The Scarlet Letter

Well Friends, I've recently had the Scarlet Letter pinned to my chest. That's right, _horrible_ credit. "Oh, what happened, 'o proud real estate agent who thinks he’s so smart?! How could this be?"

Turns out, it is simpler to ruin one's credit than I previously understood. All I did was to visit a doctor that I hadn't seen since I'd moved (5 years ago) and neglect to update my billing information with them. They billed…1x, 2x, 3x, 4x…then sent to collections. I knew nothing of the issue (no, I was not sitting around wondering when that sports medicine bill would arrive). They said they normally call if mail gets returned, but…mail didn’t get returned until after they’d sent to collections. Then, the issue festered…

Recently, I finally started to deal with re-financing a property. Brick Wall. Then, I had several conversations in which I was warned that “this is a call to collect a debt and is being recorded.” It did not feel good. It will take 45-60 days for my credit to recover, even though it was an error and I paid immediately on discovery.

Takeaways:

-If you are thinking of refinancing and have chosen your lender, ask them to pull your credit early; before you think you need it (or check it yourself).

-Maybe the monthly fee for services like www.Experian.com is relatively inexpensive.

-There are a lot of people out there struggling to pay bills that I can readily pay (once I know about them). #solucky.