Now that I am able, I would like to pay the debts I have accrued over the past few years. When confronted with debt collectors, what is the best way to deal with them so that this positively impacts my credit report? [more inside]
posted by Loto on Oct 15, 2009 - 12 answers

How do I legally get a copy of my ancestors credit report? [more inside]
posted by a22lamia on Sep 14, 2009 - 10 answers

Credit report question. Is it possible to add positive information to my report? My lender tried but was told a 3rd party can't do it. Does that mean that I can't? And is there anything I can do to raise my score quickly? [more inside]
posted by grablife365 on Sep 9, 2009 - 14 answers

Botched online credit card applications: can I have them removed from my credit history since they were due to an unresponsive website, and does it really matter anyway? [more inside]
posted by ocha-no-mizu on Aug 13, 2009 - 5 answers

Should I disclose this stuff on my rental application? How far back do they check these things, anyway? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 30, 2009 - 7 answers

What personal info does my future landlord need from me to make sure I'm legit? How do I make sure he's legit? [more inside]
posted by Asymptote on Jan 15, 2009 - 8 answers

Why does my credit report list our mortgage as a Fannie Mae account? [more inside]
posted by Sweetie Darling on Jan 10, 2009 - 4 answers

A creditor and I disagree on the amount I owe. Not paying what they say I owe will negatively affect my credit. Do I have any options? [more inside]
posted by b_thinky on Dec 9, 2008 - 6 answers

URGENT: How do I dispute my credit report? Difficulty: no (current) American address or phone number, and not currently in the USA. [more inside]
posted by chrisinseoul on Dec 7, 2008 - 6 answers

Should I fix a minor typo on my credit report? [more inside]
posted by Jemstar on Oct 17, 2008 - 3 answers

Should I dispute the adverse item on my credit report or just pay it off? Also, will a balance transfer help or hurt me? [more inside]
posted by desjardins on Aug 25, 2008 - 13 answers

where do i get a credit report? wikipedia says annualcreditreport.com is the way to go, is this correct? do i have other options? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Aug 22, 2008 - 14 answers

Help me understand my credit, please? [more inside]
posted by TomMelee on Jan 26, 2008 - 12 answers

Someone opened a credit account in my name a few years back; it is now overdue. What do I do? [more inside]
posted by Phyltre on Jan 10, 2008 - 12 answers

The financial problems of someone who shared my name and former address are showing up on my credit report! How do I even begin to go about disputing this, should the credit agency's investigation not go in my favor? [more inside]
posted by almostmanda on Dec 2, 2007 - 7 answers

Help me design the Best Possible Plan For My Credit in 2008. Ten years ago I had no cash, and terrible credit. Today I have some cash, and no credit. I want to make some good choices next year, based on a well-considered strategy. [more inside]
posted by cockwaffle on Nov 26, 2007 - 5 answers

Succumbing to Extortion Filter: How should I pay back a debt I don't really owe, to a collection agency that's been hounding me for years, to make sure it doesn't appear on my record? More inside. [more inside]
posted by prophetsearcher on Oct 1, 2007 - 9 answers

What does it indicate about my formerly-bad credit that I could be accepted today for a regular contract by a cell phone company? How can I tell when it's the right time to apply for a credit card again? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 26, 2007 - 14 answers

New employer has done a background check - returns addresses I've never lived at? [more inside]
posted by anthropomorphic on Jul 12, 2007 - 10 answers

How can my girlfriend cancel credit cards when she doesn't know the account numbers? [more inside]
posted by david1230 on May 20, 2007 - 13 answers

Repaying Stafford college loans that disappeared from my credit report (due to age), but still collect all tax refunds - what kind of hit might I expect on my credit, reactivating the account by a full-payoff? More importantly, what kind of deal can I propose to avoid all the interest? Anyone have experience with this? [more inside]
posted by ValveAnnex on May 17, 2007 - 4 answers

My father, grandfather, and I all have the first and last names, with only different middle names to distinguish us, no suffixes. How do I go about untangling our credit reports? [more inside]
posted by aristan on May 10, 2007 - 12 answers

Is there any way to stop a $50 collection action from dinging my credit rating? [more inside]
posted by Turd Ferguson on Apr 3, 2007 - 15 answers

Help us save our credit! We're not sure why, but our mortgage company started returning our automatic bank payments a few months ago. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Feb 3, 2007 - 6 answers

Why is my credit score so high? [more inside]
posted by pinksoftsoap on Sep 12, 2006 - 12 answers

I just moved to San Francisco from Guadalajara, and have no credit history or bank account. How can I get a place to rent? A cell phone? [more inside]
posted by Dataphage on Dec 28, 2005 - 7 answers

Can a collection agency reopen a nine year-old unpaid debt? [more inside]
posted by letitrain on Oct 12, 2005 - 13 answers

Since my wallet was stolen, I've been trying to get a particular inaccuracy on my credit report corrected with no luck. I have written to the company that owns my report using their own online dispute form and via snail mail. It's been 6 months and I don't know what else to do to get them to respond. [more inside]
posted by melissa may on Apr 22, 2005 - 10 answers

Background checks: I have a job interview coming up, and wonder if they'll do a credit check. If they do, I'm in trouble. I need this job very badly...thus the bad credit. Besides credit, employers may check education and criminal backgrounds (mine are clean), but do they have to let you know? How do you ask a potential employer about this without raising flags? While we're on it, is there a secret shit-list out there that employers may go to to see if you're a loser? Especially in software/web development in the northwest...
posted by anonymous on Jan 10, 2005 - 42 answers

I'm in college in the U.S., and have a few state student loans. They were under a forebearance that I once requested, which ended four months ago. I didn't realize this, and ignored the mail that was sent about it because I thought it was the usual mail they send me about how I have a loan and ads for consolidation. I just recently got this fixed and the forebearance backdated so it will have another year from when it ended. But I now have two 60-day late marks on my otherwise good credit report. Anything I can do to get rid of them?
posted by anonymous on Jan 8, 2005 - 5 answers

CreditFilter: Two years ago, not really understanding the importance of good credit behavior, I let a department store card slide for 180 days, twice (I KNOW!). This impacted my credit history greatly. I had previously had 4 years of good payment on two credit cards. Over the past year, to help recover and instill good habits, I pay my credit cards in full every month (read: no personal debt) and added a paid off car loan to my reports (15K). My CC limits have slowly increased but my score has remained somewhat the same (10 pt increase).

What can I do to get out of this rut? Some collegues I know have a sizable CC debt (around 15-20K) with less income than me but have great scores and could buy a house tommorrow with no problems. What am I missing and no, credit-fixing agencies are NOT an option.
posted by anonymous on Dec 12, 2004 - 11 answers

My wallet was stolen -- how do I protect myself against ID theft? [more inside]
posted by melissa may on Nov 7, 2004 - 7 answers

Does cancelling your credit cards hurt your credit rating? [more inside]
posted by Hackworth on Oct 5, 2004 - 8 answers

AT&T Wireless screwed me, how can I get revenge (or at least minimize the damage to my credit report)? How have others dealt with customer service nightmares in the past? [MI] [more inside]
posted by freshgroundpepper on Apr 27, 2004 - 15 answers