Collections question

[DoomBringa]

I just got my free anual credit report. I was kinda shocked to find I have an active collections out for me. My questions is is there a website where you can search to see where the collection is coming from? Hopefully its not a valid collections attempt, but if it is I have no idea who it's from and I'll need to get it paid off. Amazing how much that shit hurts your credit score...last year my credit score was sitting at 700, its much lower now. I'd appreciate some help.

[rasputin]

I just got my free anual credit report. I was kinda shocked to find I have an active collections out for me. My questions is is there a website where you can search to see where the collection is coming from? Hopefully its not a valid collections attempt, but if it is I have no idea who it's from and I'll need to get it paid off. Amazing how much that shit hurts your credit score...last year my credit score was sitting at 700, its much lower now. I'd appreciate some help.

Contact Equifax, TransUnion or Experian and talk to one of their credit specialists. They may be able to help you. AFAIK there is no way to "search" what collection agency is after you and why. That's all included in the mail and phone calls from them you get. Since you haven't, though, it may be an error, in which case you need to contact one of the above agencies (they're the big '3' with your credit).

I don't understand how you couldn't know a collection agency was after you. They usually call you off the hook and mail you shit constantly trying to get their client's money. Is there anything you haven't paid for in full, i.e. any sort of medical bill? A lot of time hospitals turn you over to collection super quick if they don't get their money.

[BlackThoughT]

well that could be one of the first signals that something may be wrong, those guys dont wait to try and get their money

[VeeKaChu]

http://consumerist.com/tag/debt-collectors/

^^ Only slightly relevant, but that links to articles at the Consumerist Blog tagged "debt-collectors"... if you look over the various stories you can glean a lot of info on how various collection agencies work, and various consumer responses.

What's most terrifying is there are many stories of people who had various types of "payable" accounts (utils, phones, cable, credit cards especially) that they thought were successfully closed and/or satisfied, that went to collections after some time had passed. Oh, and "zombie debt" stories are fun too.

I recently recieved a collection letter addressed to my father, from some agency, demanding satisfaction for a Discover Card account. Idiots- he's only been dead 29 years. Went straight into the trash; my wife was all like "you should call them and tell them", and I was all like "Hmmm, no, the only information they DON'T have is the current phone# for this address..." (which is the same as it was in '77). They can send all the mail they want, that's not as annoying as the phone ringing all day.

[Cyrus]

http://clarkhoward.com/topics/drop_dead_letter.html

send em one of those veek.

[Gr8Shot]

how do i check my credit rating (or get one of those free annual credit reports) without it affecting my credit?

[Suicidal Anomaly]

Something I read a while ago said they were changing the FICO formula a bit so you don't get dinged for inquiries or opening and closing cards as much as you did in the past. No idea whether or not it's taken effect though. Paying one of the agencies to give you your actual score isn't going to kill your score though as far as I know.

As far as the original post that could be a sign that someone else took advantage of your credit. Not saying that's the case but if you have some collectors you never heard of someone could have gotten their hands on your SSN and used it to their advantage. One of my roommates had that happen to him when someone opened credit cards in another state using his info. This is why I pay to have one of the agencies monitor my credit and they shoot me something in the mail whenever something is opened/closed.

[VeeKaChu]

Article fron the Consumerist detailing why FreeCreditReport.com sucks donkey balls. Below is a quote linking to the place you seek, Gr8Shot

http://consumerist.com/373663/this-is-why-you-dont-use-freecreditreportcom

Remember, if you want to pull your credit reports, use annualcreditreport.com/ (http://www.annualcreditreport.com/)—that's the only "free" site where you can get one credit report per agency per year (three per year total).

[DoomBringa]

Yea. I'm going to contact equifax on monday and see if I can track this down.

[AGT-Shady]

3-5 credit inquiries/year will do virtually nothing to your credit score, just fyi.

[hames]

I do one per year to check up on things, usually in July.

[Sutterkane]

they say a man should always dress for the job he wants
so why am I dressed up like a pirate in this restaurant
it's all because some hacker stole my identity
so now I'm in here every evening serving chowder and iced tea

shoulda gone to free credit
report dot com
i coulda seen this comin at me like an atom bomb
they monitor your credit and send you email alerts
so you don't end up servin fish to tourists in t-shirts

[Gr8Shot]

Article fron the Consumerist detailing why FreeCreditReport.com sucks donkey balls. Below is a quote linking to the place you seek, Gr8Shot

http://consumerist.com/373663/this-is-why-you-dont-use-freecreditreportcom

hmm, i get a credit report with those but in order to see my credit rating i gotta pay around 5 bucks. anyway to see it for free?

[Cyrus]

the credit agencies will give you a free one every year. Do one agency every 4 monthes, rotate em.

[Kap`n]

freecreditreport.com robbed me. After i cancelled my account everything was good. Two months after cancellation they started charging my credit card again and claimed I dont have an account anymore, yet there it was on my statement. I had to dispute the charges and keep calling them to confirm cancellation of my account and to complain that they were still charging me, it was a pain in the ass.

Bottom line NEVER USE FREECREDITREPORT.COM


edit: I just read the full story about that guy Jesus. Sounds similar to what i went through, including the guy trying to get me to keep my account open by saying there was suspicious stuff on my credit report. Ive checked it free through my credit card company since then and theres nothing that is slightly suspicious. Its all bullshit.

[LIDeadHead]

I pulled my CR and found that my father's (who had same name as me) mortgage showed up on my credit report. It said I paid every month on time going as far back as 1985. I was 9 years old then. :D

I do not plan on disputing that gem.

[Sutterkane]

hmm, i get a credit report with those but in order to see my credit rating i gotta pay around 5 bucks. anyway to see it for free?

I thought you were all ballin it out in a Bentley. Can't afford 5 dollars?

[AGT-Shady]

I pulled my CR and found that my father's (who had same name as me) mortgage showed up on my credit report. It said I paid every month on time going as far back as 1985. I was 9 years old then. :D

I do not plan on disputing that gem.


Haha, I see that quite regularly, it's awesome so long as the same-namer doesn't start charging things off.

[rasputin]

hmm, i get a credit report with those but in order to see my credit rating i gotta pay around 5 bucks. anyway to see it for free?

I pay about that much for 24/7 monitoring. They alert me any time my credit score changes and I can check it any time I want. Very minimal fee for such an important thing, imo.

[Sutterkane]

I pay about that much for 24/7 monitoring. They alert me any time my credit score changes and I can check it any time I want. Very minimal fee for such an important thing, imo.

that's pretty sweet. who's that through?

[rasputin]

that's pretty sweet. who's that through?

Right through Equifax.

[Gr8Shot]

I thought you were all ballin it out in a Bentley. Can't afford 5 dollars?

how you think i could afford it

[rasputin]

Pics of Bentley.

[Mulchman MM]

I pulled my CR and found that my father's (who had same name as me) mortgage showed up on my credit report. It said I paid every month on time going as far back as 1985. I was 9 years old then. :D

I do not plan on disputing that gem.

Same thing for me - 3 of my dad's accounts are on my report. I submitted an electronic dispute thing with experian like 3 weeks ago and still haven't heard anything back. At least the accounts that are his are in good standing.

It's amazing... you'd think this kind of thing would not be possible - like they'd check social security numbers or something - but these mix ups are common practice...

[Vr_]

im going to sound stupid here but... why are you only allowed 1 credit report per year?
one would think dealing with something like Credit card or Score, aka livelihood, you would be able to check it as many times as you want? I dont get it :confused: