Credit Correction Challenge: Part One: Getting Started
I have not always been this upstanding model of fiscal responsibility (ha!). About seven years ago I started a two-three year crash course in credit destruction. And now, it is time to face the music of all those transaction transgressions and time to get straight in the eyes of creditors.
Around this time last year, a friend responded to my poor credit woes and pointed me towards creditboards.com. CreditBoards has to be one of the greatest gifts to the credit-impaired and I devoured everything on the site. And then… I let life distract me and did nothing.
Not this time! I want to sign away the next 15-30 years of my life. I’m not going to be able to do that, at least not on preferable terms, if I don’t do something about my credit. So, I’ll be sharing with you all my Credit Correction Challenge. I’ll be following the information from creditboards.com.
Step One: I got a copy of my credit report from each of the three major Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA). (Go to annualcreditreport.com to get your free credit report.)
- Equifax Summary: 15 accounts, 3 negative accounts, 4 collections, 1 judgment
- Experian Summary: 13 accounts, 2 negative accounts, 2 collections, 1 judgment
- TransUnion Summary: 15 accounts, 5 negative accounts, 4 collections, 1 judgment
Step Two: I got a copy of my credit scores from myFICO.com. I signed up for their free trial and was disappointed to learn that it only include the Equifax score. I purchased my scores from TransUnion and Experian and ended up with copies of my report too. I should have ordered my scores when I pulled my free credit report, it would have been cheaper — live and learn.
Not the greatest scores. If fact, myFICOis rubbing my nose in the fact that, supposedly, 75% of the U.S. population has a better score than me and that I’m in the almost lowest of the low scores. Okay — this isn’t a news flash for me, I knew I needed to do some work. I’ll use these scores as a baseline for what to work up from and I’ve got some work to do.
Step Three: Challenge all past addresses listed with the CRA (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) to get them removed. This will help with disputing negative entries later. I mailed my letters of on March 8, 2007 and they have 30 days to act.
To be continued…: And now, I wait. Once I have a response from the CRAs, I’ll start challenging the negatives on my account.
Carnival of Personal Finance No. 91 - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time
March 12th, 2007 09:53
[...] Dona Jean at The Weight of Money shows us how to start the credit correction challenge. [...]
Credit Correction Challenge: Part Two: Next Steps and Rising Scores » The Weight of Money
April 5th, 2007 10:59
[...] In Part One of Credit Correction Challenge (CCC), I discussed the starting steps including challenging all old addresses listed on your account. [...]
Credit Correction Challenge: Part Three » The Weight of Money
May 14th, 2007 17:36
[...] The 30-day window has passed since my last round of action - time to take stock and plan my next steps. Part One and Part Two gave a basic overview of my credit correction challenge and outlined the first five steps: [...]
How I Save Money.net » Blog Archive » Carnival of Credit Report Stories: Think Pink, Do Blue Edition
May 25th, 2007 12:12
[...] Donna Jean presents Credit Correction Challenge: Part One: Getting Started ยป The Weight of Money posted at The Weight of Money, saying, “I’ve just found this carnival and submitted Part One of an ongoing battle to improve my credit. I hope to post the following two parts in the next two carnivals as well.” [...]