Todays Questions from John in Detroit, MI

How can I repair my credit?

Because of the recession and poor economy I have some lates on a credit cared as well as multiple lates on a mortgage. Am I never going to be able to get credit again? Is there any possibility for me to repair this and fix the mistakes I made?

Answer:

John, everyone experiences tough times and makes mistakes. The first, and most important thing you can do is start paying your bills on time immediately. Make arrangements and plans to get caught up, and don’t be late again. Your credit history affected most by your most recent activity, getting late accounts caught up will immediately help your score. That being said, there are other things you can do as well. While lates or negative accounts may be accurate, there may be inaccuracies in the way they are being reported to the credit bureaus, experian, equifax, and transunion, and it is completely legal to dispute these entries! I would recommend following the directions in our free credit dispute guide, as well as using our free sample credit dispute letter templates to help to possibly get these negative items removed

Good luck!

Your Name
123 Your Street Address
Your City, ST 01234

ABC Collections
123 NotOnYourLife Ave
Chicago, IL

Date:

Re: Acct # XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been the victim of identity fraud, and I believe this debt is one of the debts which resulted from my identity theft and was falsely taken out in my name. This letter is being sent to you in response to your attached letter. This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed.

Under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), I have the right to request validation of the debt you say I owe you. I am requesting proof that I am indeed the party you are asking to pay this debt, and there is some contractual obligation which is binding on me to pay this debt. Below are a few questions to answer which may help you to resolve these mistakes.

You should also be aware that reporting such invalidated information to major credit bureaus might constitute defamation of character, as the negative marks on my credit report harm my credit and prevent me from enjoying all the benefits of good credit. I’m sure your legal staff will agree that non-compliance with this request could put your company in serious legal trouble with the FTC and other state or federal agencies.

In addition to the questionnaire below, please attach copies of:

Agreement with your client that grants you the authority to collect on this alleged debt
Agreement that bears the signature of the alleged debtor wherein he agreed to pay the creditor.
Any insurance claims been made by any creditor regarding this account
Any judgments been obtained by any creditor regarding this account

Best regards,

Your Signature
Your Name

Debt Validation Form
Questionnaire to be returned to me for Account #<insert account number here>

Original Creditor’s Name: ____________________________

Name of Debtor: ______________________________________

Address of Debtor: ___________________________________

Balance of Account: __________________________________

Date you acquired this debt: _________________________

This Debt was: assigned __________ purchased__________

Please indicated any credit bureaus to which you have reported negative marks:

Experian ______

Equifax ______

TransUnion ______

Very Respectfully,

Your Name

Todays question is about Chex Systems:

Question:

I’m wondering if this has happened to anyone and how you resolved it. The bank that my husband has his auto loan through mistakenly flagged him in Chex Systems. This resulted in our joint checking AND savings account through another bank to be frozen and flagged for closing. We have documentation from the auto loan people that this was indeed a mistake and that letter was faxed to my bank. They still will not reinstate our accounts unless we have a letter from Chex Systems that backs this up. The crappy thing is that it is virtually impossible to get a live person at Chex Systems and meanwhile we have no access to our money. This is going on week two of this nightmare with no end in sight. I faxed letters to my bank, the bank that my husband’s auto loan is through and Chex Systems requesting that this be resolved. Is there anything else I can do? Is there any legal recourse we can seek since this was done in error?

Answer:

ChexSystems now offers a customer service number, (800) 513-7125, for consumers to reach a human there. If the wait time on hold at that number is too long, and you REALLY want to speak to a human, sometimes you can ask for a supervisor at either of these 8numbers and perhaps someone may be able to talk with you. You can try calling (972) 247-5100, and press “0,” or alternatively, try (972) 280-8580, then press the # key, and enter random 3 digit extensions until you find someone on the inside at ChexSystems who will take your call. Either you will find someone this way, or after the third attempt, your call will get forwarded to a human.

Todays Question:

I viewed my credit report online and there is a negative item listed. My question is ..Can I dispute an negative item that is marked paid, closed on my credit report? Did I make the mistake of not disputing it first before paying the collection agency? Is there a small chance by any reason that I could get the item removed from my credit report by disputing it at this point?

Answer:

Absolutely! You are legally entitled to dispute ANYTHING on your credit report at any time! Even if the collection does exist, there are often many errors in the way they are reported! You can dispute these, which may result in a complete removal of the item from your report!

If you would like to try disputing this item, the best advice we have is to review our free credit repair guide as well as our credit dispute letter templates and credit dispute letter expamples for experian equifax and transunion!

Todays Question:

Do I need a membership with Experian, Equifax, and Transunion to be able to dispute credit by mail?

Answer:

Absolutely not! You do not need to be a “member” of a credit bureaus promotional report program or pay for any services! In fact, you are entitled to one free report per year, or if you have been denied credit at any time you are entitled to a free report!

The best advice we have is to review our free credit repair guide as well as our credit dispute letter templates and credit dispute letter expamples for experian equifax and transunion! Best of luck in repairing your credit

Your Name
Your Address

Collector’s Name
Collector’s Address

RE: [insert account number or name of account or name of debt]:

Dear [insert collector’s name or company name],

This letter is in response to your [letter dated xx-xx-2005] (copy enclosed) or [phone call on xx-xx-2005], concerning the collection of the above referenced [account or date].

I do not believe I owe what you say I owe therefore I dispute this debt. I am well aware of my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and my state laws so I hope to save both of us a great deal of time by letting you know that not only do I dispute the validity of this debt, I have also checked with my State Attorney General and verified that the Statute of Limitations for enforcing this type of debt through the courts in (insert your state or the state in which the contract was signed) has expired. Therefore, should you decide to pursue this matter in court I intend to inform the court of my dispute of this debt and that the “statute of limitations” has expired.

This letter is your formal notification that I consider this matter closed and demand that you, or anyone affiliated with your company, stop contacting me regarding this or any other matter except to advise me that your debt collection efforts are being terminated or that you or the creditor are taking specific actions allowed by the FDCPA or my state laws.

Be advised that I consider any contact not in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act a serious violation of the law and will immediately report any violations to my State Attorney General, to the Federal Trade Commission and, if necessary, take whatever legal action is necessary to protect myself. Be advised that I tape record all phone calls and violations of the FDCPA can result in you or your company being personally fined up to $1,000 per incident.

(Sign above name)
Printed Name

Your Name
Your Address

Collector’s Name
Collector’s Address

Mr./Ms. Collector,

I am writing in response to your constant phone calls!

According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,   [15 USC 1692c] Section 805(c): CEASING COMMUNICATION: You must refrain from all communication with me after being notified in writing that I no longer wish to communicate with you. Therefore, I demand that you stop calling me at any location what so ever!

In accordance with the federal FDCPA, now that you have received this “stop calling” letter, you may only contact me to inform me that you:

• are terminating further collection efforts;
• invoking specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by you or your company; or
• intend to invoke a specified remedy.

Be advised that I am well aware of my rights! For instance, I know that any future contact by you or your company violates the FDCPA and that since you already have my location information, calls made by you or your company to any 3rd party concerning me violates section 805(b)2 of the FDCPA.

Be advised that I am keeping accurate records of all correspondence from you and your company, including tape recording all phone calls. If you continue calling me I will pursue all available legal actions to stop you from harassing me and my family.

Signature
Your Printed Name

 Todays question:

There’s so many credit repair co. out there and I don’t know which have a good credentials or does it really work like they advertised?

Answer:

There are many good companies, and many bad companies - just like anything else. A credit repair company can be a great asset and help you if you don’t have the time, effort or organization to repair your credit on your own, or you don’t know how to deal with debt collectors.

If you would like to try repairing your own credit first, the best advice we have is to review our free credit repair guide as well as our credit dispute letter templates and credit dispute letter expamples for experian equifax and transunion!

Best of luck in repairing your credit!

Today’s question on credit repair:

“I want to repair my credit I know this will take some time however, I have come into some money and want to pay everything off thats on my credit if I do so what will happen?

will be removed?
will my score get higher?

I’m so clueless as to what will happen after I pay them all off and its kind of embrassing Im only in debt by 3000.00 how sad

Answer:

That is great that you have come into money and want to use it to pay down your credit debts!

One key thing is to be careful about what you pay - especially with collections. Sometimes when you pay off a collection, you can re-age the debt and make the situation worse. The best advice we have is to review our free credit repair guide as well as our credit dispute letter templates and credit dispute letter expamples for experian equifax and transunion!

Best of luck in repairing your credit!

Disputing your credit report is free, and easy! We have everything you need to learn how to dispute your credit report at home and for free! Just click on the “free credit repair guide” on the left hand side of the screen, for a full rundown on disputing negative marks on your credit report. Additionally, we have a library of free credit dispute letter templates and credit dispute example letters!