credit denial

What is the name of your state? CA
Over 12 years ago, before my husband and I married, he purchased a motorcycle and I co-signed on the loan for him. A year or so later he filed BK but reaffirmed the debt and paid off the bike. He has a letter from Household Finance stating that the debt has been paid in full. We later married, and this weekend I applied for credit at a local Best Buy store. I have excellent credit but they refused to extend credit to me. When I pressed the store credit manager on this he put me on the phone with their credit dept (which happened to be Household Finance). They stated that I had a 'negative' item on my report and therefore could not extend credit to me. They refused say what this 'negative item' is. When I got home I pulled a copy of my credit report from Equifax (whom they had used) and nothing negative shows up. In thinking about the situation, the only thing that came to mind is the reaffirmation from 11 years ago, but the debt was paid in full. I personally have never had any dealings with Household Finance other than the co sign. I want my record clean, can anyone offer some advice as to what I need to do? How long does a 'negative item' stay on one's credit report anyway? How do I find out what the negative item is? By the way, my husband was approved for credit with them - I am truly stumped!!
Thanks
Jenn

[Ladynred]

Have you pulled your CR from the other 2 CRA's ? If not, you should even though Household says they only use Equifax. At the age of the old co-sign and the old re-affirmation, NONE of that should even BE on your credit report any more, so HHB would not even be able to 'see' that info. You were denied credit, you are eligible for a FREE credit report, so I'd write and get a full printed copy from all 3 CRA's and see if anything is there.

Something's going on, and you need to find out exactly what it is. If something old has been re-aged to your CR, you could have grounds to sue.

Ladynred,
Thank you for replying to my post. I certainly will order reports from the other 2 agencies. What happens if there is nothing showing on all 3? Is there some way that I can force Household Finance to disclose what this negative item is? This is really worrying me
thanks again!
Jenn

[Ladynred]

Entries stay on your credit report for only 7 years. Bankruptcies stay on for 10, however, the bankruptcy was NOT yours. Even so, there should no longer be ANY entries for it on your CR.

It could be that Household was lying about what is REALLY the reason for the rejection. They could be looking at the number of open accounts you have, that itself will cause many banks to deny credit. It could also be that there's a real mistake and that is something you can dispute with the CRA's, but you need the reports first.

I don't know if you can force HF to tell you what they were nit-picking about if no negatives show up on your reports. I guess I'd start by sending them a letter and asking for specifics (if you do, send it certified, you may need the paper trail). Once you have all 3 CR's and if there are NO negatives, then there's another reason they denied you. You will have the hard copies of your CR's to prove that nothing negative has been entered and that they're full of it. If you find something negative, then you have to work on disputing it with the CRA's and have it removed.

[JETX]

Jennifer:
Don't settle for you chasing to find the negative information. The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) REQUIRES that the merchant provide you with the name and address of the credit bureau that issued the report. Then, you have 30 days to request a free copy from the bureau. The bureaus must disclose to you all information in the report, its source, and who has recently received the report.

You have the right to have the credit bureau re-issue corrected reports to lenders who received reports within the last six months, or to employers who received one in the past two years.

This is provided in 15 U.S.C. § 1681m, which reads:
"Requirements on users of consumer reports [15 U.S.C. § 1681m]
(a) Duties of users taking adverse actions on the basis of information contained in consumer reports. If any person takes any adverse action with respect to any consumer that is based
in whole or in part on any information contained in a consumer report, the person shall
(1) provide oral, written, or electronic notice of the adverse action to the consumer;
(2) provide to the consumer orally, in writing, or electronically
(A) the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency (including a toll-free telephone number established by the agency if the agency compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis) that furnished
the report to the person; and
(B) a statement that the consumer reporting agency did not make the decision to take the adverse action and is unable to provide the consumer the specific reasons why the adverse action was taken; and
(3) provide to the consumer an oral, written, or electronic notice of the consumer's right
(A) to obtain, under section 612 [§ 1681j], a free copy of a consumer report on the consumer from the consumer reporting agency referred to in paragraph (2), which notice shall include an indication of the 60-day period under that section for obtaining such a copy; and
(B) to dispute, under section 611 [§ 1681i], with a consumer reporting agency the accuracy or completeness of any information in a consumer report furnished by the agency."
Source: [url]http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcrajan2002.pdf[/url]