CreditMae

Hi Paul,

I am looking to buy a house and therefore am trying to bring my score up. I have a poor credit score. I paid everything off that was on my credit report. There were a lot of charge offs and collections and I called them and settled with them.  I also had 2 credit cards that were settled . I actually have 2 questions.

First,one of the credit card companies actually took the settlement amount I paid off and put the remainder back on my report.I did get paid in full letters from all the companies.I also disputed this and got a letter back saying that they were reporting correctly. What is my next step?

Next,what do I need to do to get my score to go up ? I now owe 0 dollars and a lot of people have told me to get a secured card and pay the minimum for a while. I payed these debts back in march of 2008 and my score has only gone up 20 points.

Thanks,    
Mae

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Hi Mae,

The credit card company gave you a letter indicating there would be no balance remaining and then verified through a CRA dispute that the account is accurately reporting a balance?  That’s a slam dunk FCRA violation which is actionable by $1,000 plus attorney fees.  Another $1,000 for each time they falsely verify and for each bureau they falsely verify. 

Make sure you are doing these by CMRRR as you build your case and then with sufficient documentation you could go in a number of directions.  Perhaps a compromise would be that the account would be deleted entirely.  This would likely be accomplished by providing documentation to the counsel or higher-ups in the credit card company by CMRRR.

Three secured credit cards – even if they have a credit limit of $300 – will help more than one secured credit card.  Charge the balance and then pay them off entirely. 

Also, read: Goodwill Letter and Old Paid Debt

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul

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