Dealing With Identity Theft
Ouch, I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through all that! Identity theft is very scary and you’ve probably blown all available whistles to get your name back in the clear! Unfortunately though it sounds like you still have some lingering issues being resolved; until you get them cleared they are likely to have a substantial impact on your score since people hijacking your credit aren’t likely to be frugal.
With the collections from your identity theft ranging over 8 years you’d think that they would all have been removed based on the 7-year expiration rule. The truth of the matter is, although this may be a justification for having items removed from your credit report, the reporting agencies aren’t as proactive as you might hope. You’re either going to have to get aggressive or be patient, both of which require plenty of energy, so have those Redbulls handy!
Aggressively Cleaning Your Credit History
Some of my credit boosting I can attribute to my aggressive pursuing of inaccurate information on my credit report. In one such instance they had it noted that I was married to my cousin who was actually a co-signer of one of my student loans! Not that it mattered on my credit report, but personally I felt uncomfortable about having anything printed anywhere that claimed me being married to my male cousin, not to mention the various spellings of my name which they have reported. Frankly I find it bizarre the type of stuff they can come up with!
In any case, it can take a long time to clear up the identity theft problem and continuing to aggressively pursue your case is essential to your sparkling credit score. Make sure you’re taking all the proper measures to fix your credit, including flagging your account with identity theft protections, using the right language in addressing the credit reporting agencies Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, keeping accurate records, as well as knowing and enforcing your consumer rights. In case you aren’t aware of those rights as an identity theft victim here’s a brief list straight from the Federal Trade Commission:
Fair Credit Reporting Act Consumer Rights:
- You have the right to ask that nationwide consumer reporting agencies place “fraud alerts” in your file to let potential creditors and others know that you may be a victim of identity theft.
- You have the right to free copies of the information in your file (your “file disclosure”).
- You have the right to obtain documents relating to fraudulent transactions made or accounts opened using your personal information.
- You have the right to obtain information from a debt collector.
- If you believe information in your file results from identity theft, you have the right to ask that a consumer reporting agency block that information from your file.
- You also may prevent businesses from reporting information about you to consumer reporting agencies if you believe the information is a result of identity theft.
Read more about Identity Theft Rights from the Federal Trade Commission.
Full Identity Theft Info from the FTC
Dealing with Credit Reporting Agencies
- Disputed information that cannot be verified must be deleted from your file.
- If your report contains erroneous information, the credit bureau must correct it.
- If an item is incomplete, the credit bureau must complete it. For example, if your file shows that you have been late making payments, but fails to show that you are no longer delinquent, the credit bureau must show that you’re current.
- If your file shows an account that belongs to someone else, the credit bureau must delete it.
See the Full Article from CitiBank
Sending certified mail helps too– just in case you run out of tricks.
In cleaning my reports, I must have sent the credit agencies at least 7 letters each, so don’t be too shy to harass them haha. Also I hope that you’ve taken measures to protect your identity, because from what I understand once your info is on the black market it could happen again!! Doh!
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Good luck with the apartment purchase. My wife and I have owned a 4-family apt building since Dec of 2004 (shameless plug: I wrote about it on my blog tonight, check it out). It has been a wonderful investment - I recommend it to anyone.
I must apologize for knowing nothing when it comes to improving a credit score.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Writing letters to the credit agencies to remove innacurate or old information is beneficial with basic credit records. Identity theft may be more of a head ache when it comes to correcting those but like you said, be patient and professional but persistent (translated - consistent) in your corrective letter writing until each individual situation is addressed to each agency.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
@Chris! Yeah I was reading that post you’ll have to write more about it! Where do you guys live at btw. Man If I could find a 4-bed Apt for 250K$ I’d be all over it! Alas California..
@Martin Lindsey! Yeah I think she’s pretty much past that stage I just wrote the bit about Identity theft to be thorough to anyone else that read it. Thanks for sharing and coming by!
April 24th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Whether you have a good credit card or card for bad credit, you should always see to it that all of your payment information is reported to the 3 major credit bureaus. And it should be correct. In case you find some false info, you have all the right to dispute it. If it’s identity theft they must investigate…
April 25th, 2007 at 7:48 am
I posted a great list of top ten things I’ve heard a prospective or current tenant say. Read that and then decide if you want to own rental property. (of course I still recommend you do!)
Chris (Q)
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:30 pm
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