Early in February I had to dispute seven claims on my credit report that were not mine (you can read about it here). Finally, I got an email saying that the results were in, and I am happy to announce that they were all deleted from my credit report! But, the next day I received a letter addressed to this person who has all this negative information on my credit report. I open it, and it's from the collection agency in Chicago needing over $2,000 for unpaid rent. The letter explains that I need to send in documentation to support my claim that the information is false. But they do not say what documentation is required, and the bottom of the letter says "Enc." yet, there is no enclosure. Plus, it's addressed to the other Jessica. So, really good.
I call the collection agency to see what they want, but no one answers, so I leave a message. (I'd like to point out that the phone number was not listed on the letter, so I had to Google it.) This was on Saturday. Never receiving a call back, I call them on Thursday, and tell this lady my story to which she replies, "OK. Hold on please." I get transferred to a ringing phone with the an answering machine at the end. So I leave my name and problem on it again. How frustrating!
Michael's mom does collection stuff at her job, and told me that the agency needs to prove to me that I lived in these apartments that I owe money to, and because I never lived in Chicago it's obviously not a problem.
So since my credit report is cleared of all information that isn't mine, I made an appointment with the bank for our home loan. Michael and I had our appointment yesterday, and while the information was deleted, and my credit score skyrocketed, the new credit report still showed the wrong information. I guess some credit bureaus only report once a month, so it may not be actually removed for a bit yet. But the bank lady wasn't sure why my score skyrocketed if these claims are on my report still. So, that's a mystery. Regardless, my new credit score put me in the bracket that qualifies for the best APR rate on a loan! I am so proud of my score!
We were pretty much about to be pre-approved, though, when she asked about my employer. Turns out there's absolutely no way around being a temp employee. They sell their APR rate, so it's this secondary market's rule. I was so bummed, because the first bank we went to told me that since I'd been there for a year, it wasn't really a problem anymore. But this loan lady told us that she had someone who had been a temp employee for four years, and was still denied. I did SO much back and forth with these people, and it could have all been avoided if she looked at my employer and the check-mark I put by "temporary staffing agency" or whatever it was that I checked.
Next steps? Call the first bank back and set up an appointment. I hope that this "one year" rule still applies for the loan we need from them, otherwise we're going to be renting for a long time. It's so discouraging for me.
On the plus side though, having them run you through all of it to still deny you because of your temp position still got your credit issues fixed now instead of down the line when it could have been worse.
ReplyDeleteYea, I'm glad it was fixed. We are ahead of schedule on this whole house thing too, but I prefer to be ahead! I'm paranoid the first bank will have a problem with my employer, even though it was ok in November.
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