To add to my note of 10 years for bankruptcies to remain on your credit, that is true with the exception of Chap 13 Wage Earners. Wanderer is correct on the Chap 13 wage earners of 7 years. I have also seen many times where it is also reported as of settlement date, which potentially could add a few more years, depending on the structure of the repayment.

In reviewing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, as a general guide the bankruptcy will drop off your credit report after 7 years. Because of how a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is structured the dates could vary. Also, the 7 years generally is effective from the date of filing.

Doing the permanent opt out should give you that 10 point bump, but go in and dispute as much as possible.

Very helpful information!!! We need to get my husband's score up about 10-20 points. Any information you can provide me, I will be most grateful! I appreciate good information!!!!

Much appreciated...

Hi Garry,

Your first account was re-instated. I can merge the 2 to remove confusion. Our boards look for spammy activity and takes action automatically. To address your comments about links, we want to make sure that all links are of authority, and may include official and recognized news, government, credit and educational links. Examples include visa.com, cnn.com, optoutprescreen.com (as you posted), ftc.gov, etc... This is to ensure that this site remains as spam-free as possible. I will get the rules updated soon in the "sign-up" section of the members area.

Thanks for your understanding!

Seems I was banned, so I resigned up. Went through the forum rules and regulations that I agreed to, didn't say anything about posting links. The admins here aren't much better than the credit bureaucracy, therefore I feel my infraction was not warranted. They may want to post specifics during the enrollment.

So, I apologize, but please follow the suggestions and you will dramatically increase your score. If you need or would like more information, please contact me.

Garry

Hi Garry,

Your first account was re-instated. I can merge the 2 to remove confusion. Our boards look for spammy activity and takes action automatically. To address your comments about links, we want to make sure that all links are of authority, and may include official and recognized news, government, credit and educational links. Examples include visa.com, cnn.com, optoutprescreen.com (as you posted), ftc.gov, etc... This is to ensure that this site remains as spam-free as possible. I will get the rules updated soon in the "sign-up" section of the members area.

Thanks for your understanding!

See my responses in RED below
1.Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, discharged in July of 2008
Dispute all of your bankruptcy information. Many times there is a date reported in error and that's enough for it to be removed from your credit. Re-dispute several more times if it doesn't come off. Best time to dispute court items are during the summer months and Nov / Dec. The courts are working with a skeleton crew and many judges and staff are off, therefore, they are not able to respond in the 30 day window allotted by the credit bureaus as per federal law.


2. I only have two, very low limit credit cards under my name. I make small purchases and make huge payments when needed. Sometimes I go over 50%, but most of the time I'm good. My limits are $250 and $500. I've had these cards with high annual fees since my bankruptcy in 2008 to try to regain credit worthiness. Whenever I dip over 50% of available credit my FICOs dip below 600, and I seem to have to start the process all over again. I've asked for credit line increases, all being declined. I do want an additional credit card with a much higher limit, however, the only offers I get are for credit cards with $300 limits and $89 annual fees with $50 start up fees. This won't help me at all! I want a card with at least a $1000 limit to increase my credit. Or Im open to advice.
Pay down all your cards to 25% of the credit limit and keep them there. Also pay your bill 7 days in advance. This gives you the most positive scoring potential. This is the only positive thing driving your credit, this will help immensely.

3. Up until a few months ago, I had a Federal Tax Lien on my credit. This was filed in error, I got the appropriate paperwork showing it was an error. After researching online, it looked like a Federal Tax Lien brought my credit down about 100 or more points. Once it was taken completely off of my credit (not released, but completely removed with no trace of it) my credit DIDN'T GO UP ONE POINT! What the heck? It remained between 577 and 630. So dissappointing. My credit is the same with a Federal Tax Lien? Doesn't seem right at all to me.
Make sure it is removed from your credit. Also, it may be that your score went up, but other factors also brought it down. Different things hold different weights, I couldn't speak specifically without seeing all the factors driving your score.

4. I have a Lien from a judgement from 7/2007 that was included in my bankruptcy. When will this be removed? Does it affect me still if it was included in my bankruptcy? Its been almost 5 years.
All bankruptcies / judgments remain for 10 years from Discharge date or judgment entered date. Again dispute these. Records are old and probably in storage, good chance of having removed. Continue to dispute if not successful first round.

5. When will the bankruptcy stop affecting my credit? Its been 4 years now. Am I right with 7 years?
No, you're wrong with 7. See note above.

6. I had a student loan that I was 120 days late on before I got a job and started paying it. I owe practically nothing on it and have been in good standing since April of 2010. Also, March of 2010 the loan was sold to a different lender. It still shows as negative even though its been over 2 years. When will this fall off? Also, why is it still showing negative under a closed account?
Dispute late payments, maybe you'll get lucky. You can try calling to see if they will give you a goodwill update and remove the payments. Another way to help your credit is to refinance your student loan, this will give you a new tradeline and show this one as being paid.

7. I have a collection account from an independant lender for a school loan for $1095. I've fought this as they continued to bill me for a semester that I wasn't attending, but I don't have appropriate paperwork. This is from May of 2009. Wouldn't this have dropped off in May of 2011? I thought collection accounts only affected your credit for 2 years? They offered for me to settle it for $600 and they would completely remove it, am I better off doing this or should I wait it out until it falls off? When will this fall off?
If this is from a collection agency and not the actual lender, send a Cease and Desist and mail certified, return receipt requested or signature required. Then follow that in 2 weeks with a dispute with the credit bureaus.

About a year ago I purchased a credit fighter app for my iphone that provided me with a list of laws. One of the laws stated that a collection company MUST be located in the same county that the borrower lived at the time the contract was signed. Is this true? If thats the case, the collection account for my defaulted independant lender for school would be illegally trying to collect from me right? How accurate is my information on them being out of state being illegal?
Do yourself a favor and delete that app, that information is completely inaccurate.

One last thing that will give your credit an almost instant increase of 10-15 points. Visit https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and follow the instructions to remove yourself PERMANENTLY from the pre approved list. If you don't follow the instructions for the permanent removal, you will not receive any of the benefit of an increase.

What can I do to improve? What order should I do this? What will be the biggest benefit first, then working down to the smallest things to fix?

Hope this helps

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS ITS OBVIOUS THAT I'M NOT GETTING ANYWHERE ON MY OWN. PLEASE HELP!!!! [/B][/quote]

Very helpful information!!! We need to get my husband's score up about 10-20 points. Any information you can provide me, I will be most grateful! I appreciate good information!!!!

In reviewing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, as a general guide the bankruptcy will drop off your credit report after 7 years. Because of how a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is structured the dates could vary. Also, the 7 years generally is effective from the date of filing.

Seems I was banned, so I resigned up. Went through the forum rules and regulations that I agreed to, didn't say anything about posting links. The admins here aren't much better than the credit bureaucracy, therefore I feel my infraction was not warranted. They may want to post specifics during the enrollment.

So, I apologize, but please follow the suggestions and you will dramatically increase your score. If you need or would like more information, please contact me.

Garry

The information you provided was very useful. However, this site is administered free of SPAM and Advertising per se. You are welcome to offer/contribute/post helpful information but, not to market firms or services. After further review, I see the Finance Globe "System Administrator" removed your links.

Seems I was banned, so I resigned up. Went through the forum rules and regulations that I agreed to, didn't say anything about posting links. The admins here aren't much better than the credit bureaucracy, therefore I feel my infraction was not warranted. They may want to post specifics during the enrollment.

So, I apologize, but please follow the suggestions and you will dramatically increase your score. If you need or would like more information, please contact me.

Garry

See my responses in RED below
1.Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, discharged in July of 2008
Dispute all of your bankruptcy information. Many times there is a date reported in error and that's enough for it to be removed from your credit. Re-dispute several more times if it doesn't come off. Best time to dispute court items are during the summer months and Nov / Dec. The courts are working with a skeleton crew and many judges and staff are off, therefore, they are not able to respond in the 30 day window allotted by the credit bureaus as per federal law.


2. I only have two, very low limit credit cards under my name. I make small purchases and make huge payments when needed. Sometimes I go over 50%, but most of the time I'm good. My limits are $250 and $500. I've had these cards with high annual fees since my bankruptcy in 2008 to try to regain credit worthiness. Whenever I dip over 50% of available credit my FICOs dip below 600, and I seem to have to start the process all over again. I've asked for credit line increases, all being declined. I do want an additional credit card with a much higher limit, however, the only offers I get are for credit cards with $300 limits and $89 annual fees with $50 start up fees. This won't help me at all! I want a card with at least a $1000 limit to increase my credit. Or Im open to advice.
Pay down all your cards to 25% of the credit limit and keep them there. Also pay your bill 7 days in advance. This gives you the most positive scoring potential. This is the only positive thing driving your credit, this will help immensely.

3. Up until a few months ago, I had a Federal Tax Lien on my credit. This was filed in error, I got the appropriate paperwork showing it was an error. After researching online, it looked like a Federal Tax Lien brought my credit down about 100 or more points. Once it was taken completely off of my credit (not released, but completely removed with no trace of it) my credit DIDN'T GO UP ONE POINT! What the heck? It remained between 577 and 630. So dissappointing. My credit is the same with a Federal Tax Lien? Doesn't seem right at all to me.
Make sure it is removed from your credit. Also, it may be that your score went up, but other factors also brought it down. Different things hold different weights, I couldn't speak specifically without seeing all the factors driving your score.

4. I have a Lien from a judgement from 7/2007 that was included in my bankruptcy. When will this be removed? Does it affect me still if it was included in my bankruptcy? Its been almost 5 years.
All bankruptcies / judgments remain for 10 years from Discharge date or judgment entered date. Again dispute these. Records are old and probably in storage, good chance of having removed. Continue to dispute if not successful first round.

5. When will the bankruptcy stop affecting my credit? Its been 4 years now. Am I right with 7 years?
No, you're wrong with 7. See note above.

6. I had a student loan that I was 120 days late on before I got a job and started paying it. I owe practically nothing on it and have been in good standing since April of 2010. Also, March of 2010 the loan was sold to a different lender. It still shows as negative even though its been over 2 years. When will this fall off? Also, why is it still showing negative under a closed account?
Dispute late payments, maybe you'll get lucky. You can try calling to see if they will give you a goodwill update and remove the payments. Another way to help your credit is to refinance your student loan, this will give you a new tradeline and show this one as being paid.

7. I have a collection account from an independant lender for a school loan for $1095. I've fought this as they continued to bill me for a semester that I wasn't attending, but I don't have appropriate paperwork. This is from May of 2009. Wouldn't this have dropped off in May of 2011? I thought collection accounts only affected your credit for 2 years? They offered for me to settle it for $600 and they would completely remove it, am I better off doing this or should I wait it out until it falls off? When will this fall off?
If this is from a collection agency and not the actual lender, send a Cease and Desist and mail certified, return receipt requested or signature required. Then follow that in 2 weeks with a dispute with the credit bureaus.

About a year ago I purchased a credit fighter app for my iphone that provided me with a list of laws. One of the laws stated that a collection company MUST be located in the same county that the borrower lived at the time the contract was signed. Is this true? If thats the case, the collection account for my defaulted independant lender for school would be illegally trying to collect from me right? How accurate is my information on them being out of state being illegal?
Do yourself a favor and delete that app, that information is completely inaccurate.

One last thing that will give your credit an almost instant increase of 10-15 points. Visit https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ and follow the instructions to remove yourself PERMANENTLY from the pre approved list. If you don't follow the instructions for the permanent removal, you will not receive any of the benefit of an increase.

What can I do to improve? What order should I do this? What will be the biggest benefit first, then working down to the smallest things to fix?

Hope this helps


ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS ITS OBVIOUS THAT I'M NOT GETTING ANYWHERE ON MY OWN. PLEASE HELP!!!!

Yes the bankruptcy will fall off after 7 years from the discharge date, because it was a Chapter 13, once it falls off you should have a significant score increase. All of your "bad" debt that was included in your bankruptcy will still report as negative until it falls off your credit report, which should be around 7 years after the date when your account went at least 30 days past due, that lead to the charge off. As far as the collection account, collection accounts will stay on your credit report for 7 years. I would suggest you try to get a secured credit card from Capital One, Bank of America, Citi, or Orchard.

Hope this helps.

THIS IS LONG, I MUST WARN YOU. HOWEVER, ANY HELP WOULD BE GENUINLY APPRECIATED. I've been steadily monitoring my credit scores for the past year trying to raise it as much as possible. However, it dips all the time and I can seem to break past 630. Please help. Here are my stats:

Checked this morning:

Experian: 609
Equifax: 577
Transunion: 630


I do not have any new purchases on my credit, as my new car is under my fiances name and his credit. However, we are getting married, and I do not want him to assume my credit, despite my best efforts to repair it. PLEASE HELP!

1.Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, discharged in July of 2008


2. I only have two, very low limit credit cards under my name. I make small purchases and make huge payments when needed. Sometimes I go over 50%, but most of the time I'm good. My limits are $250 and $500. I've had these cards with high annual fees since my bankruptcy in 2008 to try to regain credit worthiness. Whenever I dip over 50% of available credit my FICOs dip below 600, and I seem to have to start the process all over again. I've asked for credit line increases, all being declined. I do want an additional credit card with a much higher limit, however, the only offers I get are for credit cards with $300 limits and $89 annual fees with $50 start up fees. This won't help me at all! I want a card with at least a $1000 limit to increase my credit. Or Im open to advice.

3. Up until a few months ago, I had a Federal Tax Lien on my credit. This was filed in error, I got the appropriate paperwork showing it was an error. After researching online, it looked like a Federal Tax Lien brought my credit down about 100 or more points. Once it was taken completely off of my credit (not released, but completely removed with no trace of it) my credit DIDN'T GO UP ONE POINT! What the heck? It remained between 577 and 630. So dissappointing. My credit is the same with a Federal Tax Lien? Doesn't seem right at all to me.

4. I have a Lien from a judgement from 7/2007 that was included in my bankruptcy. When will this be removed? Does it affect me still if it was included in my bankruptcy? Its been almost 5 years.

5. When will the bankruptcy stop affecting my credit? Its been 4 years now. Am I right with 7 years?

6. I had a student loan that I was 120 days late on before I got a job and started paying it. I owe practically nothing on it and have been in good standing since April of 2010. Also, March of 2010 the loan was sold to a different lender. It still shows as negative even though its been over 2 years. When will this fall off? Also, why is it still showing negative under a closed account?

7. I have a collection account from an independant lender for a school loan for $1095. I've fought this as they continued to bill me for a semester that I wasn't attending, but I don't have appropriate paperwork. This is from May of 2009. Wouldn't this have dropped off in May of 2011? I thought collection accounts only affected your credit for 2 years? They offered for me to settle it for $600 and they would completely remove it, am I better off doing this or should I wait it out until it falls off? When will this fall off?

About a year ago I purchased a credit fighter app for my iphone that provided me with a list of laws. One of the laws stated that a collection company MUST be located in the same county that the borrower lived at the time the contract was signed. Is this true? If thats the case, the collection account for my defaulted independant lender for school would be illegally trying to collect from me right? How accurate is my information on them being out of state being illegal?


What can I do to improve? What order should I do this? What will be the biggest benefit first, then working down to the smallest things to fix?


ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS ITS OBVIOUS THAT I'M NOT GETTING ANYWHERE ON MY OWN. PLEASE HELP!!!!