SS: Credit report annoyances

[ufcrusher]

The other day I applied for a card and to my great surprise I was denied. Given the fact that my credit report should have been perfect and they cited negative remarks as the reason for the denial, I was absolutely livid. I immediately contacted the credit reporting bureau to find out what was going on....but of course, they only do it by mail.

Today, I went to that site where you can get your annual free reports and decided to try to speed up the process. Sure enough, I request all 3 bureaus and start to go through the first one. Up comes the name of a company which I know handles collections for the local hospital. I know this because my account was accidentially sent to them and had been pulled back (as in removed from the collection agency as it was an error) from them several months ago. That was the ONLY thing negative on my entire report and honestly my blood started to boil as all accounts were pulled from them in August. (After over a year of fighting with the hospital.)

I go to the next one, same thing. I go to the final one...equifax, and they will only give you your free copy through the mail. Lovely.

I immediately call that collection agency as I know its an error and have letters from the hospital and the collection agency saying that it is being pulled and was pulled. I get this arsehat who immediatley cops an attitude with me telling me that I need to send in a dispute in writing. I tell him that no, I dont...your company already has been told this by the supposed creditor to pull it. The guy has the audacity to tell me that if I rasie my voice to him again he will terminate the call....so I ask for his manager.

When I explain the situation to the manager she apologizes and immediately says that a "bullseye" will be sent to all 3 agencies to have them remove the accounts from the credit report. I faxed over to her the letter from the hopsital and from her own company showing that the accounts should have been pulled. The manager does say that she will have to verify with the hospital that it was to be pulled, but will take care of the issue first.

I guess I should be thankful that its stuff I have in writing from the "creditor" stating that it is supposed to be removed. I am just annoyed that I have to take my time to fix their problem and that this has been on there since July when it was supposed to be gone. UGH.

[kgsilvas]

If you didn't have that information, your only recourse would have been to submit a written rebuttal...and that doesn't help your credit score!

If you are denied credit, the credit reporting agency (Equifax, etc.) is required to give you a copy of your report for free. It doesn't have to be one of your Congress-enacted "free reports".

[AlpineJay]

Thank you. You just reminded me to check my credit report. I noticed a couple accounts that are open that I need to close up because they're no longer in use, so it's all good.

[ufcrusher]

Well the hosptial apologized for the stupidity of the collection agency. The representative who I talk to went so far as to pull the email she had sent to that agency to check that it told them to remove ALL my accounts. She then called them up and raised bloody hell for them not doing their job. She told them to release a bulvo (whatever the hell its called, apparently I misheard yesterday when I though it was bullseye) and everything should be fixed within 2 days.

Now the question is, should I go after the collection agency? I have been harmed in that I was denied credit as a result of their screwing up. There is physical proof of that harm in the fact that it now shows up as an inquiry on my account and the rejection letter. So I have a valid claim, but I dont know what I could go after other than the satisfaction of them squirming and some money for the distress and harm they caused.

If it were any other group of people I wouldnt be thinking about this, but I have a huge hatred of these things. These collection agencies have their people lie, cheat, and steal. They list things that dont belong to you and refuse to remove them no matter what proof you provide that its not yours because "Their client says its you".

I really want to stick it to them...but in all honesty its probably not worth my time.

[Butch]

Relax the litigious lawyer tendencies. ;)

It was a mistake. It happens. Don't let it bother you so much . . . and let it drop. The mistake has been rectified. Yes, the inquiry may stay on your record, but will you face any pecuniary damage as a result? Is it worth the effort to 'stick it to them?' I have to agree with your assessment that it is not . . .

Just a thought . . . :cheers:

[smeakim]

Well be glad its fixed. Also you should be concerned about your score. Find out what that is. This is really all they care about. Get another card the interest rate will be higer, but if you pay it off each month that is of no concern. Also the scores can be drastically different between bureaus. Also dispute it with the bureau and get it notated on your report with the reason why.

[Butch]

Well be glad its fixed. Also you should be concerned about your score. Find out what that is. This is really all they care about. Get another card the interest rate will be higer, but if you pay it off each month that is of no concern. Also the scores can be drastically different between bureaus. Also dispute it with the bureau and get it notated on your report with the reason why.

The interest rate likely won't be higher. A credit inquiry doesn't change your score much, and most credit rates seem to tend to be granted based on a range of credit scores. Unless the shift in credit score caused by the inquiry moved UFC into a different range, he should have the same rate he would have had otherwise.

At least, that's my understanding . . . I'm more than happy to have someone correct me if I'm wrong, because that info could certainly come in handy at some point . . .

[Markel]

Now the question is, should I go after the collection agency? ...

I really want to stick it to them...but in all honesty its probably not worth my time.
I'd find out what agency has oversight of collection agencies in your area and file a complaint. That won't cost you anything except a bit of time, and it'll feel good to do it. :)

[ufcrusher]

I pulled another copy of my credit report today...sure enough, its gone on the one. Still need to check the other 2 now, but hopefully its all good. Of course the one that is the most backwards of all, is the only one I havent seen any copies of this time.

Actually, I did suffer pecuniary harm from their "accidential" listing of things that shouldnt have been there. The most straight forward is if I can show that my other cards rates were raised as a result of the listing. I am sure you are aware that many cards had (and are now doing away with) universal default provisions. This meant that if you were late on ANY card, not just the card from that company, your card would be be treated as though you had missed your payment or been late.

Similarly, many cards will monitor your credit report and raise your interest rate if they can justify it. In my case, I did have a card that I just discovered jumped up a few points right about the time they listed it. Thus, if you are carrying a large balance on a card and they raise your rate by 3% it can really add up.

However, I do think I am just going to file a complaint with the agency that regulates them. There is no way that when they got an email saying remove everything related to Ufcrusher, that they didnt understand it.