I have a question for the group. I recent received an SOR for some debts that appears on my credit report. 2 of which are charge offs for a credit card and fees on a loan. That were covered by the Sailors and soldier act. But the company refused adjust the interest rates or remove the fees. These were addressed in my reinvestigation in 2018 and the clearance was granted.
However, they have popped up again. The other is a DFAS charge off that I have knowledge of , that does not show up on my current credit report. But is on my LES. Reduced by 80%. Lastly, my star card which transferred to Collections because I was being separated from the service ( star card requires balance paid in full if member leaves service) in error. That was corrected and I’m still in. But account still in collections but reduced by 70%. How should I address
You need to take care of the debt. But to be honest, some of your debt is federal. It’s going to be really hard to mitigate the debt.
Thank you for your response. But it was not very helpful. Why would I pay money I don’t owe or debt I have no knowledge of. And even DFAS can tell what exactly the debt for. And I have always been honest in all my investigations over the last 20 years. But you again.
You are missing details in your post but we are willing to give you free non-legal advice. Be mindful no one here is being mean to you.
Charge offs are not debt forgiveness. They are debts the creditor has stopped collection attempts (to simplify) - you still owe the money. You report these were covered by the Soldier and Sailor Act (SSA) but did not explain how these debts were covered. The SSA is not a trump card and it does not relieve military members of debt obligations. What were the debts and why do you believe they are not your debts under the SSA?
Then there is a DFAS charge off - I think you meant to say you had NO knowledge of, that you have been paying. Also the Star card issue. Lack of knowledge about a debt does not mitigate the financial concern. What have you done to determine the debt? DFAS did not suddenly create a monthly deduction - if so, what have you done to correct that issue? What have you done with the Star account to reduce the amount by 70%? Make payments? If so, provide the statements from the collector that you making these payments.
You did not mention debt amounts. You did not discuss what you have done, if anything, to address the debts you think you don’t owe. Do you have letters to the creditors about the SSA debts? Any response from the creditors about the SSA debts? What have you done since 2018 to erase these debts or eliminate these debts?
Same thing for the DFAS and Star card - what were the amounts? Why would DFAS collect money from you? Not knowing why DFAS is collecting money from you is hard to believe… not saying they don’t make mistakes but whenever DFAS made an error in my pay - twice in 20 years through over-payments to me, I knew why and made the corrections immediately with DFAS.
The 2018 adjudication means the adjudicator thought you were on track to work out your financial issues. The current SOR means the adjudicator thinks you are not fixing your financial issues over the last three years.
So, what you need to do, and this is just general advice, is to mitigate the concerns in the SOR. You need to provide proof that you have dealt with these issues and taken steps to pay them or eliminate them. If the debts were illegal under the SSA, then show what you did to notify the creditor of their illegal behavior.
No action means you will not get your clearance. Doing nothing will cost you the clearance. You have to prove you are taking care of these debts in some way.
Basically, you need to Contact all the places that think you owe them money and work something out. You have knowledge of debt and/or mistakes on your credit report. Show initiative, effort, and a true desire to satisfy financial issues and/or records that reflect poorly upon you. Document all your efforts and show what you’ve done as proof that you are taking responsibility.
Well I would assume that you have already pulled your credit report. You have to take responsibility for your credit. If the debt is not yours, why haven’t you disputed it? I was an adjudicator and I’m telling you, federal debt is a no no. You allowed your Star card to go in to collections. Unless something has changed it’s a federal debt. If you received a SOR, that means you met the financial guideline. The only thing you can do is prove it wasn’t yours or pay it. You have to take care of your debt. That’s the only way to beat it, it doesn’t matter what you reduce it to if the threshold was met.