HELP in finding a lawyer who can help clean my credit reports (Howe: wedding, college)

[mictea]

I have a lot of old items that should be dissolved off my credit, but are lowering my score. I need to find a lawyer who is proficient in writing dispute letters to the credit companies. Thanks!

[sinsativ]

Most lawyers won't mess with that, and if they do, it will cost you over $75 per hour. Just pull your credit report off annualcreditreport.com for free, then file the disputes as per the guidelines in the instructions. Most of the info will tell you that it will come off at a certain date. If it's not yours, then the same thing, dispute it, very simple, I've done mine and cleared it for myself and several of my friends.

[scuba steve]

It's easy to do it yourself. The entire dispute process is outlined on CreditBoards.com - Credit Help, Credit Repair Tips, News, Forums

You will need to purchase copies of your credit reports (that way disputed items must be resolved in 30 days vs. 45 if you get the free report, increasing your chances of success). Then go through the process to remove old addresses (so owners of false line items on the report can't send correspondence to old addresses where you won't get it). After that you send a demand for validation (DV) letter to the credit agencies (Equifax, ...) for each line item that shouldn't be there.

Samples of both kinds of letters and instructions for how to print them out (font and color so an actual human has to read them instead of a machine) are available from creditboards.

[rd2007]

same thing I was going to say and I would add that the OP should check out how long things are reported, because they might be surprised..

Understanding your credit report (http://www.salliemae.com/before_college/planning-wisely/debtsavvy/repayment/understand-credit-report.htm - broken link)

https://www.nelliemae.com/managingmo...it_report.html

[scuba steve]

That, and how often things are re-reported. I cleaned my fiance's credit report from a bogus medical-related charge in collection and it looked like the collection agency that held it was re-reporting it every month or two.

[mrstxcop]

before dh and i got married he had horrible credit and we cleaned it up ourselves by doing what the above posters mentioned --- we got a credit report from all 3 agencies and we disputed it all ourselves --- this was prior to the big internet days so everything was done in writing via snail mail --- we had to provide proof that things were paid off along with the dispute letters --- it took some time and effort but his credit report looked much better just in the end just before the wedding...

[SAFTW]

I'm also a member of creditboards. Definately read into the Texas Finance Code. It will work wonders in removing collection agencies from your reports. They don't even respond to me when I use the TFC. They just remove the tradeline and dissapear forever.

Another thing to remember is that no one can sue for your debt after 4 years. That is the Texas statute of limitations. In other words, you're off the hook. However, they can still call you and report to the credit bureaus for much longer.

[cashcall]

Attention SAFTW: I have the following questions. Where can you go on the Internet to get that information about Texas statute of limitation(4Yrs). What is Texas Finance Code. You stated will work wonders in removing collection agencies from your reports and don't even repond to you when you use TFC. I am trying to help someone to help them with credit ratings. Thanks

[sinsativ]

Free credit repair, credit report dispute, and collection dispute advice: Electronic Credit Repair Kit (tm)

Follow this link, it will give you lots of info on how, and what to do about fixing and restoring credit.

http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/...ir.shtml#steps

and this one from the Texas Atty Gen. these two should give you just about everything you need.

The statute of limitations on debt in Texas limits the time you can be sued for a debt.
Oral Contract: 4 years
Written Contract: 4 years
Promissory Note: 4 years
Open-Ended Accounts: 4 years

[sundrop]

How does one go about having old addresses removed from their credit reports, as mentioned above?