Trying to Buy a Home Next Year

[HouseBy2012]

Hi All- me and my husband are looking to buy a house sometime next year and I need to get my points off to do so. I am getting so much great info from these forums but I need a little guidance.
Here are my scores:

Equifax 581/Transunion 552/Experian 530

Pretty bad I know...my lender told me she can get me a mortgage with a 580 median score but I am looking to raise it to 620 at the least.
I currently have the following issues:

-Albany County Clerk Judgement that has been satisfied as of April 1st. Its not showing up as satisfied on my reports as of yet. The County Clerk told me it could take 6-8 weeks. Is it better to try and have this deleted or just stated as 'paid'. Ive read a few stories where points actually dropped once the judgement was deleted. Or should I send a letter to credit bureaus requesting that they update to 'paid' with a letter from my employer that the garnishment has been satisfied?

I also have a repossesion from 2009 that was paid in full from American Honda Finance. I have sent a goodwill letter to them. What has been your experience with getting these deleted? I would like to just have it changed from repo to 'paid as agreed' if I could.

I also have a charged off from a store card from 1998 in the amount of $143- I have sent a letter to all 3 credit bureaus asking for this to be removed because it is way past SOL. Was this the right thing to do?

I have a collection for $79 from Double Day book club that I am currently disputing. If the dispute doesnt go through, should I just send a PFD?

I also have a bunch of inquiries that I am looking to get removed and will be working on that this week.
Anyone have any tips to boost my score a bit and what is the best/cheapest site for daily credit score monitoring?

Sorry for all the questions- I hope someone here can help me out. This is just my credit but I also need some help on my husbands but I figured I will go thru mine first since my scores are lower.

thanks so much in advance! I have learned so much from you all already!

Jessica

[Lian]

Judgments remain in your CR, paid or unpaid, for 7 years from the date of judgment. Getting a judgment deleted usually requires getting it vacated. Some states will vacate a judgment once paid, while others require additionally showings or reasons for vacating. You need to check out your state law. Just paying wont delete its impact on your credit score.

Repossessions are separate from the ultimate status of paid. I think that GW deletion would be your only recourse.

Charge-off status has nothing to do with expiration of SOL. A creditor can do a charge-off and report it at any time. The only provision of the FCRA that is relevant is the 7 years plus 180-days from DOFD that it can remain in your CR.

As for the unpaid collection, I don't know what you have disputed, but to now begin the PFD negotiation process is very unlikely to get any deletion, even should they accept, within four months. Is the debt still within SOL?

The only immediate way to secure score increases based on your own actions is to pay down the % utilization on existing accounts.

[Hal Jordan]

There actually is a process to getting judgments removed from your credit report that a lot of people seem to have some good success with.

The first thing to do is to dispute the judgment with all three credit bureaus. Way more often than not the judgment will come back as verified.

Next you write to all three credit bureaus requesting method of verification. They will then tell send you something back saying it was verified by whatever means they use. At this point you need to write a letter to the court clerk where your judgment is located or if you can do it go into your local court clerk’s office and ask them their policy for verifying judgments with the credit bureaus. They will tell you that they do not verify with the credit bureaus. Ask them to write that in a letter for you. Something simple stating we do not verify cases or judgements with any of the major credit bureaus. Or if you mail them the request asking how they go about verifying the judgment with the credit bureaus make sure you specifically ask for a written answer because sometimes they don't read it very well and think you're asking for a copy of the judgement against you.

It may take one or two tries to get the exact wording you need but just follow up. Be polite, be friendly. All you are really asking for from them is a statement as to their policy or proceedures for verifying with the credit bureaus not that you don't have a judgment against you. So they should be able to give you something in writing saying they they don’t verify information with the credit bureaus as no court in the country that I'm aware of does.

Once you have this letter in your possession make a copy and send it along with ANOTHER written dispute and copies of the method of verification letter the credit bureaus sent you demanding they immediately remove the judgment on your credit reports because there is absolutely no way the judgment could have been verified, of which you have proof because of the letter from the court clerk saying they DO NOT verify information with the credit bureaus. Mention the FDCPA violation for reporting information that is not verified.

This works A LOT believe it or not. It’s not 100% but it has a high success rate from the statements I’ve seen by others who have used this process.

[HouseBy2012]

Thank you guys for your responses- In checking the account that is in charge off status from 1998- I realized that they totally fudged my credit report and it shows that I was making payments on the account until May 2009. I know for a FACT that there was never a payment made past 1999. Its only $143 bucks so I could just pay and ask for a delete but at this point its the principle. They totally are LYING like 10 years after the card opened. Whats my recourse here?

[Hal Jordan]

Debt validation. Ask for statements or proofs of last payment.

Re-aging is an FDCPA violation and you can sue them for $1000 if you can prove they're doing it.. or rather if you sue them and they can't prove that you did pay them on the dates they're saying.

[HouseBy2012]

Hal thank you for responding so quickly. I am going to send out a validation letter today. I didnt know that I could sue them for re-aging. They def. re-aged the account and I know this for fact. thank you so much for the information!

[Hal Jordan]

FDCPA § 807. False or misleading representations [15 USC 1692e] Violation there..

In addition to the that it also violates Section 623(a)(5) of the FCRA, which specifies that any entity that reports information to credit bureaus about a delinquent consumer account that has been placed for collection or written off must report the actual month and year the account first became delinquent. In turn, this date is used by the credit bureaus to measure the maximum seven-year reporting period the FCRA mandates. The provision helps ensure that outdated debts – debts that are beyond this seven-year reporting period – do not appear on a consumer’s credit report. Violations of this provision of the FCRA are subject to civil penalties of $2,500 per violation.

In your DV letter you might consider referencing both of these violations and demand they either prove the age they're reporting in a court of law when you sue them for violating both the FDCPA and FRCA or they can satisfy the matter by deleting their tradelines immediately.

[HouseBy2012]

Thank you so much- am firing off a letter to them today- every little bit helps!

[torero34]

Originally Posted by Lian

Judgments remain in your CR, paid or unpaid, for 7 years from the date of judgment.

Paid judgments stay on your report 7 years from the date it was filed.However,upaid judgments can stay on your report up to 20 years.