Capital One from 2000

[Destiny11]

I had a Capital One Card that was opened in 2000 with a credit limit of $200, shortly after I opened the account (July) I had personal trouble and began divorce proceedings. I never used the full balance on the card but, charges continued to incurr (not sure what junk fees they were now). Eventually I am divorced and move out to another county. I don't recieve any further information from Capital One until last year, at which point I answered no letters or made contact with the Creditor.

Recently I pulled my credit and the account is apparently back with Capital One. The account says that it was charged off at 592 and the balance owed is 1245. I can't even believe that a $200 account can jump that high. I wonder what kind of interest they are charging on that thing. In any event, I recall making one or two payments on that card before my home life got to be too much and at that point I completely forgot about this card. It appears as Charged Off and is still being reported. I don't know what to do with this. I disputed it online with all three creditors and Transunion came back saying that it would remain on file until 06/2008. All other accounts I have are not reported (Keyspan,Cablevision IO,Cable IO telephone/Internet/Fedex/UPS/Voiceworld/Att-Cingular and Lee Management (apartment rental). I have plenty of excellent accounts but, this Capital One is the only one being reported, my score is down to 515 or something to that effect and all I want to do is improve my score for the purpose of applying for a mortgage.

I Transunion has apparently verified the debt, in which case, wouldn't the SOL delete this account. I have no problem paying this account off with Capital One if it will improve my score but, if it's only going to be a currently paid off bad debt, what's the point? Any advice here?

Thanks!!

[chane]

First of all, the account is very old, so it's not effecting your credit scores that much. But, it does still effect it. With a score of 515, it sounds like you've got some other bad stuff too.

I would just keep disputing it every 30-40 days until it comes off. Don't give up after the first dispute.

I would also dispute every other charge-off and late payment on your report. See our sample dispute letters on the main page to see how you should dispute them.

If you have any questions just post in the forum and we will try to help you out.

[Destiny11]

Thanks Chane,

I do have a Verizon account on my file that I disputed because I've never had Verizon. I have AT&T Cingular (cell) and Optimum Voice (Home) through cable for the last few years. This Verizon account says that it was opened in 08/07 and that it went into collection on 10/07 (this year). I absolutely do not own this account and it shows up with Transunion.

Another item was for a Credit Collection "Assignee of Capital One" as well and I disputed it because the account is back with Capital One, that one I checked this morning and it was deleted. All of the accounts I had ie: Student Loan from the 90's that I paid, came off automatically. There were two Medical Laboratory Collection accounts from when I had Bronchitis in 2006, I was unaware of these accounts because, I don't see my primary unless it's winter and my asthma is acting up. So, once I saw those, I called to verify them, they faxed me the two dates I was in for Bronchitis, I pay cash but, they weren't balance bills, they were lab tests so, I verified with my MD that he'd ordered them and I paid them immediately. When I called to make sure they sent a letter to Tranunion, they told me it would take a while to update. Those were the four things on my report.

Aside from that the inquries on file were from me "annualcreditreport.com" and I purchased my scores from Tranunion too. I'm getting started on Equifax now but, they don't have anything other than Capital One and those two Medical Accounts. Experian has the Capital One Account, The two Medical Accounts and a Hollywood Video account that I was an authorized user for in 1999. I"m working on each report, one at a time but, the lowest one was Transunion.

All of my accounts are in good standing as I stated before, all of my monthly bills are paid on time and have been for years. It would be nice if those accounts were reported.

Any advice would be awesome.

Thanks,

Casey

[chane]

If that Verizon account is not really yours, you should definitely send them a debt validation letter asking to see where you signed a contract with them and maybe send you a past bill...if they can't demand that they remove it from your credit report immediately.

Sample Validation Letters

Or you could probably even call them. I would send validation letters to all of the collection agencies that aren't coming off.

As far as the other accounts, keep disputing them every 40 days or so. If they are still not coming off, you may have to try to settle with them and ask for a "pay for delete" or just wait for them to come off by themselves.

Sample Pay For Delete Letters

You should also start trying to build positive credit by maybe applying for a credit card at your local credit union or by getting a secured card online.

Removing negative accounts is only half the battle of raising your scores. You must also add positive accounts.

[Destiny11]

Thanks again Chane. Would you believe that since I began disputing the Transunion report, my score went from 515 to 538 (Haven't checked the other two yet), sounds like nothing but, I was super excited. They've taken 3 items off and I'm working on that Verizon account. The medical ones have been paid and that rep said it should be updated (deleted ) in the next 30 days. I told him I didn't mind if it said "Paid as agreed" but that I didn't want the collection showing. He said he'd delete them completely and even faxed me a Satisfaction!!!

It turns out that the Verizon account was from a whole nother county but, it was my social (how could this happy??). It's definitely not my account but, they said it would take 6/8 weeks to get me the: Last bill/Contract, they apparently have to go to "archives". It's listed on my report as opened in 08/2007 but, the rep said it was an account opened in 12/2001 and charged off on 08/30/2002. I can't wait to see what they com up with. In the meantime I expect Transunion to take it off because it's incorrect anyway. When they call to verify, they'll be told it's from 2001.

The two medicals should be updated, I wonder how much better my credit scores will get. I'm going to send the validation letters anyway, just to have a paper trail, I'm also going to ask that that Capital One be removed, they claim it's valid but, the SOL for NYS is 6 years, it's almost 7.

Okay, I just wanted to say thanks for the advice, this forum ROCKS!!!