Were They?

Q: I received notification today that I was rejected for a credit card application because of "A garnishment, attachment, foreclosure, collection action or judgment was recorded on your credit bureau report." I am 44. My "misdeeds" (that I know of) consist of one late payment last April. It was late 30 days. It was an honest mistake. I called the credit card company as soon as I realized it and paid what I owed and then some, to be ahead for the coming month. I did ask them to remove the $10 late charge, in the name of good customer relations, and they did. But of course I paid the financing charges for the roughly 30 days I was late. I had a loan on a car from 1983-1985 but paid it off on time and never was late for a payment. I paid cash for my next two cars. In 1996 I applied for a mortgage on a coop townhouse but was turned down, because my graduate student income was too low. So I paid cash for a coop townhouse (though as a coop member, I had a blanket mortgage with several hundred residents of the coop). I sold the coop townhouse in 2002. In 2003, I paid cash for a house. I can't think of any other late payments or anything that I've done wrong other than be an upstanding citizen with regard to debt. (Is that what they don't like? That I don't carry much debt?) Otherwise, in applying for this credit card I requested a balance transfer of $3500 at 0% interest until May, 2005, per the terms of the Citibank letter of solicitation sent to me. I have requested a copy of my credit card report from Equifax. It's supposed to be mailed within 30 days. They will let me see it online right now if I pay $9, but I'm frugal and so for now am inclined to wait. Can anyone shed any light on this for me? Could anything I mention above qualify as a "garnishment, attachment," etc. as described above? Has anyone else had Equifax make a mistake on their credit report? How helpful were they? Forgive me, but could it be this is all a racket? To get $9 out of me and other consumers for a credit report? Or so Citibank does not have to accept my balance transfer?

A: -I'd pay some of the online services (like myfico.com) the fee to get your credit report in real time online. I wouldn't wait 30 days. -Also, make sure the CC co got your SSN correct. Last year when we applied for a mortgage over the phone there were all kinds of conditions placed on the mortgage approval: payoff this student loan (it's been 30+ years since we had a student loan), that credit union balance, etc. After we got a print out of the application we realized that my wife's SSN was entered incorrectly. -I suggest you calm down and wait for the report to arrive in the mail. Anything posted here is pure speculation.

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