and had put off applying for anything in the last 3 months but I had to see where I stood. I had too few accounts reporting to EQ and EX. So now I can start shoring up the positive side of my credit a little bit at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyssarene Posted September 18, 2007 Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 Pointman - that is how you have to do it, step by step. Now you can start adding the postive and the points will raise even more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msekinah Posted September 18, 2007 Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 Thanks!Went out on a limb... Submitted a Capitol One application online after I got their pre-approved offer in the mail today. Instant approval! No interest till 3/08, then 18.9%. Credit limit unknown - will come in the mail with card later this week. 18.9 sucks for a rate, but I'll activate it, use it once a month for a meal or Starbucks, pay in full every month nurturing it along for 90 days and waiting to see if they really increase the CL like they said they would. It's a small victory after being denied back in June.I'm still in the clean up process and had put off applying for anything in the last 3 months but I had to see where I stood. I had too few accounts reporting to EQ and EX. So now I can start shoring up the positive side of my credit a little bit at a time.You can also get positive credit at your local financial institution with a secured loan against your savings. If you dont have sufficient savings, you can gather up a nice lump sum to either strart or add to you in order to loan back to yourself. Whenever you make a payment that money is available for your use. Pay it for a few months and close it out by paying off completely. I have five such loans on my credit report that displays "paid as agreed, never late". Only one of the credit unions showed it as secured loan. PS>>> you can also ask a friend or loved one with a good credit card limit and payment history to add you as an authorized user. I hear it does wonders for your resport. I will be using that method as soon as I am over the hummp!!! Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerikaner83 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 AU won't be calculated in FICO scores any longer......starting in a few months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Cap One card was in the mail yesterday! Whooop!Had to listen to sales pitch for insurance and credit monitoring during phone call for card activation. No big deal, but they do try to get the extra $ here and there.This is my 1st application and 1st approval since I started repair in July!Thanks to all you regular CIC posters for your replies, advice and posting your experiences! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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