Where to start..dispute past addresses why?

wawa82g · 06-22-2008, 05:37 PM

I've been monitoring my credit for the past 6 months or so but haven't done anything active except making sure I pay all my bills on time. Which has increased my score around 30-50 points in the past year.

So whats next?
I don't have enough extra income to get my credit card balance to 30-40% of the total limit yet. So I'm not expecting huge increases. I've seen people dispute things on their report. But I'm not sure what to dispute.
Whats the benefit of removing old addresses?
Should I get accounts that were closed several years ago even though they have good payment history on them?

Any suggestions would help. Thanks.

Hedwig · 06-22-2008, 05:57 PM

What is your history? Do you have any lates, chargeoffs, etc?

Closing old accounts has probably hurt your score. If you could reopen credit card accounts that have a long history and start using them occasionally, that could help yor score. If an old account has a positive history, you don't want it deleted.

wawa82g · 06-22-2008, 06:19 PM

Believe me I have enough credit cards open that I wouldn't want to open any new ones.
Here's the history:
I have about 6 Revolving accounts - 3 credit cards 3 store cards
Paid off a collection account 6 months ago
I have at least 40k in school loans that I'm looking to consolidate in the next 6 months.
A year ago I was unable to pay almost none of my bills for a period of about 6 months which took my score down by 100 points.
And one credit card recently closed that was opened by a relative w/o my permission which was always delinquent.

Hedwig · 06-22-2008, 07:04 PM

You say you've been monitoring your credit. I assume using one of the online services that gives you the 3-in-1 report.

Before you get started, you need to order individual reports from each of the credit reporting agencies. You will need to know exactly how each bureau is reporting each account. The 3-in-1 force everything to a common format, so you don't have the exact information from each bureau.

Once you have the reports, you need to find everything that's wrong with each tradeline.

As far as the account opened by a relative, have you filed a police report about this?

Pale Rider · 06-22-2008, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wawa82g

Whats the benefit of removing old addresses?

It may or may not help in some disputes if your old addresses are not on the report, and the account cannot verify the old information associated with that address. If the CRA got the info from a creditor, they will probably not remove it.

Another reason is ID theft. Even if you opt out, the old addresses in the system can lead to unwanted mail going to those old addresses. This really should be addressed by lawmakers considering ID theft growth, and the failure of the system to stop credit offers at opt out and collectors sending financial info to ancient addresses.

wawa82g · 06-23-2008, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hedwig

You say you've been monitoring your credit. I assume using one of the online services that gives you the 3-in-1 report.

Before you get started, you need to order individual reports from each of the credit reporting agencies. You will need to know exactly how each bureau is reporting each account. The 3-in-1 force everything to a common format, so you don't have the exact information from each bureau.

Once you have the reports, you need to find everything that's wrong with each tradeline.

As far as the account opened by a relative, have you filed a police report about this?

I use TrueCredit. Is there away to get the individual reports without having to sign up for their programs. It would be a hassle to have to cancel afterwards.

wawa82g · 06-23-2008, 06:53 PM

Never mind I'm getting my free credit report from all three agencies since I've never received one before. And your right looking at them individually is completely different than the all in one way. I
l'll try to get my free one once a year from now on. Thanks.