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Mon 23 Oct, 2006 11:50 am
Any advice....I co-signed a loan for a boat when I was married. Now I'm divorced, he obtained the property as well as all debt incurred. However, he was past due on payment by 90 days and now my credit report is affected. Can I clear my credit???
BTW, the bank told me that the only way to get my name off of the loan was to refinance. Now tell me, how do I refinance a loan for a property that I no longer own?
Anyway, my ex just either paid off the loan or re-financed but after 30 minutes on the phone the bank guy finally told mer that the account was closed.
You can put comments on your credit report. Ask the bank to clear the late payment from your credit history. If they refuse, you can leave it out there with a comment.
How do you put comments on your credit report? I've never seen that before.
I've seen a lot of people's credit get ruined from divorce. Unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to get the bank just to wipe out late payments. If you co-sign, getting a divorce doesn't clear you of financial obligations on that loan.
Keeping in mind that I'm no lawyer-- and therefore not dispensing legal advice-- does your judgement of divorce indicate that hubby is solely responsible for this debt? If so, send a copy of same to all 3 credit bureaus and request that they make appropriate changes to your record.
blacksmithn wrote:Keeping in mind that I'm no lawyer-- and therefore not dispensing legal advice-- does your judgement of divorce indicate that hubby is solely responsible for this debt? If so, send a copy of same to all 3 credit bureaus and request that they make appropriate changes to your record.
Unfortunately, as many have learned over the years, the divorce judgement doesn't remove you from financial liability. As far as I know, if the ex-spouse won't refinaince the loan on their own there is only one way to get yourself out of being liable for the loan - you have to file bankruptcy and have the debt discharged.
Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:How do you put comments on your credit report? I've never seen that before.
I've seen a lot of people's credit get ruined from divorce. Unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to get the bank just to wipe out late payments. If you co-sign, getting a divorce doesn't clear you of financial obligations on that loan.
It's part of your rights under the FCRA:
Quote:Your Credit Rights
Key Rights Contained in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates how credit reporting agencies use your information. Enacted in 1970 and substantially amended in the late 1990s and again in 2003, the FCRA restricts who has access to your sensitive credit information and how that information can be used.
Summary of Key Rights
The FCRA is a complex piece of legislation and contains numerous provisions not discussed on this page. Below are several important features of how the FCRA that are designed to help consumers (for the complete text, visit the Federal Trade Commission). The FCRA protects you by ensuring that credit reporting agencies:
Disclose your credit report to you upon request. Credit reporting agencies must give you the information in your file if you ask for it and provide the agency with proper identification. See "To Receive Your Credit Report" below for more information.
Limit access to your information. A credit reporting company may not provide your credit report to any party that lacks a permissible purpose, such as the evaluation of an application for a loan, credit, service, or employment. Permissible purposes also include several business and legal uses. For details, see the full text of the summary of your rights.
Get your consent before providing your information to an employer. An agency may not give your credit information to an employer or potential employer unless you first give that employer written permission to request your credit.
Investigate disputed information. If you tell a credit reporting company that your file contains inaccurate information, the agency must promptly investigate the matter with the source that provided the information.
If the investigation fails to resolve the dispute, you may add a statement explaining the matter to your credit file. For more information, see Fixing Errors on Your Report.
Correct or delete inaccurate information. A credit reporting company must correct or, as the case may be, delete from your credit file the information that is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified from your credit file. The credit reporting company is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated or cannot be verified.
Delete outdated information. In general, negative information that is more than 7 years old (10 years for bankruptcies) must be removed from your file.
Source
Quote:To dispute inaccurate information on your Experian, Trans Union or Equifax credit report, write to the bureau that supplied the information. In your letter be sure to include:
* Your full name, first, middle and last and including any applicable suffixes (Jr., Sr., II, etc.)
* Your complete mailing address
* Previous addresses for the past five years, including zip codes
* Your Social Security number (this is necessary to access your credit report)
* Your Spouse's name and spouse's Social Security Number (if applicable)
* Your date of birth
* The name and account number of the creditor and item in question
* The specific reason for your disagreement with the disputed item
* Your signature
Mail dispute to:
Experian's National Consumer Assistance Center
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
Equifax Information Services
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Trans Union Corporation
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064-0390
Or call these numbers for more information:
Experian 1 (888) EXPERIAN
Equifax 1-800-685-1111
Trans Union 1 (800) 916-880
SOURCE
Since you are a guarantor on the note, now that the note is past due, you should call the bank and tell them to re-possess the boat.
My guess is your dopey "ex" will make the payments.
woiyo wrote:Since you are a guarantor on the note, now that the note is past due, you should call the bank and tell them to re-possess the boat.
My guess is your dopey "ex" will make the payments.
TERRIBLE advice.
First off, MB already said the loan is either paid off or refinanced, so it doesn't matter anymore.
Second of all, you do NOT want a repo on your credit report. It will ruin your credit.
JPB, thanks for highlighting that...I never saw anybody do that before.
Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:woiyo wrote:Since you are a guarantor on the note, now that the note is past due, you should call the bank and tell them to re-possess the boat.
My guess is your dopey "ex" will make the payments.
TERRIBLE advice.
First off, MB already said the loan is either paid off or refinanced, so it doesn't matter anymore.
Second of all, you do NOT want a repo on your credit report. It will ruin your credit.
JPB, thanks for highlighting that...I never saw anybody do that before.
Come on. That would really piss off the ex. Thats the whole point!
Both names are on the loan. Both people's credit reports would show a repo. It's not worth ruining your credit for 7+ years to "piss off the ex."
Thanks JPB, I'm going to do just that and send a letter along with a copy of my divorce decree. It clearly states in exact words that my ex obtains the property of the boat as well as all debt incurred.
It was pretty frustrating to hear that there was nothing I could do if this matter wasn't taken care of. I'm relieved that the ex closed out the loan but I just need to clear my credit.
I'm needing an additional credit card for an upcoming trip to Europe and want a low interest rate. Wish me luck!