Insanely huge phone bills

[elysium]

From talking to long distance bf's before I discovered Vonage.

Two of these on my transunion account (I haven't yet checked the others). One is $800, the other $300. I really don't want to pay because I feel screwed and overcharged by these companies in the first place, especially the first one. My credit score is 455 though I guess because of these?

I hardly use my credit but it is so rotten it can be a pain when moving or trying to rent a place because no one wants to rent to someone with bad credit!!! (And most everyone of course wants to charge you to run a credit check first..) I am tired of dealing with the headaches with landlords whenever I need to move someplace new, and having so few options in that regard... feeling like I'm always in danger of being homeless.. so the time has come to figure out how to magically transmute my credit from bad to good.

Dispute and then pay to delete if necessary? I just started learning about all this stuff tonight.

I would like to raise my credit to 800 somehow. Would be nice to have great credit for once in my life. I think it's probably completely empty except for those two collections I never paid.

[chane]

Yes, I would definitely dispute (numerous times if that's what it takes) and then pay for delete as a last resort. How old are they?

[elysium]

A couple years.

[elysium]

Should I dispute them both in one letter or each separately?

[chane]

Originally Posted by elysium

Should I dispute them both in one letter or each separately?

One letter will be fine.

[elysium]

Really? For some reason my gut was telling me to dispute them one at a time, I don't know why. It just seems like maybe it would make me look less guilty or something? Because they're from verizon and mci.. Not sure which way would be more effective.. I want to appear as much as possible like these are not my accounts. I was thinking to dispute one, wait til it comes off, then do the other.. don't know why though... *shrug* I really want to get the $800 one off, the other one I won't die if I have to pay it later..

So I have no idea why my instinct is telling me I should do that. I don't know! Maybe you're right. You know what you're doing, I don't!

Nice quote, btw!!! Did you just add that? I don't remember that being there before. SO true! Did you ever see Aaron Russo's "Freedom to Fascism"? Good movie! Everyone who reads this should go watch that..

The Truth About Income Tax

[chane]

I love Freedom to Fascism! I've seen it a few times and I'm a huge supporter of Aaron Russo and Ron Paul!

You can dispute each account separately, but it's really not necessary. If you do though, wait at least 30 days to send the second one, because if you send one, and then send one a week later, the investigation period starts all over and gives them extra time to verify the account. You don't want that.

I would never dispute more than 5 or 10 with TU or EX, but I have many times with EQ...because EQ always eventually ends up taking off whatever I dispute.

I have actually disputed up to 20-25 accounts with all 3 bureaus and I've seen 15-20 negative accounts come off at a time.

Some of our clients, if we disputed them 1 at a time, it would take years...by then, they would "fall off" the report anyway. I've had clients with 100+ negative items. One lady had over 80 tax liens alone.

[NormDal]

Greetings.

I sent a Certified Letter, RRR, in request of a validation of a charged off credit card only to find that the entre letter was returned because the "forwarding order no longer valid" on the address of the collection agency. The address is what was posted to my Equifax report.

When I send a second letter, is the fact that an obviously incorrect address appeared on my credit report a good argument for this being a "second request to validate"?

In addition, those crazy people called me at home today trying to get me to admit that the debt was mine. All I would say was, "I'm sorry, it is my policy to not discuss these matters on the phone, only in writing." She told me that the last letter "had been returned" and said she sent it to an address where I lived over 20 years ago.

I would be curious to hear what anyone has to say about the certified letter being returned. Is this a ploy those horrid people use to delay progress?

[94B]

Originally Posted by NormDal

Greetings.

I sent a Certified Letter, RRR, in request of a validation of a charged off credit card only to find that the entre letter was returned because the "forwarding order no longer valid" on the address of the collection agency. The address is what was posted to my Equifax report.

When I send a second letter, is the fact that an obviously incorrect address appeared on my credit report a good argument for this being a "second request to validate"?

In addition, those crazy people called me at home today trying to get me to admit that the debt was mine. All I would say was, "I'm sorry, it is my policy to not discuss these matters on the phone, only in writing." She told me that the last letter "had been returned" and said she sent it to an address where I lived over 20 years ago.

I would be curious to hear what anyone has to say about the certified letter being returned. Is this a ploy those horrid people use to delay progress?

Are you saying that the it was returned as undeliverable?? If so and this is reporting on your credit report, I would send a scan of the envelope showing that it was undeliverable in a dispute to the CRA's and ask for deletion of the account.

When it comes to reporting, anyone that chooses to report, what they report MUST be accurate, complete and verifiable otherwise it should be removed.

What CA is this and what address did you send the letter to??

[NormDal]

Since my first post, I have had a second letter of validation returned. I sent these letters to the addresses on the credit report.

I will try your suggestion - scan the envelope and send it to the CRA demanding deletion.

One of the collection agencies was a group called "Midland Credit Management" - with a San Deigo address listed on the CR that apparently isn't good. The other was a group called "Receivables Recovery" - with a Metairie, Louisiana address (just outside of New Orleans) listed on the CR, apparently also a bad address.

I do find it interesting that BOTH of these accounts came back as "verified" when I disputed the first time, yet neither of the addresses on the CR were good.