by Angela Marquis
Going through a divorce, change of career, losing a love one or moving your place of residence are all stressful situations both emotional and financially. Any or all of these reasons, could contribute to confusion or misunderstanding regarding debts.
If you are not sure whom you owe, the first step is to get copies of your credit report. There are two major credit reporting agencies: Equifax and TransUnion. Read the report carefully to see who you owe, account number, contact information for the creditor, outstanding balance and a nine point scale indicating whether a payment was made on time or late.
The nine point scale is as follows:
R0 Too new to rate; approved but not used.
R1 Pays (or paid) within 30 days of billing; pays account as agreed.
R2 Pays (or paid) in more than 30 days, but not more than 60 days, or one payment past due.
R3 Pays (or paid) in more than 60 days, but not more than 90 days, or two payments past due.
R4 Pays (or paid) in more than 90 days, but not more than 120 days, or three or more payments past due.
R5 Account is at least 120 days overdue, but is not yet rated 9.
R6 (Code 6 does not exist.)
R7 Making regular payments under a consolidation order or similar arrangement.
R8 Repossession (indicate if it is a voluntary return of merchandise by the consumer).
R9 Bad debt; placed for collection; skip.
All credit reports contain different information and keep in mind, just because a debt isn’t on the report, doesn’t mean you don’t owe them, as it just means the creditor did not report it or the debt was removed from the creditors report, usually after six years.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }