Category Archives: Credit Report / Credit Score

How do I keep track of our credit along the process of bankruptcy. – Rosi

In the past I was a total slave to our credit scores, checking daily and subscribing to different ‘watcher’ programs. 2 years of unemployment and filing for bankruptcy has cured that, but I am wondering what if anything you would suggest for keeping track of our credit during and after the bankruptcy process. If there [...]

Should I dispute the debt with original creditor or let it fall off my credit report? – Melanie

I have two credit cards that were charged off. I did not open these accounts. One was opened in 2005 and the other in 2006. They were sold to a collection agency. The last time the original creditor updated the accounts was in 2009. If I dispute these accounts would it hurt my credit score [...]

Credit Card Companies Keep Reducing My Credit Line as I Make Payments. – James

Several of the credit card companies that I am paying off are now reducing my line of credit by the amount of payments that I am making to pay off these debts. Of course when they do this they always sight my credit report shows that my balances to available credit is too high. How [...]

Just Had Negative Items Removed From Credit Report. Will My Score Go Up? – Melanie

I just had a tax lien removed from my Equifax credit report. I also had eight other items removed from my Equifax report. Four of them were new collections. All under a year old. On my TU report I had ten items removed. A few were under a year old. I had one 10 items [...]

Should I close cc acounts that I haven’t used in a long time (or will use)? – Sarah

I have 5 credit cards that I no longer use and have carried a zero balance for 3 yrs. Should I close them? If I do, will it affect my credit score and/or my ability to secure a loan in the future (if I need a loan)? I currently have 3 active (revolving) credit cards [...]

Disputing 5 year old charge off that is not mine. – Melanie

I recently disputed two credit cards that were charged off in 2006 because these are not my accounts. I never signed anything that said that I was responsible for these accounts. I received my Experian dispute results and the accounts were “processed”. I reviewed the updated report and both accounts came back as updated. What [...]

When Will My Defaulted Gym Membership Fall Off My Credit Report? – Sherri

a gym membership that was for stopped The amount is posted to my credit report each month with and added two dollars. It looks like a new debt but is the same one. I had a death in the family and stopped the membership after paying for a year. They say a two year contract [...]

What can I do to clean up the last hang ups on my credit report? – Jon

6 1/2 years ago, my wife and I got married. She had just graduated college and apart from student loans, we had worked to eliminate her debt. Neither of us had car loans, I had a credit card with no balance, and I had just bought a house. This is where it gets ugly. I [...]

How Can I Find Out Who I Owe? – Jessica

“Dear Steve, I’m looking to pay off and debts that have hampered any credit that qualifies me for a new home someday soon. I don’t have the best memory of what I am in debt with since I turned 18. I am 29 now and have been in small debts to banks from overdraft fees, [...]

Retail Store Credit Cards: How Many = Too Many?

“Would you like to save 10 percent on your purchase today by applying for a retail store credit card?” Does that sound familiar? Just about every major clothing and electronics store has promotion aimed at getting people to sign up for a store-specific credit card. But what you don’t know about retail store credit cards [...]

The Credit Report Has the Wrong Name on It as an Alias. – Paul

“Dear Steve, My brother’s name is Chris H and my wife’s name is Carrie H. Some how my brothers credit report has him listed as Chris H AKA Carrie H. They filed a report with the credit bureaus explaining the error but it hasn’t been fixed and this has been going on for quite a [...]

How Can I Myself What the Credit Assistance Network Wants to Charge Me For? – David

“Dear Steve, I found a website on the internet that appeared to offer what I want in doing the heavy lifting of tracking letters to credit bureaus to remove old debts (that are over 7 years) and incorrect data that could be driving my scores down. The website is the Credit Assistance Network. It looked [...]

How Long Will it Take to Get Good Credit After Bankruptcy? – Amy

“Dear Lewis, My husband and I filed bankruptcy chapter 7 in Dec. 2010 and it was discharged in march 2011. I have previously worked as a bank teller before we moved states( which caused our bankruptcy because we couldn’t sell our house). I have had 2 great interviews for bank teller but my credit report [...]

Verizon is Listing Accounts on My Credit Report I Don’t Owe. – Marc

“Dear Steve, Checking my credit report I found verizon phone company had 4 derogatory accounts listed ( two had claim skip tracing on them), which I have no recall on. three claim to be accounts started same day in September 2006. I was using AT&T cell phone since 2005 as only phone service. I contacted [...]

I Make Enough Money And Pay My Bills On Time But My Credit’s Not Great. – Anya

“Dear Steve, I make a decent salary (120K) and recently bought a used car (credit pulled) and moved from TX to CO (credit pulled). I have been weighed down by about 17K in debt for several years – just sort going up and down, up and down. I am ready to do whatever it takes [...]