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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by JohnX2 on March 26, 2002, at 22:54:20
I dodged a bad credit mark a few years ago as a friendly banker at a major credit card issuer gave me an "inside tip" on how to do this after missing 2 billing cycles. There were bogus circumstances surrounding the issue coupled with a depression causing me to not open mail to credit cards I believed to have zero balance. Prior to this I had spotless credit.Anyways, I passed this tip along to a friend recently who was in a similar situation. The bank revoked his credit card and reported him to the credit beuro. I gave the tip, he got his card back, and the credit beuro mark was revoked.
This poses an interesting ethical/moral dilemma; do you feel if you are caught up in a major depression and things in your life spiral out of control then it is ok to use "tips" to help clean up post mortem damage?
John
Posted by hrtlm on March 26, 2002, at 23:01:39
In reply to dodging a bad credit mark, posted by JohnX2 on March 26, 2002, at 22:54:20
Posted by IsoM on March 27, 2002, at 0:46:34
In reply to dodging a bad credit mark, posted by JohnX2 on March 26, 2002, at 22:54:20
Posted by JohnX2 on March 27, 2002, at 1:00:30
In reply to dodging a bad credit mark, posted by JohnX2 on March 26, 2002, at 22:54:20
Please keep in mind you this is a victimless situation...John
Posted by beardedlady on March 27, 2002, at 7:00:34
In reply to But what if you need to massage the truth?, posted by JohnX2 on March 27, 2002, at 1:00:30
Your bad credit makes my interest rates and monthly default rates and late fees higher. So by all means, use the tip! We are all paying for it anyway!
So do tell: what's the tip?
beardy : )>
P.S. I forgot to pay my mortgage once. Just forgot! So I wrote to the mortgage company and told them my check # ___, written on _____ and mailed from out of town on vacation, must've gotten lost in the mail. I repaid, but the company said they couldn't retract the mark. So I wrote letters to all three credit reporting companies (Equifax, Transunion, and one other), and they wiped it clean!
Posted by JohnX2 on March 27, 2002, at 7:30:09
In reply to Actually, we're all victims in a sense. » JohnX2, posted by beardedlady on March 27, 2002, at 7:00:34
similar idea:look in your check book at the next blank check num Z.
Call the credit card company:
"I sent the payment for N dollars on dd/dd/dd, did you not receive it?"
bank:
"No we did not receive it"You (in a panic, do some good acting):
"Oh thats odd! maybe the check was lost or stolen. I should put a stop payment on the check immediately. Can you make a note on your system that check number Y has been sent with a stop payment in case it was inadverntantly stolen or lost in the mail and you do receive it. Meanwhile, I will promptly resend another payment check number Z today.".9/10 out of ten the bank will let this slide and clear your credit (don't even need to call the credit beureu). I guess in our cases they didn't try to retrack the original phantom payments.
Also, the banker from the credit card issuer told me that a proof of a stop payment on the check from your bank was good faith enough that your story held water. So you may need to back date and write the phantom check, go down to your bank and put a stop payment on the back dated phantom check and send it as proof.
John
> Your bad credit makes my interest rates and monthly default rates and late fees higher. So by all means, use the tip! We are all paying for it anyway!
>
> So do tell: what's the tip?
>
> beardy : )>
>
> P.S. I forgot to pay my mortgage once. Just forgot! So I wrote to the mortgage company and told them my check # ___, written on _____ and mailed from out of town on vacation, must've gotten lost in the mail. I repaid, but the company said they couldn't retract the mark. So I wrote letters to all three credit reporting companies (Equifax, Transunion, and one other), and they wiped it clean!
Posted by Zo on March 29, 2002, at 0:20:48
In reply to Actually, we're all victims in a sense. » JohnX2, posted by beardedlady on March 27, 2002, at 7:00:34
Beardy, wd. you pls. get in touch?
thx, Zo
and to JX2: a big fat hug
zozo1029 at mac dot com
Posted by Noa on April 2, 2002, at 17:40:47
In reply to Re: Actually, we're all victims in a sense. » beardedlady, posted by Zo on March 29, 2002, at 0:20:48
Ok, this is a bit of a tangent....
If anyone is looking for help with overwhelming credit, etc. be aware that there are now a lot of companies offering assistance in getting out of debt--you see the ads on tv, and also in pop-up ads on the internet--be aware that a lot of them are RIPOFFS!
One of the news magazines recently did a peice on one company. They charged an initial fee (of over $1000!) and then did not do what they were supposed to do. People got into even more debt.
I used the local consumer credit counseling service, a non-profit group. They weren't perfect (sometimes the payments to the creditors were late, etc.) but they did the job well and got me out of what seemed a pretty hopeless financial situation. There are other non-profit agencies that do this. Just be careful. I think there is an organization called national association of credit counselors where you can get more info. Or, I think you can look for referral info at ABC's web site--I can't remember which news show it was, though.
This is the end of the thread.
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