Collection Agency Snoop

Thank you! I’ve studied your blog and watched your video and I would have made some big mistakes if I had not found this site first!

I got the reports and scores for me and my future wife. mine are 517 488 551 hers are 600 546 596 we have re-aged accounts and recent collections that we plan on paying the original creditors but my main question is should open a credit card account in her name and then add me as a authorized user. we all ready share a sub-prime auto loan thats a year old with no lates. would a new tradeline help?

Glen

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Hi Glen,

Yes, adding tradelines should raise your credit scores.  Three active and open tradelines is a good mix.  If you have a friend or relative with a credit card that has a low balance and a few years history of perfect payments then take them out to dinner and see if they will add you on as an Authorized User.  When you are added as an Authorized User, you also get the added benefit of the years and years of history that comes with the card – ‘Payment History’ is 35% of your score and ‘Length of Credit History’ is 15%.

Also, depending on your time horizon for obtaining a mortgage loan, you might want to go through debt validation before you add the tradelines.  Collection agencies review your credit report to determine whether or not they feel they can get your money.  They use software programs to determine the value of a portfolio of bad debts.

(An image of ‘The Simpsons’ C. Montgomery Burns comes to mind)

Anyway, you don’t need your account to look any more collectible than need be.  So, if you are not in a rush to buy a house in the next six months, then you might want to go through debt validation before adding the additional good credit to your report.  If the collection agency can provide proper validation then pay for delete, but there’s also a good chance that the collection agency will return your account back to the original creditor.  If that’s the case then the collection agency is required to delete its tradeline and you may then pay the original creditor directly. 

Thanks for the questions and farewell Monty!

Paul

(source=thesimpsons.com/bios/bios_townspeople_burns.htm)

This author is not an attorney and this information should not be considered legal advice.  Please consult an attorney for legal advice.