[virtualbong]

So I go into my credit union to pick up an Auto Loan check yesterday.

Everything was going well until I asked what interest rate would I be getting since I should get the best rate with my credit score which I believe was around 723 or something, at least that's what it was 2 years ago.

To my surprise she says that my score is 659. I keep myself from going ballistic and ask her to run another credit report to see why my score was so low since I don't miss any payments.

She runs the report and actualy finds out that my score 2 years ago was actually 765! So that pissed me off even more. She goes over my report and finds that there was a ATT Wireless payment for $43 that was never paid for. There was a ATT Wireless account opened for $43 back on 9/1/05. That really got me boiling since I haven't been with ATT Wireless for 7 YEARS! I guess the $43 was filed to a Collections company on 2/18/07, which is why it destroyed my credit score.

I am currently on the phone with Cingular wireless and they can't even find anything on me (which could be because they just merged recently). So now I have no clue if they'll find anything so I have no clue how I would get that damn thing off my credit report so that it'll bring my credit score back up.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'll take anything at this point. Thanks!

WIL

[Jaynnus]

That's AT&T for ya.

I been fighting with them for 6 years now, my credit has been significantly lowered, but I refuse to pay them for bogus contract cancellation fees when my contract was up when I cancelled!!! Fuck AT&T

[Stoneman]

Yip. Usually a nice, well written letter explaining your situation does wonders with financing companies. Get in touch with that collection agency and explain to them that you've never had any correspondence with them and had no idea this went on. Ask 'em how much to settle it, send 'em a check and a copy of that letter (certified, receipt mail). Get the name and extension of the person you speak to and insist that they send you a confirmation letter of payment AND restoration of credit score...

We had a similar situation when we re-fi'd a coupla years ago. A coupla payments we had no idea about (we had no idea they existed, probably some kinda minor fraud) popped up and raised some flags. Figured it was easier to use the above method than fight (the possibly fraudlent activities). Within a week or so, everything was cleared up and our credit scores were back up where they shoulda been...

[virtualbong]

Originally Posted by Stoneman

Yip. Usually a nice, well written letter explaining your situation does wonders with financing companies. Get in touch with that collection agency and explain to them that you've never had any correspondence with them and had no idea this went on. Ask 'em how much to settle it, send 'em a check and a copy of that letter (certified, receipt mail). Get the name and extension of the person you speak to and insist that they send you a confirmation letter of payment AND restoration of credit score...

We had a similar situation when we re-fi'd a coupla years ago. A coupla payments we had no idea about (we had no idea they existed, probably some kinda minor fraud) popped up and raised some flags. Figured it was easier to use the above method than fight (the possibly fraudlent activities). Within a week or so, everything was cleared up and our credit scores were back up where they shoulda been...

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to go to my credit union again today and have them run the report again so that I can get the collections agency information. This sucks.

[joeswamp]

Mr. Stoneman gives excellent advice, figure out who you have to pay off to get this off your back, then grit your teeth and take it. You're luck your score isn't more damaged than it is.

Not sure why, but this kind of stuff really makes my blood boil. I can't quite put my finger on it but this whole system where these credit rating agencies record your whole life and use secret scores seems to violate just about everything this country is supposed to stand for. If they screw up like this it can mess up your whole life... If I were in charge you'd be entitled to something like $10 million for every day they kept the error in your file.

[benVFR]

I would advise getting your credit report yourself, rather then letting other people do all the work for you.

That way you can make sure this is the *only* thing wrong on there.

God this doesn't surprise me at all. Both AT&T & Cingular were using the billing software I used to work on at my old job. The people running their billing departments were really, really scary. But that should not be a surprise to anyone. This could very well have happened when they converted accounts or something like that.. one false move and your cancelled account could have gotten transferred into a new active account.

[Manny]

What is the best way to get your credit reports yourself? Is there a place online to get access to all 3 of the major ones?

[ZX-12R]

Credit bureaus can be a huge pain in the ass. A little over a year ago when I started looking into financing for a house, one of my three credit reports came back saying I was deceased. Needless to say I was quite pissed off considering all my accounts showed up to date payments and the average score from the 2 other bureaus was 784.

After a long battle of trying to get the correct (as in not disconnected) phone numbers to dial I ended up talking to the fine folks at GE credit services where I was informed that it was my burden to prove that my deceased status was their error. I called several times and tried to talk to the highest up people that I could but I didn't get anywhere.

By this time I had figured out why I was listed as deceased. My father and I have the same name and when he passed several years ago all his credit was put on hold. Some half-wit at GE canceled all the accounts with my father's name including one of my own instead of canceling the ones with his social security number on it.

What I ended up having to do was talk to a cousin of mine that is a retired attorney. She wrote a letter for me giving them a deadline to correct the situation at the credit bureau level before we persued them for damages related to my improper credit reporting. After 2 months of dealing with the company on my own, she was able to fix the problem in less than two weeks.

While this wasn't the fault of the credit bureau (Experian), I think there should be mechanisms in place to detect errors like this that can cause lots of trouble for the person it affects. It isn't too hard to figure out that something isn't right if a person is listed as deceased but is still making purchases and payments on other lines of credit.

My credit score after the error was fixed: 785

[snowborder]

I am surprised your bank gave that info as it is usually against policy / rules.

Actually you are entitled under the a new Federal Law to obtain 1 FREE credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies every 12 months. You can get this at http://www.annualcreditreport.com

You can dispute each report directly with each of the credit report agencies. If the company cannot provide evidence, it will be removed.

[97BladeRider]

Don't even get me started on credit reports. When my first wife and I divorced back in 98, separately, neither of us could afford our house. (how's that for over-extending yourself) And we needed 20K more than its value to pay off the mortgage and equity against it, so we decided to cut our losses and file for bankruptcy.

One of the things that was included in the bankruptcy was a credit card with a 2K balance on it. 7 years later, when my current wife and I went to apply for a mortgage, that credit card that was included in the bankruptcy, showed on my credit report as past due.

I ended up disputing it with all 3 reporting companies and had to go to the bankruptcy court to get specific documentation on that debt. It was finally cleared from all 3 after 6 months worth of work. Luckily, after being cleared, my credit score was just under 700. (the bankruptcy keeps it lower, which should be removed in 2008, because it stays there for 10 years.) Well, when we went for a loan for a car for my wife, and I was a co-signer on it, the credit card that I had fought so hard to have removed appeared on 2 of the 3 reports. Again, another 3 months of disputes. I haven't seen it come back yet, but I check every 3 months now.

[skiierx]

All you have to do is request that the credit union give you a copy of your credit that they already pulled! They do not have to run it multiple times to look at it. They run it once and then it is printed or saved on their system. My loan softward saves each report in the system from the time I ran it! They should have run a tri merge report which will include the 3 major credit reporting agencies and hopefully only one of your scores has been tarnished by this incident. If this is only on one of the agencies then do not do a thing about it. It will stay on your report but no one will require you to pay it off like in the past over time that score will improve. If they (at&t) reported to all 3, get it taken care of immediately and follow through with what stoneman said, it is the easiest way to have your score rebound quickly.

The nice thing about dealing with a credit union is you can actually have a say in your loan. Ask the person your dealing with if you can dispute that one charge and if it would make a difference in your rate. The credit analyst can evaluate your credit and if only one thing is bad maybe they can overlook it.

Good luck!

[benVFR]

Yah something is even funky with the Credit Union pulling your credit report for you. I think usually people are only able to check your score.

Bank of America said they couldn't do it by law. (At least in NH)

I did it myself in January for one of the bureaus. Then in March when Comcast said they had a bum account with my SSN on it I tried to get the Bank to do it for me to save time and they said they couldn't.

Good God ZX-12R - Can't believe you mention GE Credit. That was another one of our customers I used to deal with. GE has basically moved the entire credit operation to India... it's horrible. They just have a few people left in the US to interface with the Indian operations. I've got scary stories about them that I probably shouldn't talk about here!

[97BladeRider]

Just remember that checking your credit can also effect your score. That's why they're listed on your credit report.

[daviid]

checking your own credit will not, having others check it will

[benVFR]

It's more complicated then that.

Mine has been checked many many times in the last 6 years. The full report shows who and when has checked your credit.

If it mattered much my score would be in the dumps and it's not, it's over 800.

[Manny]

Originally Posted by benVFR

It's more complicated then that.

Mine has been checked many many times in the last 6 years. The full report shows who and when has checked your credit.

If it mattered much my score would be in the dumps and it's not, it's over 800.

It is more complicated, but having it checked often is certainly a factor that works against you.

[richw]

The part that amazes me is that the "Complainer" never has to justify themselves. The credit company always assumes they are correct and truthful

They are so arrogant

American express gave up a 25,000 a year account over a bad deal for me from Global Equipment. They way i figure it is they ate it they would have had the money back in a couple of months and I had been a good customer for 25 years.

[Stoneman]

Originally Posted by 97BladeRider

One of the things that was included in the bankruptcy was a credit card with a 2K balance on it. 7 years later, when my current wife and I went to apply for a mortgage, that credit card that was included in the bankruptcy, showed on my credit report as past due.

Ahhh, yes. The ol' '7 year myth'. Don't let anyone EVER tell you a red mark on your credit report will only be on there for 7 years. That's straight-up bullshit...

[virtualbong]

So I am going to purchase a EquiFax 3 in 1 membership where I can view my credit for one year and run as many reports as I want. Checking my own credit does not lower my credit score. It costs $100 but after this ordeal, I need this. They will dispute everything for me.

[SVRACER01]

have you tried setting something on fire and dancing around it like a lunatic?

[virtualbong]

Originally Posted by SVRACER01

have you tried setting something on fire and dancing around it like a lunatic?

I don't think you realize how close I was to doing something like that last night at the credit union. The lady saw the fiery in my eyes! hahaha.