I have submitted several questions that have not been addressed that I really need help with. Does that mean that I have stumped the expert, or does it just mean that you don’t really care about my question!?

Sherri (more…)

Check out Adriel’s Latest Results!

More great results this week folks!! This one is a special one, because I was able to remove mortgage lates and my client got an awesome interest on his mortgage!

1. Wachovia Bank- DELETED MORTGAGE LATE PAYMENT. Customer had a mortgage late reporting over refinancing mix-up. Wachovia could not verify the late and had to remove it.
2. Countrywide Home Loans-DELETED MORTGAGE LATE PAYMENT. Customer had a mortgage late reporting over refinancing mix-up. Countrywide could not verify the late and had to remove it. 

Log in next Wednesday for “The Results of the Week”. You will want to see those results, nothing short of magic! I promise!

Adriel D. Torres
President/C.E.O.
UltimateCreditToday.com
Toll Free: 866.686.4289

Long story, I’m afraid, but I wanted to get all the info in here. I’ve been divorced for about two years. My ex inherited most of the cc bills (about 18k) in the divorce. The problem is that he regularly pays them late. Not hideously (30 days, one 60 day) and probably not even intentionally, he just doesn’t pay any attention. The divorce decree specified that he was to obtain a debt consolidation loan within 60 days of the divorce finalization, but he didn’t and there isn’t much that can be done about that. Between the 18k debt (with high balance to limit ratios and random late payments) and an open collection on a cell phone bill (phone was stolen, ran up 1k in bills, disputed with company, but they sent it to collections anyway), my credit score has dropped from 725 to 606 during this time. Gak.

So, here is what I know:

* Although he is court-ordered to pay the credit cards off, until he does so the cc companies have every right to come after me for payment when he is late and to report it against my credit.

* He will continue to be late. We’ve been back to court 3x and he’s been held in contempt for not paying them on time (per our divorce decree). He’s had to reimburse my attorney’s fees for taking him back to court, plus the credit card late fees, etc. It doesn’t change anything.

* The ex will not pay off the credit any time soon (like in the next 20 years). He quit his 80k/year job to go back to school, so he now only makes 10k/year. He likely cashed out his 50k 401(k), but none of that is going to go toward paying back the debt.

* The open collection is my fault. I no longer have a copy of that cell phone contract, but it probably specifies that all charges to the phone are my responsibility. At the time, I filed a police report and the cell phone company said fine and then quietly sold the debt to a collector. I should have been more on top of it.

Incidentally, all credit cards are closed, so he can’t continue to run them up. I did *attempt* to dispute the cc reports, but all disputes were closed in the cc favor as something along the lines of “consumer disputes debt, but verified according to fair credit reporting act”. This was prior to finding this site and understanding power of the verification letter vs. just disputing.

I recently was able to refinance my house. I didn’t want to, as I had only 9 years left on a 15 year loan and I had to refi at a higher rate because of my credit, but I did so in accordance with my two primary goals at the time: keep the house and keep my son in school (private Kindergarten, he’ll go public next year). When the ex quit his job, he filed to substantially decrease child support as well, and although we are still battling that out I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have to end up choosing between selling our home (my childhood home) and yanking my kiddo out of a school that he loves and is doing so well in.

Still with me? Ok, here’s the latest. I’m debating whether or not to get a crappy rate on a 2nd mortgage and just pay off the debt. I’m really tired of being tied to this man financially. I want control over my own finances. I’m planning to attempt a “pay for delete” on the collections, but that still leaves me with a bunch of this debt and the potential for many more years of bad credit when he ignores the bills and pays them late. I’ve been pre-approved for a 2nd mortgage with Citifinancial at a truly horrible 20%, but the credit cards themselves are mostly at 30-36% because of the random late payments, so even though it sucks, it would be slightly easier to pay off. In addition, I’m getting married again in 6 months and I’m having a hard enough time with the idea of being tied financially to someone new, let alone to the old as well. Not to mention that each time we go back to court I’m paying attorney’s fees (which he then has to pay…eventually), which makes cashflow really difficult for me.

So, here’s my question: is this a really bad idea? Will paying off the credit cards with a 2nd mortgage make a difference in my credit score, such that I might give it 6 months to a year of paying my own bills on time (which I already do) and then be able to qualify for a better rate on a new mortgage? Or is 18k of debt just as bad whether it is in cc’s or in a 2nd mortgage?

Zoe (more…)

I need you to explain something to me please.  I noticed in one of the posts it indicates that if an item cannot be verified it must be removed from my credit report.  I don’t understand this.  Everything I have challanged on my credit reports and on my husbands credit report has come back verified.  There were several entries I know for a fact could not be verified because the information is not true they were reporting. 

One example of this is I challanged an old credit card account as not being late as many times as the information suggested it was.  I know I was only late twice.  However, the information is reporting it’s been late several times and each time I ask them to verify the information it comes back verified. 

The other issue is an old credit card account.  I asked them to prove to me the last payment that was made on the account.  I went on to say in the dispute that if they could prove the last payment it would be way past the statute of limitations and it would need to be removed.  A letter from the credit bureau was mailed to me stating the information was verified therefore it would stay the way it’s being reported. 

This appears to be a catch-22 situation.  First of all how can I get them to verify it?  Secondly, how can I prove the information is wrong they are reporting if it’s an old debt and I don’t have the paperwork any longer? 

Please help me and tell me what I’m doing wrong.  I want to thank you for all the help you have given me through this blog.  Your just great that’s all I can say. 

This may be a little un-clear what I’m asking for so please explain to me in full detail how you would go about asking for a verification such as a late payment.

Linda (more…)

I have been reading your site for about 1 week now and let me tell you that I am happy that I found you guys.

I was paying 29.00 dlls on a credit site that would only let me get an update on my credit report monthly. I signed with true credit and it has been great I also appreciate all the info that you have on this site. Good job with the soft inquires to eliminate the hard ones.

You have also shed light on other issues just as well.

Thanks,
Rick

My Credit Stinks.

First of all I filed CH7 in 2004, Discharged in 2004. I did this mainly to save a marraige. 3 years later it wasnt enough.

Anyways since then I have Surrendered a vehicle with a balance of 5500 due to the divorce and i could not afford a second car payment that i was left with.I am in the process of negotiating a settlement with the collections agent.

Also I have 2 collection accounts for medical bills in which i never recieved statments for. I have been working to rebuild my credit since the end of 2004 i am looking forward to some things i have dropping off my credit report.

1. Should i pay the collection accounts that are minimal. under  (500)

2. I am working on a negotiatied settlement on the car loan deficency. but will i end up with a separt collections account on my credit report on top of the original creditor?

3. Should items on my credit report from before CH7 drop off from original date of charge off or deliquency or from the date of chrge off from Bankruptcy.

Thanks

Thomas (more…)