Free Credit Scores, Always ask for credit card

Quoting M&D Abernethy :
We've pulled our free credit reports from Annual Credit Report.com which was fine. However, it seems that if I want the credit scores (without paying for them), the only sites that offer the "free" scores also have the credit reports which I don't want. Any suggestions how to get my credit scores only?
REAL PERSON & WIFE
P.S. Tried to get a change on the last place I worked at for Employment History for Equifax and that's pretty hopeless. Can't get thru their 800 number during work hours and no other way to phone in. Do you think the last company you work with is important for employment history or not even bother?
Thanks
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Credit scores are always an extra fee feature. Even creditors must pay an extra fee to have credit scores on the reports they pull. One can get free score when they sign up for credit monitoring. You get a free report and score with your monitoring. AND if you cancel the servie before 30 days the whole thing is free. So annualcreditreport.com is not the answer to all as it sounds. Sign up for the free report & score on my website and cancel in a couple of days.
Employment history is not a significant factor on a credit report. These items are put on your credit report only if you aply for credit while you have that job. I would not worry about it much.
Calling though is NOT the best way to deal with bureaus. Use the dispute form ALWAYS.
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I was told that it would be worse to have charge off's

Quoting REAL PERSON
Dear Bo,
Please help me understand.......................we have a son who is 23 years old and has poor credit. His father feels he should not pay all the monies owed because it would not help his credit or make it worse. He feels he should pay on his fines, electronic home monitoring and any currant bills. I was told that it would be worse to have charge off's." Should he pay on his old cell phone bills? What would be best for him, and what would be best for his credit report?
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One should pay all his or her bills. All of them.
Anytime we decide that if it doesn't help US we shouldn't do something, we are being dishonest. Good credit is an attitude for life.

BUT

If we pay a bill, collection, charge off and we do not get some assurance that the credit file will be removed not just zeroed out we probably will not help our score.

A person also must make decisions of weather we are able to pay these bills. If there is any way to pay off a bill we should do it. Paying off all bills makes a person think about getting credit a little harder next time.
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ATT, Better Business Bureau, Collections on cancelled phone bill, buying a house

Hi Bo,
I know this isn't exactly what you asked for but I was hoping that you could tell me if this is a good letter to send to the 3 credit bureaus. I don't know what my credit score is I need to pull it but when I was looking into maybe buying a house earlier this year it was pulled and my score dropped down from an 830 to like 630. I printed out your dispute form and plan to send this as well. If you could just let me know if this is good or what else I need or to write that would be SOOO helpful. Thank you ahead of time.
REAL PERSON
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Bobo Majors wrote:
This letter should go to the Better Business Bureau or ATT. The credit bureaus needs exact disputes. If you wish this to be recorded on your report, limit the words to 100 or less and it will be added.
Am answering your question?
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I called you a while ago and we talked. I did call AT&T which is now Cingular who told me that they no longer are able to deal with this and to call the collection agentcy. So I called Palisades Collection who said that they gave it to Merchants Credit Guide. I called and t/t Merchants, who told me to write a letter of dispute. I followed up on this and they said that they are the collections for Palisades and that they actually have the account. This has taken a while to go through this process. I called Palisades dispute dept. today who told me that they don't get the actual letter I wrote just an email from Merchants saying that I'm disputing it. I gave her a brief sanopsis and she told me that if I changed my plan it automatically puts me on a new contract. I asked her how was I supposed to know this, she said that "it's how AT&T do business."
So now I'm stuck, what should I do now. I t/t the BBB and California Association of Collections who told me to t/t AT&T. Someone even mentioned that I should t/t a lawyer. The BBB gave me info on AT&T which has contact info for someone in Cingular Corp. (see attached) Part of this info says: On July 21, 2004, the Attorney General's Office from 32 States entered into an Assurance of Voluntary compliance with Cingular Wireless, LLC. The settlement issues include that the company must provide substantially accurate coverage maps, to allow consumers to try out their new phone plans for 14 days and within that time can cancel and not have to pay an early termination fee for the next three years and to pay fines that will be distributed to the 34 participating states. An Assurance of Voluntary Compliance is not considered an admission of guilt or violation of law, but is used for settlement purposes.
Could I use this since this is my situation? Although I did this in 2002. Help me out, what do I do next?
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Bobo Majors wrote:
Do you have your credit report from all 3 bureaus in your hand?
If not get them now here http://www.credit.com/r/truelink_fit/af=p39646&ag
After checking your report dispute duplicate collections first with all bureaus affected.
This looks all over the place and it needs to be sorted out.
Simplify first then move forward.
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I pulled my credit and have it right here. There is only one collection showing for this.
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Which company is showing the collection?
Does the collections ahow up on all 3 bureaus?
Do you see any accounts that show more than 80% balance against total allowed
credit?
Do you see any other inaccurate items?
I bet you have some balances that are hurting your score.
1 Collection does not a credit score make.
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Well I am trying to remove the deliquency they are reporting me as to a collection/charge off

Quoting "REAL PERSON"
First of all I would like to thank you for your information and advice offered to many on your site. You do it and do it for free just to help people thru the same type of problems you had.
Sadly this is not a true thank you email but one of business so to speak. Here is my problem. In June 2002 my Best Buy account was turned over to a collection agency (Arrow Financial). I paid the account with a settlement amount in May of 2003. In December of 2004 my bankruptcy went final. Since then I have been trying one account at a time to update and correct my credit files. I am down to one and only left to get with correct information and that is Best Buy. Since turning me over to a collection agency they have been bought out by GE Money Bank. Well I am trying to remove the deliquency they are reporting me as to a collection/charge off. It won't be perfect to my credit rating but a 4 year old collection/charge off hurts less than a current 120 deliquency which Best Buy is reporting me as right now. I have written 3 letters to the Bureaus describing this is in detail and what needs to be corrected for correct information to be reflected on my credit report. Each time the agencies do their job and ask Best Buy for the information and each time Best Buy puts out inaccurate information. Bo should I write Best Buy directly? I only have a very generic address for them that I am sure will not go to the right department in
their company. Do I keep blasting the Credit Card companies with letters? What is most dis-hearting about all of this is that I am in the military and forward deployed right now and their is time delays with everything. Should I threaten lawsuit because they are violating the FCRA by reporting inaccurate information? I am at a loss how to correct this information and complete my fixing the credit report journey. Do you have any ideals?
Thank You,
Shawn Ward
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CALL Best Buy.
I would talk to the BBB AFTER, I talked to Best Buy IF, I didn't get a
satisfactory answer from best buy.
I would call the Collection agency and try to find our the circumstances of how they aquired the account.
Keep detalied information on each call.
Ask for names.
Postion in the company.
How long they have worked there.
Who the supervisor is.
Ask for supervisor.
Ask for a case number at the end of each call for future reference.
Ask what they think your rights are as a consumer protected by the FCRA.
Ask how they would handle this situtation.
Ask enough questions like these and soon a answer will arrive.
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Thanks for the help Bo and today I mailed a letter to Best Buy and in 45 days if nothing has happened I will write the Better Business Bureau. The strangest thing is now the Collection agency that got my account has stopped reporting it. This account hit my credit record in early August and cost me 25-30 points right away. Adds a certain level of frustration when your trying to clean up the credit record and one company is so hard to get to correct their information.

REAL PERSON
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My husband has a medical collection account on his credit report that does not belong to him

My husband has a medical collection account on his credit report that does not belong to him, besides this my husband has excellent credit, not even as much as a late pay on his credit report. I called the collection agency to try to get any information about this as I could, but they would not disclose any information to me as this account isn't his or mine. However they did verify the address wasnt correct and the social security number didnt match my husbands. PLEASE tell me what I can do to have this removed from his credit report. Do I need to send a letter to the bureau's explaining this, or do I only have to send the form you have on your website? If I have to send a letter, do you have a sample letter I can follow?? PLEASE HELP, we are desparate.

Thank you in advance for your help and prompt attention
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Just use the free dispute from on my site.
Check not your account.
Follow directions.
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2800 dollars on a medical bill that is not mine, Where do I go?

Quoting REAL PERSON
My credit report shows a balance of 2800 dollars on a medical bill that is not mine. I believe it may be my sons. I have no idea who put this in my file or why it was charged to me. There is a collection agency involved but there is no info on the report. Where do I go?
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Use my free dispute form
Dispute the file.
Say it is not yours.
You will get a respnose with removal or contact information...Simple as that
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I just paid a Hargrave and Associates $250.00 to remove negative credit

Quoting REAL PERSON
Hi Bo,
I am a bit confused. This is very interesting and informative but I don't understand it. You explained some of the concerns that I have but I am still very confused. I just paid a Hargrave and Associates $250.00 to remove negative credit information. They told me that this is a long process that will take up to at least 6 months. Is this true? Please call me ANYTIME. I am not working right now. I am a teacher, so I have the summer off. What should I do? Was that a smart move on my part?
Confused and depressed,
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Justpaying money does not guarantee credit help. There must be some basis...some errors...some payments...Watch out
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my score was just below 600! I've divorced, the court has deemed her as soley responsible for the car

Quoting REAL PERSON
Bo,
I pulled my credit and found my score was just below 600! Several years back it was 775. In between, I've divorced. My ex-wife as failed to pay her car payments on time and they are listed as a joint account. I've contacted Ford Motor Credit and explained the situation including the fact that the court has deemed her as soley responsible for the car. They said that there was nothing they could do. Is there any recourse for me?
Secondly, a few years ago I took out a short term loan of $5k. I bought and sold a car and repaid the loan within a week. I asked (verbally) that the acct be closed. Several months later I received a bill for $40 or $50 as an annual fee. I called them and asked what it was for as I had closed the acct. They informed me that I didn't ask it to be closed in writing and I owed the money. I made the mistake of refusing to pay. It shows on my credit report that I was 180 past due. (I finally broke down and paid it).
I didn't realize that my stubborn attitude would affect my credit. Is there anything I can do about this situation?
THANKS REAL PERSON
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Absolutely nothing on the joint car account.
That is standard fare. You sign you get the credit bad or good. Incentive to pay on time.
Another boo boo. These loans, credit cards and other finance deals all have little catches we have to watch out for. They cought you in a trap made to help them collect fees legally. This trap is like a beautiful painting designed just for them. They intend to reap full benifit. You can add a 50-100 word explanation to the account on your credit report to make it easier for creditors to read and undertand but it will not help your score.
You might have been able to work a deal with them before you paid. Now it seems a remote chance. It sounds like you have tried.
I would suggest trying to build up newr good credit and waiting for time to pass as the most recent or 2 years back from today weigh the most on your credit score. Time heals all wounds. The entires will stay on your credit for 7 years unless, 1 you work out a deal, 2 the companies close or move and your information gets lost and you disute it with the bureau.
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I see that all three agencies now have a means of disputing online. That's what I did

Quoting REAL PERSON
Bo,
One last question. When I was looking over my credit report, I see that all three agencies now have a means of disputing online. That's what I did. Do you think I made a mistake in doing so and should have done it via mail?
REAL PERSON
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I like mail....
But the internet thing is obviously where everything is going. Mail can be certified delivered giving you paper evidence you have disputed something. I would suggest printing copies of online disputes. Let me know how it turns out.
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My current score is TR-613, EX-582, EQ-622. Is there any thing I can do to get this off of my record and raise this score.

REAL PERSON
Bo,
I ran across your information while looking for help. I have some serious problems and don't know if I can get out of them. I have 2 charge offs and 2 bills in collections. Both bills in collections have been paid, but only one is listed as paid. All of these bills except for one are from helping someone else (big mistake). I just retired out of the military and need a better score to survive out here. My current score is TR-613, EX-582, EQ-622. Is there any thing I can do to get this off of my record and raise this score.
Thanks for any advice
REAL PERSON
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You should be able to dispute the paid item as paid and it will be updated.
Sounds like you have more problems than just those. I would suggest making sure any open credit lines be reduced to less than 80% of available credit. This should help. I would try to re open accounts that are charged off's and pay good for 1 - 2 years. If the charge off is not removed then ask them if they could help as you are trying to buy your first home and this is the only thing holding you back.
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Is there not way to get your score without having to sign up for a free trial

REAL PERSON
I noticed that most of these site where you get your credit score, you have to accept this free trial to get your score, and if you go past the 30 day trial and don't cancel then you have to pay x amount of money? Is there not way to get your score without having to sign up for a free trial?
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Ways to get a credit score.
Sign up for credit monitoring and get a report and score free if canceled in
less than 30 days.
Buy all three reports (ususally 34.00) and get a free score upgrade.
Buy a single report usually (10-12.00) and pay 5 dollars for a score upgrade.

The best deal is the first in that everything is free if you chooose to cancel.
The most comprehensive service is the scond in that you get all 3 reports.
The most scientific is the third in that you choose exactly what you want

These are all the options.
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I have an account with Discover that was "charged off

Hi Bo,
Thank you for your generous website. These are trying times for me and its nice to get advice from a human being!
I have an account with Discover that was "charged off". I am in a fortunate position where I can pay the debt in full. I read your advice about how to go about that process and I plan to begin negotiating with them.
My question is this:
If I am successful in dealing with discover and I am able to pay them back and improve my score, what happens to the collection agency that bought the account from them? Do I have to contact them or ask Discover to? Do I have to pay them anything to get them off my report?
Thank you for your help,
REAL PERSON
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If the account is listed as "Charged Off", this normally means the have accepted a tax credit for uncollectables. Most of the time these are not then sent to collections as far as I know.
I would speak to discover and ask them the question you asked me. In any event I would try to open the same account if possible with an up front deposit + full payment.
I would deal with the collection secondly. I would guess the collection could complicate this matter.
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my credit score is 571. How bad is that? I need a way to get a mortgage.

REAL PERSON
Hi,
I just found out my credit score is 571. How bad is that? I need a way to get a mortgage.
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From: Bobo Majors
You need a 640 minimum...so pretty bad.
Pay down debts to 80% of limits
Dispute all bad stuff
Pay off all old debts
Ask for removeal if you pay
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Is bankruptcy an option?
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Not for getting a mortgage
But yes it is always a option
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paying off old debts on your credit report, help you or not

Would like to know, paying off old debts on your credit report will help you or not. or should you concentrate on building new credit by establishing new accounts and paying on time.
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That is a dependant question. How old? How much? How many? Can any be removed
totally if you pay?
Credit is 70% weighted toward 2 years from today so; recent "rated"(at least
1 year on the books) good credit is ones best asset for credit score recovery.
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