I check the threads on this site, and saw some good sites on google, but none of the directions were really on point. I want to dispute some disparraging remarks on my credit report, and I was wondering, first, if it’s best to:
a) do it on line (seems quicker)
b) do it by snail mail (seems like it would get more attention, or have a better chance of not being argued with)
(the assertions are entirely mine, nothing that I saw or looked into)
Obviously, I don’t want my disputes to be argued with. I’m thinking, logically, that either method will have the desired result.
Now, some hypotheticals:
I have student loan payments that were late 90, 120, and 180 days and I think it’s b/c they didn’t receive my forberance request. Now, I have consolidated the loans. It shows as transferred.
a) Why doesn’t it show as paid? Theoretically, it was paid, I just now owe a not too large sum of money to someone else.
b) Should I argue it as paid, and argue that they didn’t receive my forbearance request?
I have some closed accounts that have past due notices on them. Is it worth disputing those?
Some of my accounts say closed via customer’s request, and some say closed via creditor. Is there a difference? I recall someone posting that there wasn’t a difference.
One of the loans went to collection. I paid it. Do I just argue that it’s been paid?
I found the about.com article to be the most simple and the most informative (due to my lazy lifestyle, I put much value into things where I can get a lot of information without much effort :)); however, it seems too simple. With regard to to the questions above, how much detail should I put into my disputes? Rather, should I say that it’s just wrong, and leave it at that?
I want to buy a very large tv and i want balance transfer my existing credit card debt ($4k) to a 0% APR one. Do I need exceptionally good credit to do this? I did qualify for a 6% ($40K) car loan 3 years ago. Oh, and if I do balance transfer, should I close that account? I’ll then have 2 credit cards.
money still owed on college loans, that has been owed long enough that you have had forbearance requests, were up to 6 months behind, and have now consolidated.
$4,000 in credit card debt, and you’re now playing that game of bouncing from one card to another to try to get by on the 0% introductory rate.
$25,000 or thereabouts outstanding on a car loan.
you’ve had other loans go into collection before you could pay them off.
And with this load of debt, you now “want to buy a very big TV”?
And you’re wondering how to fiddle minor items on your credit score.
My suggestion would be to get yourself to a credit counselor, and quickly. And I bet the first things discussed will not be how to adjust items on your credit score.
<personal opinion, for what it’s worth>: you need to look at your apparent disconnect between your current income & net worth, and your extravegant spending habits.
why are you driving a $40,000 car?
why do you think you need a “very big TV”?
Spending your time dealing with this will be much more worthwhile to you in the long run than worrying about disputing items on your credit score. Good luck!
</personal opinion>
Hmmm…maybe I should put a little more info (I didn’t want to seem like I was bragging):
I averaged almost $105k/yr for the last 5 yrs (gross), since I graduated law school, despite being laid off twice for almost a year collectively. So, I think I have enough money. My goal is to hoard (my friends claim that I re-define the word “hoard”) as much cash as I can, and hopefully retire early. Of the $40k loan, I only owe like $7500. (I would’ve paid off the entire car earlier, but after being laid off, I decided to conserve my cash). My monthly total bills only total $3500. I look at finances likes this: my highest loan outstanding is my student loan; it’s consolidated at 4%. If I can invest my money at higher than 4%, then, I won’t spend the money on paying off the loan and invest it. So far, I’ve been pretty good at beating 4%. It may be too simple a way to look at it, but that’s essentially what I do.
I’ve always wanted a really big tv (50" or larger), especially now that I got a really good deal on satellite (to answer your question – oh, and I want to test my mother’s theory that watching too much tv will make me blind; I think I’ve already proven that I can’t get harry palms :D). Why should I put up $3k+ up now, when I can pay it off over 2 years w/0% financing? The same with my credit card, where my interest rate is like 14.9%? Yes, I could pay it off right now. However, I want to buy a house, and I was told it was better to build credit by carrying a balance (80% of it is from X-Mas). I only have one credit card (a miles card) and pay 99% of all my items with it (I racked up a free flight almost every year). I got a Capital One card (but haven’t activated yet), b/c I want to take avantage of the 0% (for life) Discover Card credit balance transfer. I’ve read that 2 credit cards is the most anyone should have. I was freaked out that I didn’t qualify for the American Express Blue Card b/c – which, if I’m going to keep a balance, why not earn 5% (well, 3% in most cases) on it?
If you’ve got money sitting around, you need to pay off as much debt as you can before investing in televisions.
As for disputing credit report items, Federal law requires the credit agency to investigate the dispute, regardless of where it came from. I have had great success dusouting some erroneous items online.