Did You Pay for Your Light Pole?
December 13, 2006 Is there anything more important to us real estate investors than our credit scores? Probably not, unless it's nerves of steel and the ability to motivate a contractor. I see a lot of credit reports and people are always a little nervous when I pull credit. Like I'm going to judge them or something (which I don't - hey, we've all had hard times at some point). I monitor my own credit score each quarter just to make sure everything is reporting correctly. Also, in addition to having to qualify for loans, my credit is pulled on a regular basis by the lenders that I sell loans to. If I start to blow it credit-wise, not only will I put my investing at risk, I could also lose my business. Not good. So, I monitor. Last month, I went to MyFico.com and ordered a report that had all three scores. I use MyFico.com instead of my own credit service because the MyFico.com inquiries won't show up on my credit report and that's important since too many inquiries can lower my score. Well... imagine my SURPRISE when I discovered a collection account that had just been reported with a balance of $36.00! My scores literally dropped 90 points. No, that was not a typo - my scores dropped 90 points. I was shaking so bad I could barely dial the phone number of the collection agency. When I finally got through, the representative told me that the charge was on behalf of Xcel Energy (back in 2000) and that it was "for something other than service. Like a light pole or something." Excuse me??? I told the guy there was no way that I owed this and that it had to be a mistake since I know for a fact I've never ordered a light pole let alone not pay for it! He assured me that it was no mistake, that I was a deadbeat and that if I was that concerned about my credit then I should pay my bills. Wow. I hung up on him (after he refused to let me speak to his supervisor), ranted and raved to my office mates for a few minutes, called a few friends to see if they remembered me ever ordering a light pole and finally started firing off the dispute letters. I sent one to the collection agency (who never bothered to send me a notice before reporting the account to the bureaus) and then one to each of the three credit bureaus. At MyFico.com you can dispute with two of the bureaus online. The third you have to actually send a letter. Luckily, about 2 weeks later I received notices from the bureaus that they had investigated my claim and that they were removing the collection account from my report. Whew! My story had a happy ending but it reinforced a valuable lesson - keep tabs on your credit scores! I've included some links here so you can visit MyFico.com and check your own scores. If you go, there are some extras that are available that (in my opinion) you don't really need. One is the Suze Orman kit and the other is the automated dispute helper. Both cost more and you don't need them. I hope this helps you avoid your own credit disaster! And if I can leave you with one thought: If you ever order a light pole from Xcel, you better pay for it. Because they'll be coming for you!
© 2006 Susan Lassiter-Lyons
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