My mortgagecompany issued me a moratorium for 4months (postponed payments)due to hurricane Wilma. This Hurricane displaced us for a couple of months and caused an extreme Financial hardship. The mortgage company(Wells Fargo Home mortgage) has on their records that they will not report any late payments and/or there will be no negative credit reporting.However, after i sent the payments and checked my credit report they indeed reported 120 days late payments to the major credit bureaus. When i talk to the represenatives they indeed see the notes about not reporting late to the credit bureau and even waived every late charge,but are adamant about not removing the negative reporting. I was a loyal consumer and my lateness was due to "acts of Nature" beyond my control. Initially the moratorium helped our family, but in the end it has really hurt my credit worthiness. I am having difficulty securing another home loan (sold previous property)because of the negative reporting. What can I do?
136670
Do you have a copy of any letter from Wells Fargo stating they would not put anything on your credit history?  \n\nIf yes, send a copy of the letter, along with a dispute letter to the CRA requesting that it be removed.  \n\nIf no, I think you are going to have a hard time getting it removed.  Remember that CRA's will only report what creditors tell them, and will not remove it without their ok.  \n\nI'm not sure how the hurricane issues effect people's credit reporitng last year, they may have passed some laws on it.  You will have to do some research.
416727
This is because the accounts still fall within a 7 year history. The key on the report is the "date of last activity" which is the actual date that counts. Regardsless of account status, there is a monthly submission from each creditor as to the standing of the account in reference.\n\nI write a blog on the subject of credit management, mortgages, real estate trends, etc. Check it out for more information that may be helpful.
266835
I wish you folks would actually know the answer and quit guessing!\n\nNow class, lets all open our books to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.\n\nIt says :\n\n==============\n§ 605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports [15 U.S.C. § 1681c]\n\n(a) Information excluded from consumer reports. Except as authorized under subsection (b) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information:\n\n    (1) Cases under title 11 [United States Code] or under the Bankruptcy Act that, from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication, as the case may be, antedate the report by more than 10 years.\n=============\n\nTherefore, it can only be posted for 10 years, and must be removed.  It has nothing to do with the "statute of limitations".\n\nNow, what you need to find out is if you were rejected due to information supplied by the credit reporting agency, or did they find this out by going through bankruptcy court records.  Those records are considered "public records" and do not go away or get erased. \n\nIf it was from the CRA, you should contact the agencies and inform them that they are improperly posting adverse inforamtion about you, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  By doing this, you can hold them liable for any damages, such as the loss of a loan, or higher interest rates you are forced to pay when you do find one.\n\nIf you send them a letter, you should see this come off within 30 days.  If not, sue them!  Contact me if you need help.\n\nI am not a lawyer or credit counsoler, just someone who knows the law and helps to counsel people in dealing with creditors/agencies.
348305
When was the last time you were in contact with either the collection agency or the rental company? If 4yrs has already expired, you have 3 remaining until the note is purged from your file. If you try to contact them again, the clock essentially resets and you will have to wait another 7 years. If you haven't been in touch with them, don't start now. \n\nYour other option is to work out an agreement with the collection agency. Negotiate how many cents on the dollar or the total amount due. If you luck out and they accept an amount you are able to pay off, make them put in writing that when the amount is paid they will request to clear the negative item in your credit report.
535112
Like so3503 says, paying off the bills may sound logical...but it won't work.\n\nUnless the creditor agrees to delete the negative information from your credit report, it will still show that you had late payments, or collections.  Therefore, you could TRY to contact the creditor and see if they will agree IN WRITING to delete the entry if you agree to pay the bill.  \n\nDo you have a good job?  Did you consider just getting the loan in your name and not getting your boyfriend involved?  That will improve things.  but if you are depending on his income to pay the loan it may be a problem.  I'm surprises the mortgage company isn't working with you on that.\n\nThere are ways to increase your score, but it's going to take several months before you see an improvement.  And I'm not sure you could boost it the 100 points necessary to get the loan.\n\nVisit http://www.myfico.com and look at their educational section.  This is the company that developed the FICO scoring system, and they have lots if info on improving your score.  \n\nAnd shop around.  There are mortgage lenders who will work with you, but it may also cost you a couple points in interest.
484046
You should file an answer with the court that argues that the Statute of Limitations expired on 7/14/2006 and therefore the lawsuit is barred/not timely.\n\nYes, you have a chance of getting it dismissed.   The date of last activity should start the clock ticking on the 6 year term.\n\nWas the credit card issued while you were in Michigan?\n\nEdit: If the amount is significant I would highly recommend you get legal advice from an attorney in Michigan.\n\nBTW, when you made your last payment on 7/14/00 did that bring your account current or were you still behind at that point?\n\nFollowup:\nYou should stick with the story that you've had Indiana as a residence the entire 6+ years.  \n\nIf you were overlimit as of the time you made the last payment you have a stronger story that it was not only the date of last activity but you had been in default on your credit card agreement for some time prior to that.\n\nI would again urge you if it is a large sum of money to find an attorney to provide you with legal advice so you don't get run over in court.   Most attorneys will give you a free consultation.\n\nDo not admit to the debt being yours.  Make them prove everything.  Deny that they are entitled to late charges, interest, attorneys fees, collection costs, everything.  If you don't challenge something the court will take it to be true.  Deny that the amount owed is correct, make them produce copies of your statements showing the charges.  Make them produce your original, signed account agreement.   Deny, deny, deny.  \n\nIs the original bank suing you or is this some collection agency that purchase the written off debt?  If it isn't the original bank there is a good chance they can't prove anything and are just hoping you don't show up in court.\n\nDo not agree to any delays.  It is common when a collector goes to court they are hoping for a default judgment and when you show up they ask for a delay.  Insist that you came to court prepared and the other side should have as well.
254107
While Icsowesmemoney is mostly correct, and is a professional collector who knows the law, let me correct a few things.\n\nHe implies that if you do not respond to a collection agency within 30 day of the innitial contact, you are considered liable for the debt.  This is incorrect. \n\nThe Fair Debt Collection states "The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer."  \n\nThe purpose of the warning is to give the consumer the right to demand the debt be validated.  During that time, the collector must cease all collection activities.  Failing to respond within 30 days is NOT an admission that you owe the debt, but simply places a bar date on when the collector can begin collection activities.\n\nEven though I apparently don't know the law, and can only "cut and paste", this does seem fairly clear to me.\n\nThe law is also very clear on how long any investigation takes place.  The credit reporting agency has 30 days to respond to a dispute, and either reaffirm the entry or delete it.  I see nothing in the law allowing a "reasonable amount of time" for the creditor to respond.  \n\nOK, now that we have cleared that up...\n\nSUE THEM!\n\nFirst, you need to read and understand the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as it outlines exactly what the dispute procedure is.  If you don't follow it to the letter, you will mess up your court case.\n\nSend all letters by certified mail, so you can prove that they were sent and received.  \n\n1) Send a demand letter to the Credit Reporting Agency (CRA).  Give them any proof you have to dispute your case.  In your case, you claim the listing is about being late?  Send them copies of any bills and checks to prove it.  The CRA has 30 days to "investigate" this charge.  All that means is they will contact the creditor and ask them if the listing is correct.  If the creditor says "yes", the listing is now "verified" and the listing stays.  On to step 2....\n\n2) Send a "Demand for Validation" letter to the creditor.  The creditor has 30 days to respond.  They must send you copies of bills, receipts, contracts, and everything used to calculate your debt.  This will be the evidence they use in court if you sue them, so look it over carefully to see if you still have a case.  If you still think you are right, and they still refuse to remove the listing...see below.\n\n3)  If they don't respond at all, send a copy of the "demand for validation" letter plus another demand to remove the listing to the CRA.  Tell them that the creditor has failed to "validate" the debt.  If the CRA still does not remove the listing, you can now add them to your lawsuit also.\n\n4)  File a small claims suit against these guys.  You will need to investigate how your local small claims court works.  Generally, pay a small fee, serve the process, and go to court.  If you can convince the judge the entry was incorrect, you can collect $1000 from both the creditor and the CRA, plus any damages the judge awards.\n\nYes it works, I'm in the process of doing it right now.  Already have a settlement with one of the parties.\n\nDo your homework, and read the links below.
151895
Yahoo just had something on the homepage about devious "junk buyers" buying old debt for pennies on the dollar and then trying to make you pay even after the statute of limitations had passed-I know there is limits but as to what they are I can not 100% tell you.  \n\nAnd actually it is never 'removed' from your credit report, but companies only 'pull' a 7-10 year history, so it does not show, the debt is always listed on the report, so it never really disappears, just hanging out in old debt land, and if you go for a Senate Hearing or something they will pull it up.\n\nThe report said something about the basement buyers buying the debt and then reporting it as a 'new' debt to get it back active on your Credit Report, which is against the law.  The report also said they target those that paid some debt, because they were more worried about the ramifications of the credit report.  I will research and see if I can find the article-it was an informative read.
516727
Try this.\n\nWhen you call these companies, tell them that you want IN WRITING a guarantee that they will raise your credit score and remove bad items from your credit report once the bills are paid.  \n\nAnd that they won't take any money unless these things are accomplished.\n\nYou won't find anyone who will agree to this.  Why?  Because they can't possibly promise such a thing.\n\nThere are only two ways to get a negative item removed from your credit history.\n\n1) The creditor must delete it\n2) The creditor fails to respond to an investigation request from the credit bureau.\n\nNote that payment of a bill does NOT remove the item.  It only changes the status from being late or in collections, to paid.  But it still reflects late payments or collections.  It's still a negative item.\n\nThese "credit repair" companies will TRY to negotiate a payment arrangement that will TRY to remove the negative items.  But there are no guarantees.  \n\nBut it is a guarantee that these companies will demand payment for their services, whether they succeed or not.\n\nBefore you go this route, do your research.  Many of the things that these companies do, you can easily do yourself.  \n\nAlso note that many of these "credit consoler" or "credit repair" companies are a front for companies offering consolidation loans or other such services.  Be aware of what's going on!
124248
Most of the people answering in the credit section have no clue about FICO credit scoring.\n\nIf you have a "dormant" (your term) credit card that you have had for a long time and it is not reporting any late payment then having that account and not using it will be a positive factor for your score. The thought that you can have too many cards and that is risky isn't proven in the credit scoring model used by FICO. People who get into trouble usually carry balances on all their cards. If you have lots of accounts with zero balances that shows credit responsibility.\n\nFrom a practical standpoint having 3-6 revolving accounts(with near zero balances) and 1-2 installment accounts(car, mortgage) will be "optimal" for attaining an Excellent credit score (720+) If you have more revolving accounts then you might consider which ones you don't ever use and close them.\n\nGood Luck
177914
Pretty good question.  You might consider this as well, if you have a long (inactive) debt on your record, there may be a line item on your credit report from that company as well indicating that you defaulted.  The ammount may not have been worth their effort to try to collect, but that entry on the credit report may also have an effect on your credit score.  On the other side, it may not be worth your effort to pay the back debt and get the company to resolve the credit issue.  On a third side, you should always pay off your debt as soon as possible just because it is the right thing to due.\n\nRomans 13:8 - Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
39349
No, if you have credit with the company they usually report monthly or so. If you get your credit report it will tell you what months you were late over 30, 60 or 90. When it goes into Collection...well, thats a red flag. They have a section on your credit report for things like that and bankrupcy.
475361
Yes.If they've gone to collections or an attorney then they're on your report(s) and marked key derogatory or 30,60,90,120 days late.Sometimes the creditor will sell these written off accounts to resurgent companies.At that point you should contact the resurgent company and dispute with all three bureaus.\nOnce you dispute an account that's sold or written off the creditor has no claim to it anymore and will not reply to the dispute.Then the bureaus will remove the information.I did this very same thing and am paying Capital Management only 2477.00 back on 7079.00.They buy these accounts for just a few cents on the dollar and don't report to the bureaus.Resurgent companies don't want your credit ruined.\nBankruptcy is the very last resort.It screws up your credit almost as badly,and yes these bankruptcies go on your reports.\nBarring any of this contact an agency(like the ones you see commercials for) and they can help reduce your payments.I have to do this with my evil ex-wife because I unknowingly married into 27,000.00 of credit card debt.I think we used Credit Guard but I try to think of that experience as little as my failed marriage
591432
I will try to answer your question as clear as possible.\n\nYour score IS NOT affected by your debt to income ratio. Your credit report shows nothing about your income. Your score IS however affected by your debt to available credit.\n\nCreditors only know the income you told them on the application. Although this is very much different when it comes to mortgage loans.\n\nTransfering balances from one existing card to another does NOT affect your score. Transfering balances from one existing card to a NEW card DOES affect your credit because you are opening a new credit card account.\n\nIf you have an old account DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT close it. This will affect your credit. All you have to do to increase the balance is call your creditor and ask.\nOld credit card accounts (in good standing record) are the back bone of a good credit score.\n\nLast but not least 0% introductory apr simply means that no matter what your balance is on your card each month, you will not be charged interest over this amount until the end of this introductory rate. BUT be careful, if you miss ONLY ONE payment, all that goes out the window and they can charge what ever they feel like.\n\nIF you miss a payment or send a payment late, you will incurr fees, any specials you had with this card will be gone, your score will plumit and what most people dont know is that what ever OTHER credit card company that finds out you made a late payment on other cards will also cancell any special and charge you a high interest rate. This is called the "Universal Default"\n\nI think you will benefit greatly from this article titled\n"The secret history of credit cards" (Part 1 & 2 are in the march issue) These were articles summarizing the report broadcasted on PBS.\n\nYou can find this article following this link and going to the articles in the March issue http://jrealestate.blogspot.com
126953
Your credit can be affected by just about anything, from Utility bills, cell bills.....all kinds of things.  Anytime you have something you pay on, monthly, bi-monthly, if it's paid late that company can report it to the credit agencies.  Also no credit can sometimes be just as bad as bad credit.  So have him do some research.  Did he pay his water, gas or electric bill late, order anything from a catalog and pay late or not at all......has he paid his cell bill late, get any speeding and/or parking tickets that weren't paid on time?  Even over drawing a checking or savings account can show up.
298082
Joieanew, please tell the whole truth!\n\nIf you pay your bills, you have to hope that the creditor will do something about your negative credit report he placed.\n\nJust placing "Paid in Full" does NOT remove any additional bad marks, such as that it was in collections, or that there were late payments.\n\nTherefore, unless the item is completely deleted, or the entire status is changed to "Paid As Agree, Never Late", you will still have bad marks on your record, and it will still keep your credit score low.\n\nThat is why, if you plan to pay off your debt, make the creditor agree IN WRITING to remove any negative report from your record.  Yes, they can do it.  Yes, it's totally legal.
44585
If you have satisfied the debt and it's showing a $0 balance, that is not an inaccuracy.\n\nIt also does not bring down your score unless your payment history for that account show slow pays beyond 30, 60 and 90 days.  Additionally, it also brings down your score even if you paid down the account if the payment was received in response to a collection or a chargeoff.\n\nAlso, the reporting of a credit account does not, by itself, bring down your credit score.  Other factors come into play such as\n\n1) How old your credit history is.  \n2) What types of credit you have/had: revolving (credit cards, etc), installment (car loans typically), real estate (mortgages).\n3) Your repayment history and whether your accounts are paid as agreed or whether there have been slow pays\n4) Whether there have been garnishments, collections, liens, bankruptcies\n5) How many inquiries have been made in the past few months (i.e. have you been applying for loans all over town or trying to get credit cards)\n\nUnfortunately, I think you're out of luck on this one.  \n\nUnless you have grounds to have those accounts removed (e.g. that wasn't your account, the payment history is inaccurate), they will continue to be reported for about 5-7 years.  \n\nThe reason for this is that, before approving your credit application, creditors want to know how well you repay credit lines and loans in the past, not just the accounts with open balances.  They also want to know if you're carrying too much debt.