phredgreen

okiedokie. i've read through this entire thread (you're the man, nosoup), so i'll drop a coupla questions that weren't already answered.

first off, i'm gonna need to pull credit reports from all three agencies for me and the new wife, so we can peruse them and make sure that the info is correct. where would you reccomend i go to get the best price? i'd do a google search, but the word "credit" in any google search brings up a mass of rubbish results that i don't feel like wading through.

next, some background. i have a pretty rough credit history, as does the missus. i'm not sure of the specifics in hers, so i'll just detail mine for the time being. in 1997, when i went to university (ha! an american just called it that!), started out with some student loans from the government, i think the total on those loans was about 2400. shortly after that begun, i did the typical fill out the credit form, get a free university teeshirt thing and found myself with an mbna card and a providian card, 2000 and 1500 limits, respectively. i started out being good with them, and used them for a while without issue. end of the school year rolls around, and because i've had much more fun than do real schoolwork, i'm back at mom's house. i found a job that paid very well for someone my age and responsibility level (almost nil), so i started using the cards. i soon maxed both of them, and just as my school loans were coming out of the 6 month grace period, i found myself fired from the job. no money, no bills get paid, lots of phone calls from collectors and the like. for the most part, i ignored them, because i was stupid and just didn't know better. basiclaly, i just kind've let them rot, ignoring the letters sent from them, and then from collection agencies, asking, requesting, and finally demanding my money. to this day, i still haven't paid anything back to them. so here comes the next question:

will the credit card debts fall off my reports 7-10 years from the date of original collection by the lending institution, or does that 7-10 year mark get extended every time a new collection service buys the debt and attempts to collect?

as far as the school loan is concerned, i'm gonna try to get ahold of them soon and try to avoid payroll deductions, which the latest threat letters from them have talked about. it's just the issue of putting the missus through school right now, which dosen't leave much for my bills.

secondly, i have a couple of rental issues that i don't feel should be on my credit reports, but are. firstly, i rented an aprtment with a roommate, whose cousin decided that the closet would be a great place to grow weed plants. after the roomate up and left for colorado in the middle of the lease, leaving behind no money and a pothead cousin, i brought the issue up to the leasing office, telling them that the roommate was in violation of the drug-free housing lease terms and that i wasn't willing to be financially responsible for the damage that the roommate's ferret did to the place (he failed to house-train the little bastard, so he fucked up a good percentage of the carpets). what recourse do i have in trying to remove that mark from my record?

secondly, in the rental department, i roomed with another friend whose credit was much better than mine by the time we got into that situation (can you tell why?), so she was listed as the actual leaseholder and i was listed as an occupant, not financially responsible for the apartment in anu way, shape or form. after being forcibly removed after an altercation, i expected to be done with the apartment, but instead found a judgement on my credit report for that apartment that i supposedly had no financial obligations toward. what would you suggest in that situation?

next on phred's big red list of credit boo-boos, i owe bank of america a bit over 400 for some stupid desicions on my part. as of right now, there's a chex-system mark that prevents me from opening any sort of checking account, anywhere. beleive me, i've tried. after paying off the money owed to bank of america, how can i be assured that i won't have any further issues opening an account, as i've heard horror stories about how even after paying off accounts, a person's chex-systems hold wasn't removed for years.

finally, a question about the missus' accounts. among some of her other credit goodness, there is a reposession resulting in a judgement against her. question. if the lender reposesses a car, how can she owe money on it? if they have the item against which a loan was taken out, beyond some fees and devaluyation, how can the demand more and what needs to be done to clear that up?

thanks in advance for your taking the time to read this endless tirade of "what not to dos" from someone who wishes he could do it all over again with what he knows now.

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My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
- Thomas Paine