Please help!! Confused on how to dispute accounts

[Angel]

Should I send DV letters everyone? I don't understand why each CRA has different info...what should I do about it? Who do I contact first..the CA or the CRA? Here's some examples...



HSBC/BSBUY - Revolving Charge Account

Account Number: 16***-2(???) **** 7021****(different acct #s)
Date Open: 08-2007
Balance Date: 01-2009 02-2009 01-2009 (different dates)
Balance Amount: $709 $709
Monthly Payment: $62 $62
High/Limit: $709 $709 $500 (different limits)
Account Status: At least 120 days or more than four payments past due Account transferred to another office 120 days past due
Prior Delinquency: 12-2008 01-2009 12-2008
Past Due Amount: $328 $328





BK OF AMER - Secured Credit Card

Account Number: 29(equifax/transUnion) 74(experian)
Date Open: 06-2007
Balance Date: 02-2009
Balance Amount: $910
Monthly Payment: $56
High/Limit: $500
Account Status: At least 120 days
Prior Delinquency: 01-2009 02-2009
Past Due Amount: $305
My acct # on my statement is more than two digits the number 29 and 74 does not appear anywhere in my acct#




DSNB MACYS - Charge Account

Account Number: **** **** ****
Date Open 09-2005 09-2005 09-2005
Balance Date 02-2009 02-2009 02-2009
Balance Amount $0 $0 $0
Monthly Payment $13
High/Limit $100 $100
Acct Status: Pays account as agreed(equifax) Current account/was delinquent 120 days past due date(experian) Paid or paying as agreed (transunion)
Prior Delinquency: 01-2007 01-2007 01-2007
Past Due Amount: $0
All three report Account closed by credit grantor and experian is the one that reports it as current and past due.




FRIEDMANS - Installment Sales Contract


Account Number: ****
Date Open: 12-2003
Balance Date: 10-2004
Balance Amount: $0
Monthly Payment:
High/Limit: $691
Account Status: Charged off as bad debt
Prior Delinquency:
Past Due Amount: $0
I settled this account in 2007 and have a letter stating that its settled. The same entry appears again in the collection items with a different acct#. What type of letter do I send them..if you don't delete entire account from CR I will take action..lol


And lastly..there's one on there that doesn't list the collector(CA or OC)..I don't know what it is. It's under the collection items section and listed as paid!

[Trish]

Originally Posted by Angel

Should I send DV letters everyone? I don't understand why each CRA has different info...what should I do about it? Who do I contact first..the CA or the CRA? Here's some examples...



HSBC/BSBUY - Revolving Charge Account

Account Number: 16***-2(???) **** 7021****(different acct #s)
Date Open: 08-2007
Balance Date: 01-2009 02-2009 01-2009 (different dates)
Balance Amount: $709 $709
Monthly Payment: $62 $62
High/Limit: $709 $709 $500 (different limits)
Account Status: At least 120 days or more than four payments past due Account transferred to another office 120 days past due
Prior Delinquency: 12-2008 01-2009 12-2008
Past Due Amount: $328 $328

Ok. don't really worry so much about amounts being different between the CRAs.......but rather focus on what the actual amount is. Sometimes they just report differently or at different times.
If this is an account that HAS NOT been charged off yet. You should do your best to pay the past due amount and keep it as a somewhat positive TL. I know the lates are affecting your score..........but if you let this go to a CO status, it will be much more difficult for you. If this is already a CO, then let me know and you will have to approach it a little differently.



BK OF AMER - Secured Credit Card

Account Number: 29(equifax/transUnion) 74(experian)
Date Open: 06-2007
Balance Date: 02-2009
Balance Amount: $910
Monthly Payment: $56
High/Limit: $500
Account Status: At least 120 days
Prior Delinquency: 01-2009 02-2009
Past Due Amount: $305
My acct # on my statement is more than two digits the number 29 and 74 does not appear anywhere in my acct#

Hmm......that's weird on the acct #s....not really sure why.
Now if this is also not in a CO status yet......then my suggestion would be the same as the previous. You need to contact the OC and see if you can work out an agreement. Try to see if you can make some sort of payment arrangement before they write it off and send it to a CA.




DSNB MACYS - Charge Account

Account Number: **** **** ****
Date Open 09-2005 09-2005 09-2005
Balance Date 02-2009 02-2009 02-2009
Balance Amount $0 $0 $0
Monthly Payment $13
High/Limit $100 $100
Acct Status: Pays account as agreed(equifax) Current account/was delinquent 120 days past due date(experian) Paid or paying as agreed (transunion)
Prior Delinquency: 01-2007 01-2007 01-2007
Past Due Amount: $0
All three report Account closed by credit grantor and experian is the one that reports it as current and past due.

So, looks like EX is the only one reporting this as derogatory?
You should try disputing with EX then. Dispute it as never late.



FRIEDMANS - Installment Sales Contract


Account Number: ****
Date Open: 12-2003
Balance Date: 10-2004
Balance Amount: $0
Monthly Payment:
High/Limit: $691
Account Status: Charged off as bad debt
Prior Delinquency:
Past Due Amount: $0
I settled this account in 2007 and have a letter stating that its settled. The same entry appears again in the collection items with a different acct#. What type of letter do I send them..if you don't delete entire account from CR I will take action..lol

No, I would just dispute them both. Who did you settle with? Friedman's? or the CA? If you paid the OC, then the CA should have NO right to report this.
Either way just dispute them both as "no knowledge or records of account" and see what happens. One thing that could be possible.......is that you settled with the OC BUT the remaining balance was sold to a CA. (is it the same amount? or the difference of the settled amount?)

And lastly..there's one on there that doesn't list the collector(CA or OC)..I don't know what it is. It's under the collection items section and listed as paid!
Then on that one just dispute it as no knowledge......if it comes back verified you will need to find out who is reporting it so that you can find out who you need to send a DV letter to.

Now.......just to let you know. Debt Validation letters are ONLY for CAs.
OCs (which are what all of your accts are here) need to be handled a little differently.

And just to make sure you know........the VERY FIRST STEP you need to do is opting out and then updating/deleting personal info on your CRs.
Once you do that, then you can start disputing these TLs with the CRAs.

I know it's a little confusing right now.......but just keep on reading and it will start to make sense.
Hopefully I covered it all......let me know if you still have questions on these.

[Angel]

Should I send DV letters everyone? I don't understand why each CRA has different info...what should I do about it? Who do I contact first..the CA or the CRA? Here's some examples...



HSBC/BSBUY - Revolving Charge Account

Account Number: 16***-2(???) **** 7021****(different acct #s)
Date Open: 08-2007
Balance Date: 01-2009 02-2009 01-2009 (different dates)
Balance Amount: $709 $709
Monthly Payment: $62 $62
High/Limit: $709 $709 $500 (different limits)
Account Status: At least 120 days or more than four payments past due Account transferred to another office 120 days past due
Prior Delinquency: 12-2008 01-2009 12-2008
Past Due Amount: $328 $328

Ok. don't really worry so much about amounts being different between the CRAs.......but rather focus on what the actual amount is. Sometimes they just report differently or at different times.
If this is an account that HAS NOT been charged off yet. You should do your best to pay the past due amount and keep it as a somewhat positive TL. I know the lates are affecting your score..........but if you let this go to a CO status, it will be much more difficult for you. If this is already a CO, then let me know and you will have to approach it a little differently. Yep...this is already a CO



BK OF AMER - Secured Credit Card

Account Number: 29(equifax/transUnion) 74(experian)
Date Open: 06-2007
Balance Date: 02-2009
Balance Amount: $910
Monthly Payment: $56
High/Limit: $500
Account Status: At least 120 days
Prior Delinquency: 01-2009 02-2009
Past Due Amount: $305
My acct # on my statement is more than two digits the number 29 and 74 does not appear anywhere in my acct#

Hmm......that's weird on the acct #s....not really sure why.
Now if this is also not in a CO status yet......then my suggestion would be the same as the previous. You need to contact the OC and see if you can work out an agreement. Try to see if you can make some sort of payment arrangement before they write it off and send it to a CA. This one is a CO also...I know, bad, bad, bad!




DSNB MACYS - Charge Account

Account Number: **** **** ****
Date Open 09-2005 09-2005 09-2005
Balance Date 02-2009 02-2009 02-2009
Balance Amount $0 $0 $0
Monthly Payment $13
High/Limit $100 $100
Acct Status: Pays account as agreed(equifax) Current account/was delinquent 120 days past due date(experian) Paid or paying as agreed (transunion)
Prior Delinquency: 01-2007 01-2007 01-2007
Past Due Amount: $0
All three report Account closed by credit grantor and experian is the one that reports it as current and past due.

So, looks like EX is the only one reporting this as derogatory?
You should try disputing with EX then. Dispute it as never late.



FRIEDMANS - Installment Sales Contract


Account Number: ****
Date Open: 12-2003
Balance Date: 10-2004
Balance Amount: $0
Monthly Payment:
High/Limit: $691
Account Status: Charged off as bad debt
Prior Delinquency:
Past Due Amount: $0
I settled this account in 2007 and have a letter stating that its settled. The same entry appears again in the collection items with a different acct#. What type of letter do I send them..if you don't delete entire account from CR I will take action..lol

No, I would just dispute them both. Who did you settle with? Friedman's? or the CA? I settled with the CAIf you paid the OC, then the CA should have NO right to report this.
Either way just dispute them both as "no knowledge or records of account" and see what happens. One thing that could be possible.......is that you settled with the OC BUT the remaining balance was sold to a CA. (is it the same amount? or the difference of the settled amount?) No..the balance was $646.76 and I settled for $350 and the listed TL above notes a $0 balance and there's another one listed with a different account number and a balance of $495(that is reported to all 3 CRA)

And lastly..there's one on there that doesn't list the collector(CA or OC)..I don't know what it is. It's under the collection items section and listed as paid!
Then on that one just dispute it as no knowledge......if it comes back verified you will need to find out who is reporting it so that you can find out who you need to send a DV letter to.

[Trish]

To put simply, you just need to dispute them all......based on ANY inaccuracies you can find.

You do that first and see what happens. Then for the OCs (depending on what your results are), you may need to correspond with them directly.

So, go ahead and get started on fixing your personal info and then disputing your TLs.....and then post your results so we can figure out what your next step should be.

When you get down to writing the letters (there are several sample dispute letters here), let me know if you have any questions.

[Angel]

Originally Posted by Trish

To put simply, you just need to dispute them all......based on ANY inaccuracies you can find. Dispute them to the CA or to ALL 3 CRA?

You do that first and see what happens. Then for the OCs (depending on what your results are), you may need to correspond with them directly.

So, go ahead and get started on fixing your personal info and then disputing your TLs.....and then post your results so we can figure out what your next step should be. I got my CR with identity guard and when I go to the CRA direct site to dispute my personal info...they ask for a report number..where's that at?
When you get down to writing the letters (there are several sample dispute letters here), let me know if you have any questions.

When I get ready to send the dispute letters..do I hand write them or type them?

[Trish]

Dispute them with the CRAs.

With Identity Guard, you can go to the dispute area and go to your EX report online. You can get a number from the online report.
For TU and EQ.....it doesn't say.....

I have called up credit monitoring companies before and asked them for a credit report number.......since it is paid for. OR they may be able to give you a "back door" to the sites where you can access your online report. Just only use them for the numbers and viewing your reports (don't dispute online).

That's really why I always suggest to buy your initial reports directly from the CRAs. That way you have a number to dispute with.

Another thing you could try.......is if you have been denied credit recently, you can get a free report........and it's not treated as the free reports that take 45 days (as far as I know). Just go directly to the sites and you should be able to access through there.......by saying you were denied credit.

HTH